Hey everybody, first time posting here so I’m sorry if this question has already been asked. I’ve just been wondering lately as I’ve been looking for colleges about the following scenario:
Lets say you apply to a certain college, and you already have your major in mind so you also apply to its corresponding program. If you get accepted into the college and rejected from the program, is there another route you can take to reach your major?
What is the advantage of getting into a program as a freshman by the way? Do you avoid taking general ed classes, and if so do you then end up graduating earlier, or just take more classes devoted to your major?
Are freshman who aren’t accepted into the program their first year at a disadvantage from those who are? What if you keep applying to that program but don’t get into the school? Are you then forced to change majors?
Sorry for all the questions, just a bit confused as it seems you could end up wasting money if you take general classes but are never accepted into your major’s college.
This is a reality for many students. What’s even worse is that sometimes, the program doesn’t begin until the third year. At one of large state schools nearby, Nursing is very sought after & competitive degree program. But candidates need to apply during their sophomore year and the program only takes the highest achieving students. Thus, you’re left with 100s of students who now are blocked from the Nursing program and are forced to complete their degree in another field.
The alternative is to apply to a college where you enter the Nursing program as a freshman – and if you maintain your grades, you’ll graduate with a nursing degree.
For you, you need to apply to colleges with your eyes wide open. Often, there is NO way to get into that program once rejected – but you’ve spent 2 years at the college already. Transfer? Change majors? Not a nice option…
There are different scenarios. First, there are schools that admit you directly into a major (e,g. UIUC). If you are not accepted by that major, you may be undecided (GS) or go to the second choice. Then you may declare your major or change major later on. The chance would depend on the competitiveness and space available. If you do not get the major you want at the end, you either choose a related/different major or seek transfer to another school. But changing major may delay graduation.
Second, there are programs with pre-admission. With that, it is a kind of similar to above. It just guarantee you will be in that program the next year while taking more general things in the freshmen year. Ross at UMich is an example like that. 80% of the students at Ross was accepted in sophomore year though. If you don’t get accepted in sophomore year, you need to do the same like above but it would not affect your graduation time as the freshmen year is not so specific.
Third is more common that you do not get accepted into a major but the university/college. You declare your major later on that may have a quota or requirement to meet. If you don’t get accepted into that major, you would have to choose your next best major or seek transfer to a less competitive school if you really want to go to that major. Many majors do not have quota or straight requirement though.
Just like anything in the real life, you don’t always get what you want.
^True enough, and some schools, if you want to transfer from one college to another, make you jump through hoops in terms of pre-reqs and grade requirements. It may also take an additional year to get the degree because of the time lost.
It depends on the college. You need to check each college to see how difficult it is to declare or change to the desired major after enrolling. If it is very difficult to declare or change into the desired major after enrolling, then the risk is high that you will not be able to study that major if you are not directly admitted as a frosh. In that case, you may have to consider finishing in a different major, or transferring to some other school to finish in the desired major.
It depends on the college. USC was pretty clear that for my D she had to be accepted both by the school and by the department or she would be denied admission. Other schools (I think NYU but my memory is hazy) said if the program didn’t accept her but the university did she’d go in as undecided.