<p>Hi</p>
<p>I just got accepted at Cal Poly SLO as a Computer Science major, however I have recently decided I want to major in Computer Engineering.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience or input on how I can/should go about doing this? Do I have to do a quarter of Computer Science classes?</p>
<p>Any input is greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Btw, if anyone cares my GPA is 3.86 with a SAT score of 1850</p>
<p>We went for a tour in November, and the subject came up regarding that SLO does not allow you to switch majors, so you better get your major right before applying. The Students leading the tour (Seniors) said this is an almost true statement. They said you can switch majors as long as you are moving sideways within your department or downward in your major switch… downward, meaning less impacted majors.</p>
<p>The whole point of this is to keep students from applying for an “easy” major, and then later trying to slip into the major they really want, like Engineering.</p>
<p>So… with this in mind, you may be able to switch at some point as CS and CE are both in the ‘Computer Science - Software Engineering’ Department. I’m sure the lower division courses are the same for both CS and CE… so I’d wait until you’re settled before acting on your change request. </p>
<p>[Department/Programs</a> - Cal Poly Computer Science Department](<a href=“http://www.csc.calpoly.edu/about/]Department/Programs”>ABOUT US – Computer Science & Software Engineering)</p>
<p>you will have no problem. CS and CPE students take the same classes the first year. Stay on top of things and get into contact with the department heads and etc.</p>
<p>Here is the web page for all criteria to change major to computer engineering at Cal Poly:</p>
<p>[College</a> of Engineering Advising Center - Changing Majors into CPE](<a href=“http://eadvise.calpoly.edu/dept/cpemajor.php]College”>http://eadvise.calpoly.edu/dept/cpemajor.php)</p>
<p>This should answer all your questions. Good luck!</p>
<p>My kid applied to Cal Poly for General Engineering precisely because of the policy about changing majors. He will get a foundation in the first two years and then create his own curricula in the area of focus he wants in the last two years. I spoke to an advisor about the change of major policy and they actually made it easier to change majors within a department last year.</p>
<p>Easier if and only if you will have less than 24 (28? something like that) extra units when graduating. Otherwise it’s impossible. </p>
<p>That being said, for CSC to SE or CPE, it’s hard to find units that don’t count for something, especially in the first year. CPEs need to do everything that CSCs do all the way up to CPE 357 (for those of us keeping score at home, a CSC minor requires the same thing). Just be sure to do CPE 229/269 or CPE 233 instead of CSC 225 when you get around to it. The only other problem with switching to CPE here is that you will be slightly behind in your EE classes, which might delay some of the upper-division CPE classes. </p>
<p>Also note that the taking CSC/CPE classes all the way up to 357 opens up a lot of very interesting things. You see, once you have that, 315 and 349, the tech electives really fan out. With those classes you can take classes that teach everything from the Android API to Computer Networking (I think CPEs are required to take that), graphics, AI, database, operating systems… etc. You can take all the fun parts of our curriculum while skipping things like 308/309 (annoying group Java project thing). The price you pay is having to slog through a bunch of EE stuff. It strikes me as a much better deal than what I got as a CSC. Of course, you will not have to worry about most of those classes for another two years or so. </p>
<p>More immediately… Just take either CSC/CPE 101 or (CSC?) 123. Then, look at the CPE flowchart, start registering for whatever you can handle and qualify for. At the end of your first quarter, file the paperwork to change major. Since it’s so early in your career, CPE and CSC are so close and you don’t care about switching back (they don’t like that), you have pretty good odds of being switched by the end of your first year.</p>