<p>To get to the point, I got admitted as undeclared though I applied for the Computer Science major. I understand that CS is an impacted major, and may not have space for me. I don't know how everything works at UCSD (yes I did read about some FAQs) so I just wanted to know what I would have to do to get into the CS major if I decide to accept as undeclared. Will I simply have to take other classes and reapply to the major later? I am simply worried that I won't be accepted into the major at a later time either. </p>
<p>My kid is in the exact same situation as you. Here is our analysis… If you try this, you will likely have trouble getting those required CSE classes as they would be set aside for students admitted into the CSE program. Your best chance is that, for various reasons (which I won’t name…), UCSD will admit weak students into their program that will be subsequently “weeded out” leaving space for you eventually, maybe. You have to decide if you want to commit to a school that won’t commit to you even if you are better than some, or many,of their students. Also, realize, that the school committed to those less capable scholars for their own reasons - reasons not related to reasonable metrics like grades or SAT - and those reasons will remain important to them for when they decide to bounce out a student for poor grades. So, take your chances at your own risk, I’d say.</p>
<p>I just signed up to say that statement is false. Any major has the same chance of getting a CSE or any other class. The only determinant is how many credits you have. The more college credits you have the better sign up time you have compared to your peers. Also changing majors is relatively simple as long as you can prove to a counselor you can handle the rigors of CS</p>
<p>I am in exact same situation …I applied to Mech. Engin. but I was accepted to Undeclared</p>
<p>@procsharks are you sure? Mine was speculation, I will admit, but based on a plausible situation that if I were in the program, I’d be justified in having a reasonable expectation to get one of my core, major required classes over, say, a psych or biology major just looking for an interesting class.</p>
<p>Do you have some reason to know you are right? Couldn’t there be a situation where there are set asides for those in the program with a few spots left over for the interested outsiders? It is surprising to think they would leave their declared majors to fight with the general university population for required classes.</p>
<p>@IrateCAParent
I am a current muir student who has gone through the class registration process many times. UCSD opens up enough classes so you will be able to get your core class and since freshmen will be trying to get GEs out of the way, there will be no more room in a schedule for a fun, interesting class. The majority of CSE is comp sci majors because other majors are taking their own major classes, but it is open for anyone to take it.
Also UCSD utilizes a first second pass system where everyone has to sign up for 2 classes first past, wait for everyone else to pick two, then finish their schedule. That means that during first pass people who dont need CSE will sign up for a class they need and people that need CSE will sign up for it first pass.</p>
<p>@procsharks. Thank you for that answer and that detail - I have some follow up questions.</p>
<p>Do they open enough spots for just their declared majors (say they’d have 100 freshmen), or enough to accommodate the additional undeclared students that wanted to join CSE but were not admitted (say an additional 50)? Presumably, those additional undeclared students are serious about a CS major (maybe more so), and will register for those required classes like any student in the program.</p>
<p>If they open only enough for the admitted students (100), there would only be some fraction of seats as surplus. Say it is 35 seats per section and they open three sections for a particular class - then that is 105 seats for 150 likely applicants. Alternately, if they open enough spots for the full 150, then why not just admit those additional 50 students to CSE to begin with, or deny them? Do you know any students in this situation and, if so, how have they fared?</p>
<p>@IrateCAParent
I am not 100% sure on this because I am not a compsci major, but for some classes they see how big the waitlist for classes are and then release new sections to at least give some people spots. They dont release enough to give everyone a spot because classes would be too big, but there is a very good chance that you will get your GE classes within the first two years. </p>
<p>The CS major is impacted and there are far too many people that want to take CS than there are spots, so people are put in undeclared. After room has cleared out, maybe people switch or drop the major, more room opens up. All my peers who were admitted undecided were able to declare a major to their liking with no problems at all. </p>
<p>So pretty much if your kid attends UCSD and wants to take CS classes, depending on how many credits he gets from AP courses he may be able to sign up for CSE classes or just finish GEs and wait for another quarter for CSE to have room. </p>
<p>@procsharks
I am accepted into the major of my second choice - electrical engineering. Which is easier - switching to CS from EE, or declaring CS being admitted as undecided?</p>
<p>@unbroken3
Switching from EE to CS is easier. They are both in the Jacobs School of Engineering and you are already admitted into that school.</p>
<p>@procsharks
Thanks! It is good to know.</p>
<p>@IrateCAParent</p>
<p>It’s also important to remember that other majors may require CS classes, as well. Some students may also be taking CS classes for GEs or minors, regardless of what they’re major is. I took CS classes as a bio major, and never had a problem getting any course I wanted when I wanted it. Some classes are for students in the major only, but those are generally smaller upper-division courses, not the lower division prerequisites. And courses that are for majors only are marked as such explicitly, and you may still be able to get into the class with department approval. There aren’t any sly backhanded techniques to keep other majors out of the classes. Sometimes classes are blocked (given a student max of 0) because they’re being blocked for fall freshman enrollment, but that’s really just to save seats in the introductory classes for freshman who don’t enroll until the fall (when everyone else enrolls in the spring).</p>
<p>The lower division classes (which I believe are the majority of classes required for admission to the major) are usually bigger regardless of the department because they have to accommodate students from other majors who have to take the class, students taking the class for GEs, and students taking the class just out of interest. The department knows that there may be students trying to switch into the impacted major, and at least on their website, they do say that they are making an effort to accommodate as many students as they can. The website also says that these courses are offered every quarter so you can always take it the next quarter if you can’t get into for whatever reason, and again, this is very common for lower division prerequisites that may be taken by a wide variety of students. Once you get to the upper-division courses, these are the ones that are generally major or minor specific courses, and you get less students from other majors (although, it still does happen, unless the course is restricted to the major). I would imagine the limiting factor isn’t the lower-division courses, but the upper-division courses and the resources of the department. So while the lower division courses may be able to tolerate greater numbers of students, the upper-division courses may not be able to handle such a load.</p>
