Hi I was accepted to Cal Poly for Journalism. I applied to journalism because that’s what I really thought I was gonna do but I took AP Bio this year and have really found something I love. I hear all the horror stories about changing majors in different colleges so is it possible to go form Journalism to Bio?
Anyone? Bump
I would encourage you to go out on the biology department website now and look around for the answer to your question. I believe most majors have this information regarding transfer requirements . More than likely you will have to start in journalism for the first year and then develop a plan with the department to transfer to biology - assuming they allow you to transfer in the first place. Biology is a tough admit at CP SLO. They will look at your existing stats, courses completed and rigor, etc. to see if you qualify. I understand there is absolutely no guarantee that they will allow you to switch majors particularly across departments. They strongly discourage “backdooring” as some refer to it and have intentionally set up the transfer process to be difficult, if you will. Start this inquiry sooner than later and maybe even before you hit that accept button. Congrats on your admit to journalism and good luck.
Thanks @swimdogmom I’ll email the appropriate people. Anyone else have any insight?
To be honest, your chances are slim. The likelihood of switching between majors depends on two things:
- The college you are switching to. In your case CLA -> COSAM. COSAM is more impacted.
- How impacted each major is. According to the 2013 admit stats, journalism had a 3x higher admit rate than biology.
I would definitely take the following factors into consideration:
- Would you be fine taking at least 1+ terms of journalism. Freshman need to wait 1 term before applying to change majors.
- There may be a chance you might not be able to switch to bio… In that case would you be fine in journalism?
- Were there any other universities you were accepted to where you know you could switch easier? If so, how keen are you in attending Cal Poly?
Hope this helps!
@r77r77 I know it’s hard and I would be fine with one quarter of journalism but I definelty want bio as a major. Cal Poly is my favorite university so far and I really hope it’s possible to switch but if not I guess I have to reconsider. Thank you for your input!
@r77r77 So good to see you back on the forum. You always provide sage advice! Heed what s/he says…
Hi Salvadb, http://www.csmadvising.calpoly.edu/content/major_change
The above link gives you the process for change of major into the College of Science and Math. You must complete one quarter in the major you were accepted into before you can begin the process. CP assigns your 1st quarter classes based on your current major, but if you are sure you want to change into Biology, you can try during your Fall quarter registration rotation to add/swap classes to get into classes for Fall quarter that are required for the Biology major. See the Bio flowchart here: http://dots-util.calpoly.edu/downloads/mymap/13-15.76BIOBSU.pdf
Lots of students change their major at Cal Poly. Good luck!
Thank you for the info @ralph4 ! >:D<
@salvadb Any time! Message me or tag me in a post if you have any more questions.
@swimdogmom Thank you very much! I often browse around the forums, but only post when I have time as Cal Poly keeps me busy! 