It has come to my understanding that some universities like UC Berkeley don’t have a direct admission program whee doing a major in Computer science? what exactly does this mean? and isn’t it different for international students?
and finally are all California Universities like that? I want to apply to berkeley but would this other program be waste of money and time? or is it part of the course?
thankyou
UCB offers two ways of doing CS:
- EECS in the College of Engineering. Admission is direct admission to the major you apply to, unless you apply to CoE undeclared, in which case you can freely declare a CoE major later.
- CS in the College of Letters and Science (L&S CS). Admission to L&S is undeclared. You declare your major after completing the prerequisites. Due to capacity limitations, L&S CS requires a 3.3 GPA in the prerequisites.
Other universities may differ. Some allow students to apply for direct admission to the CS major, but may admit to a second choice major or as undeclared if you do not get into the CS major. But then getting into the CS major later may be difficult.
Any idea on UCLA?How long do the Prerequisites take to finish?Also if you do not get above the required GPA.will you be rejected? so it would be a complete waste?
You would have to choose another major.
You can check the UCLA Computer Science department page and the UCLA forum for specifics on their prerequisite requirements. As for Berkeley, as far as I know, most students finish the prereqs within four semesters - eg they declare at the end of sophomore year or beginning of junior year.