<p>I applied to CP and I got spring admission, but my friend, who is out of state and has lower stats (very low, she has no college credits earned in high school and a low gpa) than me got in and she chose Computer Science. Is it easier to get into UMD by choosing Computer Science? I signed up for Undecided because I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do Computer Science. But now, I feel like it would be great for me. I emailed the undergrad office saying that I would like to change my major to that. Do you guys think I have a chance on getting fall admission because of it?</p>
<p>I think Computer Science is in the College of Letters and Sciences which is the default college. I think Undecided majors are assigned to it too, so it shouldn’t matter.</p>
<p>The Comp Sci department is not in Letters and Sciences, it is in the College of Computer, Math and Physical Sciences.</p>
<p>I have heard that they are trying to decrease the amount of students in overcrowded majors such as those in the humanities and social sciences, and increase the number of students in less popular majors (many of which are in the College of Computer, math and physical sciences). </p>
<p>So, your friend may have been given a slight edge by expressing interest in a less popular major, and also being a woman expressing an interest in a major not many women enter into.</p>
<p>However, CS is one of the top-ranked programs at MD and one of the most challenging (maybe that’s why it’s not so popular!), so I can’t imagine it could SERIOUSLY impact decisions in terms of them letting a Spring admit in, in the Fall. Either your Spring admit was a fluke, or there is something else that stands out about your friend’s app. Ex. did you both apply by priority deadline? Are you both from the same state? Etc.</p>
<p>I’ve talked about this with professors on campus before (I’m a CompSci senior) and your major has <em>nothing</em> to do with admissions. Limited enrollment programs require you to apply after you get admitted to UMD and all other majors are pooled for admissions. umcp11’s reasons are as good as anyone’s for why you were pushed for Spring.</p>
<p>The reason for ignoring your major is that the number of people who change majors is very high. Most of my friends changed at least once. If they admitted people based on their major the actual increase in the target majors would probably be marginal.</p>
<p>Also CompSci, as umcp11 said, is one of the hardest majors at UMD (but it isn’t limited enrollment so anyone can pick it) and because of that they have intentionally brutal 100-200 level weed-out classes. The drop rates are close to 50%! That means about half of the people attempting computer science end up in a different major. Don’t be scared off by that though, it’s a great department and a great major.</p>
<p>Changing your major won’t effect your admissions. It just changes what department will send you emails. As Undecided you probably won’t get emails from any specific department, so I’d say pick CS so you can get to know the department. The CS department is actually really cool. Companies come to recruit on campus almost every week and provide free food. Everyone from Amazon to Apple, to MS to Google. They give out prizes too! If you’re a CS major you’ll get those departmental emails telling you when and where the events are. They even have a departmental buffet dinner right before exams on study day and sometimes even bbqs. :)</p>