I am applying to School of Engineering to 5 UCs and was wondering if I should put Undeclared for those that do offer it. I am having a hard time deciding between Biomed, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering. This is especially difficult for Berkeley since it does not allow alternates.
My question: Does applying as Undeclared hurt my chances/can applying to a specific major also hurt my chances?
I think for Berkeley it will. There was a chart that said Undeclared Engineering had a 5% admit rate while Electrical and Mechanical were slightly higher at just under 10, so I’m assuming that Undeclared will lessen your chances.
It depends upon the UC. Since Engineering is very competitive at all the UC’s, it is to your benefit if you can try to get a direct admit into the specific engineering major of interest. Transferring later in your Freshman/Sophomore year, could be very difficult to impossible at some of the UC’s. If you are unsure of which engineering you are interested in, remember once you are in an engineering major, it is much easier to change to another than going from a non-engineering major to an engineering major. Go for the direct admit.