Does UC Berkeley admit by major?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

So I know that Berkeley has capped majors. But for example, I know UCSD also has capped majors, but they first admit you to the school as a whole and then look at admitting you to a specific major. Does Berkeley do the same or do certain majors make it harder for you to apply to the school as a whole?

2

For applicants to majors in the colleges of Letters and Sciences, Natural Resources, Chemistry and Environmental Design, major is not considered and students are not disadvantaged by applying Undeclared.

For applicants to Engineering, major choice is considered in selection; Engineering Undeclared is highly selective.

3

Division (L&S, CNR, CoC, CED, CoE) matters for admission selectivity.

Within CoE (but not the other divisions), major matters for admission selectivity. Changing majors within the CoE after enrolling is not guaranteed, unless one is CoE undeclared.

Note that L&S admits students as undeclared; admission to capped majors (e.g. CS, economics, psychology, ORMS, statistics, art practice, and a few others) is by college GPA in prerequisite courses (and portfolio for art practice) after attending for a few semesters.

The business major is in a separate division and admits students in a competitive holistic process. Frosh intending business majors begin in another division (usually L&S), take the business major prerequisites, and apply (usually in their second years). They also need to take prerequisites for a backup major in case they are not admitted to the business major.

Otherwise, changing to a different division after enrolling can be difficult, depending on the division one wants to change into. Changing into the CoE is generally considered very difficult.

4

I find it quite interesting how it’s claimed that they accept by college in letters and science and not my major. I really don’t think that a computer science major will have the same chance of getting in as a rhetoric major for instance. As much as they vehemently deny it, major definitely has some kind of factor, as statistics clearly show.

5

I think they do. Undeclared major is the easiest to get into

6

The difficulty in getting into the L&S CS major occurs when you are in college and need to earn a 3.3 college GPA in the L&S CS prerequisite courses (CS 61A, 61B, 70). Most L&S majors just require passing the prerequisite courses (C grades and/or 2.0 GPA or higher).