L&S CS Freshmen admission.

<p>D got acceptance to L&S CS and she put in her intended in computer science as a freshmen admission.Does she have to declare major after finishing all prereq? if so, HOw competitive to get the computer science department? Please advise. Thanks.</p>

<p>Yes, all L&S frosh enter undeclared and declare their majors after completing the prerequisites.</p>

<p>Some L&S majors are capped and require an application process and higher GPA than merely good standing (2.0) to declare. Currently, L&S CS is not such a major, but the increasing popularity of the L&S CS major (as evidenced by the bulging enrollments in prerequisites like CS 61A etc.) has led to rumors that it will be capped in the near future.</p>

<p>L&S CS does have an application process from the time when it was formerly a capped major (presumably before the tech bubble crash a decade ago), but the current GPA standard is 2.0.</p>

<p>[Undergraduate</a> L&S CS Students | EECS at UC Berkeley](<a href=“CS Major Information | EECS at UC Berkeley”>CS Major Information | EECS at UC Berkeley)</p>

<p>It’s not hard as of yet. But there’s rumor that it’s going to be capped soon.</p>

<p>You shouldn’t be worried about a 3.0 GPA cap, since if you fall below a 3.0 GPA, you should probably switch out of CS anyways as you’ll be struggling to find a job even if they decide to let you continue on to finish your degree.</p>

<p>Thank you for all responses.</p>

<p>@ProspectiveCS</p>

<p>I wouldn’t be so sure. Remember the link you posted on one of your other threads
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/2628049-post13.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/2628049-post13.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here’s a quote directly from that thread
" Then you can apply to the major, but with no assurance that you will get in. A large percentage of students who apply to the major do not get in. Hence, there is the significant chance that you will spend a lot of time completing the lower-division CS prereqs, and then find out that you can’t get into the major. Even if you do fairly decently, you still may not get in. I know a guy who got a 3.3, which is pretty darn good for CS, and he didn’t get into the major. "</p>

<p>The reason that CS will most likely be impacted again is that enrollment for CS is overflowing, possibly beyond UCB’s capacity. I find it hard to believe that everyone above the cutoff can get in</p>

<p>Regarding that story (which is anecdotal second hand at least), the student probably had a 3.3 overall GPA, but a lower GPA in CS major prerequisites. L&S capped majors look at GPA in prerequisites, rather than overall GPA, and CS (when it was capped) probably had a minimum of 3.0 or 3.2.</p>

<p><a href=“http://opa.berkeley.edu/AnalysesReports/CappedMajorAnalysis.pdf[/url]”>http://opa.berkeley.edu/AnalysesReports/CappedMajorAnalysis.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>However, it would be wise for students considering capped majors to consider what other majors they would be interested in doing.</p>

<p>Are there any speculations as to when it will be capped?</p>

<p>I heard back before 2007, when LS CS was reportedly capped and very competitive to enter, somewhere like 50% of prospective LS CS applicants were rejected, which seems worrisome to me if they implement such a cap again. Were they all rejected because they had a sub-3.3 GPA (which I believe was the cap level back then)?</p>

<p>Oh, and might this new cap include first come first serve?</p>