<p>Hopefully, this will be one of the last threads/questions that I have to post. I've been so stressed out lately.. feels more stressful than college apps. I appreciate all the help!</p>
<p>Over the past week, I have been contacting USC and Marshall School of Business to see if I could change my major from Art at Roski School of Fine Arts to Business Administration at Marshall. I'm a Spring 2013 admit, so I was planning on taking the equivalent of Business Calculus and Writ 130/140 classes at a community college during Fall (if I were successful in switching into Marshall). I emailed Marshall admissions with paragraph or two stating the logic behind my request to switch majors (and added in some recent business-related awards that were received after I submitted my common app). I called Marshall the other day and the lady sent me a confirmation email stating that the team received my request.</p>
<p>The thing is, I was doing some research the other day and read about how switching majors before entering USC is more complicated than expected (Marshall BusAdmin being one of the hardest to switch into apparently). So, I am curious as to how likely it would be for a Roski admit to switch to Marshall before entering USC during Spring.</p>
<p>Also, is my USC application going to be reevaluated? And will they refer back to the email that I sent them? I am a bit nervous since I did not take Calc AP (seems to be a class that Marshall likes prospective students to have taken) during high school and my SAT score was only 2040.</p>
<p>My major switch is basically the deciding factor on whether or not I got to USC or another top school that admitted me. The deadline to send in my acceptance of admission for USC is May 1, and I find out if my major was switched to Business Administration after May 20.</p>
<p>Our D switched majors as a transfer. She was accepted as a sociology major, switched upon arriving on campus to undeclared & then applied to and was accepted at School of Cinematic Arts. I am sorry, am not familiar with folks who have switched majors to business and would talk with the admissions counselor assigned to your area about the timing and your other very good questions about whether your application will be re-evaluated. It makes sense to try to go to a school that accepts you into the major you think you want. Good luck & share what you learn from talking with your USC admissions counselor about these issues.</p>
<p>Thank you. I heard SCA is one of he hardest to transfer into. However, I’ve seen many people post about their switches and it seems like they get switched right on the spot when they contact admissions. Unfortunately, my admissions counselor is out until the 21st…giving me only about a week to mail my acceptance of admissions (since I would like to know if I can switch majors before committing).</p>
<p>SCA requires a creative portfolio, so switching into SCA has extra conditions. No one has been allowed to transfer to SCA as an incoming freshman–since the class is already filled and there is not a process in place to review creative supplements/applications except during the Dec-Mar season. However, for internal transfers to SCA, stats from HS are not a critical factor. Their grades at USC are considered.</p>
<p>However, Marshall does not require an extra supplement with heavy portfolio weight, so they may look at your HS stats (I don’t know this, but I’m guessing it might be good to get some logic and some reality checks) and see how it compares to their average admits this year. When you were admitted by Roski, they looked at your art portfolio as a major component to your admission. That won’t be considered, of course, by Marshall. Under these circumstances, I don’t think anyone here on cc can give you a real idea of how you may fare in an immediate transfer to Marshall before you start USC.</p>
<p>However, if you still want to transfer to Marshall after deciding on USC, you can get good grades on Bus. Calc, etc, and apply for internal transfer once you are there.</p>
<p>A friend of mine told me that I would have a higher chance of being switched into Bus Admin if I were to request to change after I enrolled/at orientation, since they know that I will be attending USC and will not back out. Is this true?</p>
<p>Marshall admissions also told me about a continuing major program where I take WRIT130/140, Bus Calc, and Econ and then request to change into Marshall (the decision will be base on my grades in those classes, I’m assuming). However, this means that I enter Marshall at a later time. Does it mean I graduate later?</p>
<p>Yes, my D had to apply more than once before she was accepted at SCA. She applied first for video game design. Then she applied & was accepted for narrative studies & waitlisted for production. The 3rd time she applied only for production & was waitlisted again. People were amazed she got in to SCA–it IS VERY competitive! She was very happy! :)</p>
<p>Is she still set on track to graduate with the rest of her class or did the multiple times of reapplying push her graduation date back? Marshall is probably just as competitive, so I’m leaving my expectations low at the moment.</p>
<p>Switching majors will only push someone back so as far as the lower and upper level major requirements are different. This generally would occur if they switch their junior year after they get into the major specific classes. Some majors like business/accounting also have some lower level prerequisites such as micro/macro econ, stats, financial & managerial accounting.</p>
<p>This is why it is best to usually start out by knocking out all of the general ed, writing, and math classes if you come in undecided or on a path to try to switch majors.</p>
<p>My D actually will graduate after 3 semesters of CC & 3.5 years at USC. She needed to be majoring in cinema to be able to get some of her courses. Since she entered CC in what would have been her SR year in HS, she will be graduating with her HS classmates this spring.
