My son was accepted to College of Letters & Sciences. He had applied for Computer Science as a major, but the admission decision says Intended Program is General Course - BS Degree.
Does this mean he didn’t get into CS?
Or is it that Wisconsin admits to the College and not the major? If that’s the case, is there a risk that he doesn’t get his chosen major later?
UW does not admit freshman applicants into specific majors, and only recently has expanded its “direct” admits into specific colleges other than Letters & Science, for instance, College of Business or College of Engineering. So, a student interested in majoring in Computer Science, which is in the College of Letters & Science, needs to complete the requirements for admission to the major once they are on campus – the link is here, but it appears to be an intro level course with a grade of a C or above. http://www.cs.wisc.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/cs-major-requirements
@Midwestmomofboys Thanks for the info! I hope that satisfying those requirements is enough to be admitted to the major. They won’t deny later because there are too many CS major candidates?
The only problem could be getting the required courses in a timely manner IF far too many students want them. I wouldn’t worry at all about that. If a student can’t get good grades in the major and related courses then s/he should not pursue that major. So, the only limitations really are a student’s own grades and interest. First semester he may get a section of his CS course that means conflicts with other desired courses and he will need to revise his proposed schedule with substitutions. His SOAR advisor will be helpful in that.
It is a very good thing to be admitted to the university as whole instead of to an individual major. This allows for changes as a student matures in future plans. btw- excellent math and computer science at UW. Several cross listed courses to choose from as well. A BA or BS can be obtained in most majors, in L&S, depending on the breadth requirements met and student desire- the starting designation doesn’t matter. My own example from eons ago is choosing the BA in Chemistry with Honors- I had met requirements for both the BA and BS and liked the white tassel better (the major requirements remain the same regardless of which degree one chooses).
UW has comprehensive majors and no minors- one can do two majors as well. There are a few certificate programs one can add to a major to show courses have been taken but not enough for a major as well.
I put in a lot of info (double check with the UW website, as always, for accuracy of any CC posts) others may find useful.
Addenda. Looked at the CS degree requirements. There are many course options after one takes the first few required courses. Since there are so many different courses one can use to fulfill requirements I see no problems once a student gets past the intro courses. I also noted the many math courses. This explains how easily my son was able to add the CS major to his math one. His priority will be getting the CS courses his first year, along with the required calculus. btw- many students who pass AP calculus will start with first semester UW calculus as they may not be prepared for the second semester. UW calculus courses are more comprehensive than AP ones- there is a reason many elite colleges do not accept AP credits. AP is average, not above average, in content that schools in upper tiers often find inadequate compared to their versions.