So first of all I’m talking about colleges where they ask you to declare your major/dept/concentration when applying… i’m guessing whether a college does this can be found out if in the common app they ask you to choose from drop down menu with 1st and 2nd choice, etc (Question)?
For CS, from my understanding is this: As an international student and doing CS it is certainly an impacted major for colleges that ask me to declare my major.
Now I am also interested in doing fields computer related and since I know CS is extremely competitive, and I would be happy doing, for example, fields such as information science, informatics, IT, social science based CS majors/concentrations then do I usually have better chances because it is less competitive and colleges want more students doing those majors?
Note: Talk on BA and BS in CS is a separate issue I am talking more about majors/concentrations in fields such as information science, informatics, IT, social science linked CS stuff.
Perhaps in the future if my interests change and i want to do more of a focus in CS then perhaps I can switch the major (I’m guessing if i am switching from the college of arts&sciences to the college of engineering that is pretty hard, but for example if I am already in the same college e.g college of engineering and am switching to CS major in that same college already that is more possible?)
For Econ/Finance/related majors,
My understanding is that Econ and Finance must be pretty competitive and very popular so the same question applies about doing similar majors such as business or management, Business IT, information systems, etc and whether those are easier to get in. Same question applies as above whether going from a similar major to Econ/ Finance to actual Econ/Finance later in college if my interests change (given I am not moving between same school/colleges) is hard or easy?
At my D’s schools, " information science, informatics, IT, social science linked CS stuff" are concentrations under the CS department. It may be different at other schools but you’ll need to look up the information for each school you are considering.
At Purdue, transferring into CS from any other major is near impossible, even if you are already in the college of science for another major.
There is no getting around that you are interested in popular majors. Just continue to create your list accordingly and have back up options in your home country.
@momofsenior1 Well the question stands that: If for examples things like informatics, IT, etc are for example in the same department of CS (in some schools) IN THAT CASE would it be less competitive to apply in those other concentrations and would it be possible to change concentrations/majors in same department in the future compared to changing majors from different departments?
If you want to major in CS, you really should apply as a CS major. It is a highly competitive and impacted major at most of the top 100 universities.
At large universities, students often get priority registration in classes related to their major, and those might be full before they can open up to everyone else, even others in the same college/department. I would research carefully before going the route you are suggesting, and by that I mean talking to people who actually work in the department under consideration. CS professors are in short supply, and universities adjust to this shortage by limiting who can take those particular classes.
If you and your parents don’t have a financial issue with risking the possible need for five+ years to complete your degree AND you can keep your college GPA a 3.8+/4.0 then you may be okay.
I see this is interesting to hear! @MYOS1634 and @Groundwork2022 I’ve never tried informatics, etc so im interested to see what they’re like, but I would certainly not enjoy being trapped in that major
I think my best bet is BA in CS the admission is a bit easier since BS in CS is so competitive, but i also get to do social sciences I enjoy and still do CS… does that sound like a good idea?
ALSO: What are you are saying is it the same for Econ/Finance/Business?? If you don’t know, do you recommend anyone I talk to?