<p>I am currently a declared CS major, in my first year, but I have many friends who are currently undeclared so just wanted to clear some things up for others</p>
<p>@unbroken3
I’m sorry to inform you that it is not easier to shift from EE to CS than from undeclared to CS like procsharks said. Whether you are EE or undeclared the method of getting into CS is the same. Spend the first three quarters taking CS classes and getting good grades. After the third quarter you apply to get into CS at which point your grades from the last three quarters are evaluated and it is decided whether you should get in or not.</p>
<p>@IrateCAParent
Do not be afraid of your child not getting the classes he/she needs. If they are sure they want to pursue CS, they should apply for the required class in the first pass. If they do not get in, in the first pass they should waitlist in the second pass and it is very likely they will either get in or a new section will be added. None of my friends, who are undeclared, have had any trouble getting into their CS classes till now.</p>
<p>The reason people are accepted as undeclared is because CS is a very popular major at UCSD. It is ranked in the top 20’s in the nation and in the next few years it is predicted to enter the top 10’s (I’m hoping for a top 5’s before I graduate). But CS being a growing industry, it is very difficult to get people to teach, most people prefer being out in the industry. This means there is a huge demand for the CS major with very few CS professors. CS also happens to be rigorous and time consuming, not everyone can keep up (I know many people who spend entire nights in the labs).</p>
<p>Now to make sure UCSD is teaching people who have a passion and understanding of CS, most people are accepted as undeclared and many seats are left empty. UCSD fills these seats up after three quarters are finished with the people who have performed the best in the three quarters they have taken CS courses.</p>
<p>Many people have an attitude for CS, this model ensures that people who have the attitude and the aptitude get in. </p>
<p>@srachit @baktrax</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing. I’m accepted ‘undeclared’ but registered as CS so your posts helped answered some of my questions.</p>
<p>If I read correctly, I should have no problem getting into CS if I get good grades for the first 3 quarters?</p>
<p>I’ve heard from friends at UCLA that they couldn’t get into higher level CS/EE classes because these classes get filled and they have to wait for next quarter. Some are taking 5-years to graduate instead of 4. Do you see this happens at UCSD?</p>
<p>I am second year of Aerospace Engineering major. I don’t have any problem to register for computer classes. I finished CSE 8A, 8AL, 8B, 12, 15L, 20 and 21. I wish I could have a minor in CSE, but school policy didn’t allow me to have major and minor from Jacobs School of Engineering. I will graduate in 4 years with no problems.
My sister is going to graduate this year in 4 years too. She is Bioengineering major.</p>
<p>My son is in the same predicament accepted as Undeclared in UCSD. He also got accepted to UC Irvine CSE major and is considering going there instead. His worry (and mine) is him not being able to get in the classes he needs in order to eventually declare CSE and also being registered for enough classes to keep his financial aid. So is there no priority given to those who are in the Major to get in the classes first? I’m not sure how the registration for the classes work, this is my first child going to a university.</p>
<p>@MomofD3 There is no priority given to major students. Some classes (generally smaller, upper-division classes) are restricted to students only in that major, but that is not the case for any of the lower-division classes required to apply to a CSE major.</p>
<p>For the first quarter at UCSD, the registration times are random among the freshman (but some of the freshman-directed classes will have spots blocked for freshman enrollment, so they don’t get filled by continuing undergraduates in the spring). After the first quarter, enrollment times are determined by the number of units you have. The more units you have, the earlier your enrollment time. Some students get priority registration (regents scholars, athletes, etc), and then after them it goes strictly by the number of units students have. Freshman who come in with more AP credit will get an earlier registration time than freshman who don’t, fourth years get to go before first years, etc. No priority is given to students in any major. Any student can register for any class that they meet the prerequisites for, regardless of whether they need the class for their major or not.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be worried about him not being able to get into the classes he needs to apply to the CSE major. He’ll get the classes he needs, and even if he doesn’t get into some one quarter, they’re offered every quarter and it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. My concern (if I was in this situation) would be his ability to get high grades and whether or not there would be enough space opened up for him to get in. If he does really well in all of the required courses, then I would think his odds would be pretty good at getting into the CSE major, but if he doesn’t, then it’s harder to predict. I believe they rank students based on the grades in the required courses, and then accept students until they don’t have any spots left. Sorry, I don’t know anything more about the likelihood of him getting in or not–I didn’t know anyone who applied to an impacted major.</p>
<p>There it no priority given to those who are in the Major to get in the classe. Everybody can register for any lower dev. classes. Like I said : I am Aerospace Eng major. For my major I don’t need any CS classes, but I was able to register for one each semester so I am on track with my major.
At UCSD we have two pass system. First pass - you can register for only 2 classes. Time to register is based on your credits. I came to school with 10 APs, so I had better time than some sophomores.
Priorities (regent scholars, sports, disab), Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores, Freshman (except Fall for Freshman where you have lottery)</p>
<p>@baktrax & @seniorsfo Will tell my son about what you both said and let him mull it over. He does have a couple of APs already and then he will be taking AP tests on 4 more classes from this year. He’s got mostly A’s (one B) in the classes so hopefully he’ll do well on the tests and get credit. Thank you very much for your help! Really appreciate it.</p>
<p>@srachit Your response was very useful. Do you have some stats on the % of undeclared applications who applied to CSE in spring 2014 and were able to successfully change their major to CSE (from undeclared)? Just wanted to get a sense using some data point.</p>