<p>According to the UCs, if you are a transfer student, you may change your major either before or after admission decisions are made (UCI - if you satisfy major requirements and/or if space permits). </p>
<p>When do you guys think it should be done? Before, or after? Won't telling them you want to change your major before they accept you affect your chances of getting in? Or is that just a misconception? What do you guys think? Thanks!</p>
<p>....bump....</p>
<p>Even I want to know about this. Does anyone know"?</p>
<p>I've heard that changing your major after you enroll is more advantageous....that is if you have completed major prep for that major already.</p>
<p>I have a different take. It's better to change your major BEFORE you transfer, or at least tell the transfer school on your application that you plan to change. </p>
<p>Here's why:
(1) provides a nice reason for transferring ("I want to major in XYZ but the program at my current school is not as strong as at your school) (2) you can get more upfront information about how transferring is going to affect your credits (3) if you go to the new school as a certain major, you are more likely to be assigned an advisor in that area and thus have an easier time of planning your curriculum in order to graduate on time. </p>
<p>This is just my opinion, of course, I suppose it would depend on the individual situation.</p>
<p>Thanks aviva and carolyn... </p>
<p>Here is my situation:</p>
<p>My ultimate goal is to attend law school after my undergrad. To spare you the whole why-I'm-not-pre-law spiel, let's just say that from the law school forum here and from what research I've done, law schools prefer you major in something you enjoy and get a high GPA and high LSAT scores, while taking classes that focus on writing and critical thinking; they would also rather you enter law school with a clean slate and leave all law materials to, well, law school, not your University. </p>
<p>Back to my situation... I've applied to the UCs as a Sociology major, and have very well prepared for it. The thing is, I pretty much just landed in that major. But, this past semester, I've been taking some Humanities and Art Theory classes and have met some instructors at my CCC that have completely changed my outlook on life and my educational goals. </p>
<p>I have now decided that I want to change my major to Art History. It has given me the challenge and the intellectual capacity that I've been looking for, that Sociology has not been able to provide me. Not that Sociology is a completely terrible subject because it definitely isn't, but my enjoyment in Art History has far exceeded the enjoyment I had with Sociology. In addition, Art History will better prepare me for law school because (like with many majors in the Humanities) of its high emphasis on communication, analysis, and, of course, writing, and critical thinking skills that are crucial in studying and practicing law.</p>
<p>Also, in case anyone is interested or if it would help with your response, I want to transfer to UCI not only because it's nearby and convenient, but also because they've got a great Humanities department and Art History program. The problem is, I have not completed much of the prep classes outlined in ASSIST, but I will have finished them by this summer if certain classes are offered. I'm also taking other related humanties/arts classes right now for background, and for fun, even if it doesn't fulfill lower division requirements.</p>
<p>So there. That's my story. Any other input would be really helpful. Thanks all!</p>
<p>....bump....</p>
<p>well---it all depends-- is either major impacted? If you're applying to say uci history and want to change it to math then it would be wise to tell them PRIOR to admission because math is tough at uci. I would say it is always good to tell them before because you might run the risk of that major being full and will be stuck at a school with a major you do not want to continue. In your case... if uci has such a great arts dept. then it would be best to let them know you're going to switch just incase the major is full. You could always write to second major on your app... hope that helps</p>
<p>Thanks CC.</p>
<p>i asked the counselar this question today, and she told me to ask the school directly.</p>
<p>But she said that its highly unlikely that you will get to change majors after you get into that department, or else everyone would be doing it to 'slip in the back door'... as she put it.</p>
<p>Thanks lilomui... did she say anything about whether or not changing your majors would affect your chances of getting in? It just makes me wonder because as far as I know, UCI and UCR very openly has a "Change major" system in their application status websites (MyApplication and MyUCR)...</p>
<p>Anyway, did you end up changing your major? -- from your other post. What did your counselor say about that?</p>