Intended major?

<p>i’m planning on being a psych major, but im wondering if applying as a psych major will either hurt or help my chances of getting in since it is such a common major. would it be better for me to apply as undeclared? ive always been a math-oriented kid, and have done well in high school, though i lost interest in it last year and probably won’t major in it. should i apply as a math/statistics major anyway, then try to switch majors later?</p>

<p>It depends on if the major is impacted or not. For Cal, psychology is impacted, but it does not affect freshman admission, because it only matters when you try to declare the major.</p>

<p>what does impacted mean? im a freshman applicant.</p>

<p>Impacted means that there are more applicants than there is space. So, an impacted major will be harder to get in. I don't know too much about impacted majors, but they are usually engineering or CS.</p>

<p>well, im going to be a psych major and am wondering what my best chances of getting in as a psych major are. if i declare my major in my application, that means i'm guarenteed to get into that program if i'm accepted, right? but if i apply undeclared, is there a chance i could not be able to get into my major of choice (not including engineering or one of those selective majors)? i mean, wouldnt that kind of be ridiculous if i went to a school for 2 years then found out i couldn't major in the area i wanted to?</p>

<p>summary: i want to be a psych major, and want to know the easiest way to guarentee my spot in the program at a top uc.</p>

<p>AzNChoiBoi,</p>

<p>Even if you declare a major as a freshman admit, odds are that that major has some pre-reqs that you're going to have to complete independent of your declaring yourself to be that major.</p>

<p>The easiest way to guarantee your spot is something like this (assuming that it's not impacted):</p>

<ol>
<li> Get accepted as an undergrad to the UC of your choice.</li>
<li> Get the required minimum GPA in the prereqs for that major.</li>
<li> Go to an office, fill out a form, be admitted to that major.</li>
<li> Go home, satisfied with your new designation.</li>
</ol>

<p>If it's impacted, however...</p>

<ol>
<li> Get accepted as an undergrad to the UC of your choice.</li>
<li> Get the well above the minimum GPA in the prereqs for that major. In fact, forget that there's a minimum. It doesn't exist. Get as close to a 4.0 as you can.<br></li>
<li> Go to an office, fill out a form. Pray.</li>
<li> Sacrifice three virgin lambs to the God of Berkeley, Bearicus Goldena</li>
<li> Get accepted to your major.</li>
<li> Drink a lot of beer to celebrate.</li>
<li> Flunk out of your classes because you were drunk.</li>
<li> Go back to number 1.<br></li>
</ol>

<p>Filter out the sarcasm and you get a pretty good idea of what's involved. If it's NOT impacted, you just have some classes to do and you're good. If it's impacted, however...</p>

<p>all right, cool. so is psych usually an impacted major at uc's?</p>

<p>If I remember correctly, UCLA and Cal both do not have impacted psych depts. I don't know about UCSD and the rest.</p>

<p>Dude go to the school web-sites and check to see what majors are listed as being impacted. If you can't find the information there then call the individual psych departments to see. Don't trust our second hand information about this.</p>

<p>For once you live up to your namesake.</p>

<p>the short answer to your question, is that intended major means nothing for admissions to Letters & Science. They realize that many students change their major 2-3x, so they barely even consider it for admissions purposes. However, intended major makes a big difference when applying to specialized colleges, such as Engineering or Chemistry.</p>

<p>Intended major doesn't make a difference in the College of Chemistry. In fact, you don't even have to apply to the College of Chemistry to do the one of its three majors. You can apply as L&S and transfer during your first semester. It is only a guaranteed transfer if you do it during your first semester, because your GPA will be factored into the transfer decision if you decide to do it later.</p>

<p>Psych is definitely not an impacted major. I'm pretty sure UCs do not admit by major except for impacted majors like biomedical engineering at UCSD or something like that. Don't know which other ones are impacted at other schools, but I'm almost 100% sure that psychology is not an impacted major at UCs.</p>

<p>
[quote]
4. Sacrifice three virgin lambs to the God of Berkeley, Bearicus Goldena

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Oh no I forgot this step!!</p>

<p>
[quote]
If I remember correctly, UCLA and Cal both do not have impacted psych depts. I don't know about UCSD and the rest.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Psychology major is impacted at Berkeley.</p>

<p>back to the OP's question: </p>

<p>Will it matter to Admissions if he applies to an impacted major in L&S? No.</p>

<p>Will he have to apply to the impacted dept at the end of his soph year? Yes. </p>

<p>Is he assured of becoming a psych major? No.</p>

<p>From Cal's College of Chemistry website:</p>

<p>Myth #1:
When I apply to the Chemistry or Chemical Engineering major in the College of Chemistry, I am expressing my interest in that subject, but I will not declare a major until I've been at UC Berkeley for a few semesters.</p>

<p>FACT:
When you apply to the college of chemistry as either a Chemistry or a Chemical Engineering major, you are officially declaring your major! You will be required to enroll in courses that are appropriate for your major</p>

<p>Myth #3:
If I change my mind about what I want to study after I apply to the College of Chemistry, I can switch to another major offered by a different college.</p>

<p>FACT:
You will be required to spend at least one semester in the College of Chemistry, and during that semester you must follow the course program for your major. (You may be able to switch thereafter, if you meet the requirements of the **other college[b/].)</p>

<p>Choosing your major is a big decision. If you are not sure what you want to study, you may prefer to apply to the College of Letters & Science, where you will have time to explore several different areas before declaring a major.</p>