<p>Hi fellow parents who are knowledgable in college admission (to the UC system in particular):
I'm very unfamiliar with the UC system, and also because non of my kids are "engineering type" person, I find myself having a hard time in trying to give advice (like I am an expert :)) to a friend whose son is applying to UC from overseas as an international student this year. He is applying to UC Irvine/Santa Babara, and UC Santa Cruz. He feels like it may not be easy to get in if he applies to be an engineering (computer related) major, considering his grades and test scores are not that great and he didn't even take one physics course in high school. However, he does want to major in engineering eventually (don't ask me why), so his questions are:
1. Is it a good strategy to apply to a different department/major as a freshman and then transfer to the school/college of engineering? Would it increase his chances of getting in because supposedly admission to engineering school is more competitive (?) and because of his weak background in science?
2. He's considering taking math as his "initial" major. Is it a good idea(meaning, is it easier to get in and is it easier to transfer to engineering later)?
3. In general, what's the process of transferring to the school of engineering and major in computer engineering or EE at the campuses of UC mentioned above like? How hard is it?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any input you may have!</p>
<p>In general, it is difficult to transfer into Engineering from Arts & Sciences. (The transfer slots are reserved for community college students.)</p>
<p>If he wants engineering, he should just apply to engineering, even tho the odds are long. But if is also interested in Comp Sci, that can often be completed thru Arts & Sciences.</p>
<p>If a division or major is harder to get into as a freshman, it generally requires applying to switch into for existing students in other divisions or majors. Acceptance is not guaranteed and likely requires a high GPA in competition with other applicants.</p>
<p>Check each school’s web site for more details (try going to the engineering division and putting “change major” or “change college” in the search box).</p>
<p>If the applicant was a US citizen I would suggest they pick they go to a California community college with a transfer agreement with the UCs, and take the Engineering lower division requirements there. I’m not sure if that is possible with international students, but he might want to look into it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. So it sounds to me: 1. math is not a particularly popular major as no one has mentioned it is, which translates to easier to get in (than to the engineering divison)? 2. Transferring to engineering division will not be easy. 3. It may be easier to switch to CS major as both CS and math are part of college of arts and sciences (no transferring divisions involved). Anyone else has any insight?</p>
<p>^^your #1 point is probably true, but not for the reason that you mention. In general, applicants to UC Arts & Sciences programs are all put in the same app pool – intended major means little to nothing for the vast majority of standard liberal arts majors.</p>
<p>Where intended major does matter is for specialized colleges/programs, such as Engineering, College of Chemistry (Cal), music, theater, dance, and the like. (The latter few might require an audition.)</p>
<p>Note, at Cal Berkeley, one can major in Chemistry in the College of Letters & Sciences (‘L&S’, earning a AB) or in the College of Chemistry (earning a BS). Intended major for L&S is not an application criteria, but intended major is a criteria for the College of Chemistry. There is a similar overlap for Comp Sci at Cal. One can major in Comp Sci in L&S (intended major not relevant to the app), or in the College of Engineering (intended major is a criteria for the app).</p>
<p>The primary reason that major is a non-issue for L&S is that adcoms know with near-certainty that most students change their majors 2-3 times prior to graduation. So yes, switching between math and compsci in the College of Letters and Sciences is easily accopmplished. But switching from math (in L&S) to compsci in the College of Engineering is not.</p>
<p>Other campuses have similar major overlaps/restrictions.</p>
<p>btw: even tho UC dropped the Subject Test requirement, they are still highly recommended for Engineering and Chemistry (College of), particularly Math 2 and at least one physical science (Chem or Physics).</p>
<p>This kid would definitely need to have high school level physics under his belt before expecting to get into almost any engineering school, I think. How well is he prepared otherwise?</p>
<p>The UCs aren’t the only California schools with computer science and engineering. There are other less competitive choices.</p>
<p>Not all UCs offer computer science in the Letters and Science division. You have to check each campus to see how the majors and divisions are organized, and whether there is difference in admissions selectivity and whether a current student can change major easily.</p>
<p>Additionally, even within the Letters and Science division, some majors need to applied to in order to declare by current students. Computer science at Berkeley is not such a major, although it used to be.</p>