Most of her courses from CC were accepted at USC & they helped her with course selection in CC.</p>
<p>So if I began taking the required Bus Admin classes at a CC (during Fall), I would be set to transfer into Marshall on the same level as other freshmen?</p>
<p>Also, would it be possible for me to request to be switched into Business Cinematic Arts? I know space is incredibly limited (I heard there are under 100 spots), but it’s worth the try… I was reading more about it earlier and I realized that it seems to be even more fitting for me (compared to my plans to have a marketing concentration and a minor in art). Since you can only enter BCA as a freshmen, would it hurt to try my chances at transferring before I enter USC? Would my spring admissions cause some trouble?</p>
<p>The other day, I received a phone call from Roski, asking me if I was still interested in attending (I havent submitted my acceptance of admission yet, since I am still deciding). I told them that I was, and they asked if I would be interested in Fall admission. Of course, I told them that I would prefer Fall, and with that, the lady said she would make a note on my application and put me on the list to be considered for Fall (before I submit my acceptance of admission). I’m not sure if this will have any affect on my potential transfer into Marshall.</p>
<p>Generally, making major changes within Dornsife, or from the more selective schools (SCA, Thornton, Viterbi, Marshall to name only la few) to Dornsife is not difficult at all, but it is another story when it comes to switching the opposite direction. Each of those schools has an admissions staff separate from the main USC admissions office and you may need to call and ask what you’ll need to do to switch to Marshall before entering as a spring admit. </p>
<p>In addition, each of the colleges at USC keeps control of their slots-- number of admissions for fall/spring. If Roski does find openings to move spring admits to fall, they are only using slots coming into their major. If you get that slot, you may not be able to switch out to another school until spring when the major of your choice has an opening for you. I’m not sure what would happen if you accepted a fall admission to Roski and then showed up at orientation and asked to switch out. </p>
<p>And as for the BCA, that program is so highly selective that many Marshall admits are denied. It seems like quite a maneuver to frankly hide your true intentions from Roski so they bump you up to fall, immediately drop Roski and land in Marshall, and then also get admitted into BCA. It’s a tricky path, but then, perhaps shows the drive of someone who may thrive in the entertainment business.</p>
<p>Would it be better to tell Roski about my plans to switch into Marshall? Would that cause them to just kick me to the side and pay less attention to me? The general USC admissions department told me that if I do get bumped to Fall, I would enter as an Art major and proceed to apply as a transfer so I can try to move into Marshall.</p>
<p>This just seems so stressful and confusing as I did not fully realize that a main track in art/design education was not what I wanted. After participating in school business organizations I concluded that I could utilize my talents in design to succeed in a subject under business (such as marketing).</p>
<p>BCA interests me because part of my prior design education (in high school) was related to the entertainment industry. The business side of the entertainment industry, though not on the artistic side, is still something that I am interested in. It would be awesome to be in BCA even though the chances are slim.</p>
<p>I was accepted into Dornsife Narrative Studies but denied into SCA. How often is someone able to apply for a change of major into a particular school such as SCA? What’s the process like? Is it easier to apply to a school once admitted into USC?</p>
(since I would like to know if I can switch majors before committing).</p>