In Dilemma - Changing Major at UCLA

<p>As of now, I have finished almost all of my major's (International Development Studies) pre-reqs, remaining maybe one or two. Today, I suddenly had the desire to change to Engineering, nothing in particular yet. I just thought that it would be better in the long-term. So I checked out assist.org and saw that I completed only one or two majors for any major in the Engineering department at UCLA. I was all excited and happy to finally transfer out of CC, but now I am just lost. </p>

<p>So the bottom line is I want to do Engineering, and lost in whether changing into Engineering after I get in with IDS major would be possible, taking into account that I might graduate a year or two later. Staying one more year at CC would be my very last resort, perhaps would not even consider it. So would there be any way, or even an easier way (like major in something other than IDS, simply because it would get me a greater chance of switching into Engineer after I transfer) for me to change my major to Engineering at UCLA after I transfer?</p>

<p>Engineering isn’t something you just suddenly decide to do. This is not high school physics - simply wanting to be an engineering major doesn’t mean that you’ll have the grades to do it. Consider that before derailing your current major selection.</p>

<p>If you haven’t even started satisfying the prereqs, and you’re not willing to finish them at your CC, I would not advise changing your major at this point. It is virtually impossible to transfer from a completely unrelated Letters and Science major to the School of Engineering at UCLA. Planning to graduate “a year or two later” will simply result in your application being discarded. There’s no shortcuts allowed here, sorry.</p>

<p>agreed, there is no way they’d accept you without your prereqs. If you really want to be an Engineer now, you’ll have to take 2 more years at CC, do very well, and transfer then. UCLA engineering is very competitive and not something you can switch into on whim.</p>

<p>I do believe in dreaming big man but W T F…you gotta prepare for things like that.</p>

<p>And how do you KNOW you want engineering? You don’t. Maybe you want the salary, or the idealism that comes with it, but not even us engineering students can say we want to do it for sure yet.</p>

<p>If you’re intent on getting into the science-y/eng field, getting an internship hook-up with a family friend would probably be your best bet. (I believe any recruiter you speak to would be a bit confused still…) Connections can work miracles, but your current situation does not.</p>

<p>@Brinfighter
Yes, I am aware of the fact that I am not in a good situation, in other words, in dilemma. And no, my intent is not for the idealism nor the salary, and, if thought otherwise, engineering probably would have been the last major I would have even considered. But thanks for the reminder though.</p>

<p>Like what everyone said, you cannot simply change major into Engineering because the School of Engineering is completely separate from the College of Letters and Sciences. If you want to get admitted into the HSSoE, you’re going to need to complete the pre reqs and reapply to UCLA as an Engineering major. In other words, you’ll have to take Chem, Math, Physics, etc. And those courses are nothing like the BS, easy A pre reqs you took for IDS.</p>

<p>“…nothing like the BS, easy A pre reqs you took for IDS.”
"… but not ‘even’ us engineering students can say we want to do it for sure yet.</p>

<p>Hahahah didn’t expect any more or less from engineering chaps.</p>

<p>Get used to it. A sizable fraction of UCLA is like that - very few people here care about the love of learning, most just want to get good grades or be in difficult majors so that they can brag about it in an attempt to convince other people (or maybe even themselves) that they’re better.</p>

<p>But I think you’re focusing too much on their snide south-campusy comments, and not so much on the message. At this point you cannot get into engineering. This is not a maybe, unless you happen to have already completed a substantial number of math and science classes at your CC. So you better either accept that you’re an IDS major, or stay a while longer at CC.</p>

<p>Even when you finally have your pre-reqs completed, you should be aware of the chance that you’re not going to be readmitted into UCLA.</p>

<p>

Actually, very few engineers are like that. At least very few of the successful ones, anyway.</p>

<p>To the OP, getting an engineering degree involves long hours, packed schedules, and often harsh curves. At this point, you haven’t selected which engineering field you want to be in, and each field is very different. Furthermore, you’ve taken very few prereqs, so it’s not even clear how you suddenly decided you wanted to be an engineer in the first place.</p>

<p>To do well in engineering, you have to be passionate about the subject. You need the love for learning about your intended field that Tia claims we lack.</p>

<p>So what should you do if you’re serious about this? Stay in CC for now, take prereqs, and at least pick a specific engineering major, then try to transfer. If you don’t do this, yet still get accepted, then you could easily spend 4 years at UCLA.</p>

<p>UCLA probably has strong policies against this since people would just major in an unimpacted major (e.g. philosophy) and then try to transfer into an impacted one (e.g. biz-econ)</p>

<p>i think the questions we’re all wondering is what prereqs for engineering have you actually taken, and why did you suddenly decide you wanted to change your major into it?</p>