<p>I didn't quite get how the major vs pre-major works at the UW from the other thread.
Do all freshman get admitted to a pre-major or do some go directly into their major? I'm mostly talking about the more competetive majors sciences , business etc. And is there a place on the UW web site that states the qualifying gpa's in order to declare a particular major? I couldn't find it. Thank you.</p>
<p>I don't know the exact %, but the majority (a big one) of the students get into premajor. The people who get directly admitted into say Business, Engineering, Pol Sci, or Comp Sci and any other competitive major usually have either 1) somehow fulfilled all the requirements or 2) have considerably higher stats (as in minimum 2100-2150 on SAT and 3.85 GPA) than the average student. And no, I don't believe there is a site that tells you these specifics; however, I do believe there might be a place that tells you what GPA in college you would need to get into the major. I don't know where it is, but I have heard that the Business and Premed programs want a 3.7 or 3.8 at the UW. Engineering is a ~3.3. Comp Sci is ~3.5. The others I'm not sure. </p>
<p>People who have a 4.0 GPA but a crappy 1650 on SAT or a 3.4 GPA but a 2050 SAT are far less predictable, so they place them in the premajor to compete for the major (which is why it's called a competitive major). It's also fairer because everyone has a clean plate and are competing on equal grounds (no HS difficulty discrepancies) and the best people of each respective major get into the major, which would only strengthen that department.
Another idea is that the school also forces a lot of the people to explore more majors before they actually make that decision and therefore the people might actually get into a major that they really are interested rather than one that they think are right for them.</p>
<p>I'm kind of confused... what's this pre-major thing? Is it only for the more competitive, crowded majors?</p>
<p>Yes, it's mostly for crowded major OR majors that require prereqs and MOST people get into premajors.</p>
<p>The purpose of the premajor idea is already mentioned in my previous post. 1) Predictability of the skill level of students 2) Equal grounds rather to unequal HS levels to compete and hopefully strengthen the department 3) More exploration opportunities to give you a chance on finding your ideal major rather than one that you believe is good for you.</p>
<p>If you get into the major directly, then it means your stats are usually higher and it's far easier to predict your success in college compared to someone who has a decent SAT and a low GPA or vice versa.</p>
<p>My older S graduated a couple of years ago, and at that time he needed to take a few classes in an area, and get a minimum gpa in those classes, before officially being accepted into his major during his sophomore year. I don't know how many majors this applies to, but it seemed pretty common from what I could tell.</p>
<p>There were web sites for each department that described the requirements to apply for the major. I imagine that you could find those it you poked around.</p>
<p>Sooo...</p>
<p>I plan to be a Japanese major, and as of right now, my transcript says PRE-HUMANITIES.</p>
<p>Japanese isn't really that crowded of a major at UW as far as I know, so does that just mean that I have to get certain core classes out of the way? I looked up the requirements to apply for a Japanese major, but all I could find were the requirements to complete the major...</p>
<p>The requirements for Japanese are</p>
<h1>1 Completion of at least 20 credits of college course work (or department-approved equivalent) in the intended primary language of concentration. The most recent course completed in the intended primary language of concentration must be a course taken at the UW, and the final grade in the most recent course in that language must be 2.5 or higher.</h1>
<h1>2 Completion of one writing course (W-prefix) taught in English with a minimum grade of 2.0.</h1>
<h1>3 The department prefers that prospective majors present a cumulative GPA of 2.50 or higher. Applicants may submit materials in addition to transcripts clarifying any aspect of past course work. Denied applicants may appeal.</h1>
<p>Once you fulfill all the requirements, you should be in because it's not a competitive major. According to this- <a href="http://www.washington.edu/uaa/gateway/advising/majors/arts.php-%5B/url%5D">http://www.washington.edu/uaa/gateway/advising/majors/arts.php-</a> it's a minimum requirement type of admission which means that once you complete the 3 requirements above, you should be in. If you look around, you'll see some that are competitive based (more popular ones too) and those are the ones that have competition involved.</p>
<p>Ahhh, ok.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, ahsie.</p>
<p>Hello! I just got accepted into UW having a pre-social science as a major. I’m a little worried as to what classes I should take. I’m not 100% sure on what I will major and I can’t find anything on requirements for a pre-social science. So I’m not sure what classes I should lean towards. Am I suppose to decide on a specific major now?</p>
<p>railkey: I answered your question in the post you created with the question</p>
<p>Two questions… Does the biology (physiology) major have a direct admit? Have those direct admit emails been sent already?</p>
<p>Biology isn’t competitive and doesn’t have a direct admission program.</p>
<p>See this website: [Admissions</a> | Biology](<a href=“http://www.biology.washington.edu/Academics/Undergraduate/Admissions]Admissions”>http://www.biology.washington.edu/Academics/Undergraduate/Admissions)</p>
<p>Neurobiology is a different story, though.</p>
<p>You can be pre-major up until 105 credits, btw.</p>
<p>I was admitted for Preengineering, but have since changed my mind and now I want to do a biology major.</p>
<p>=I don’t really understand how it works for switching majors.</p>
<p>ubersandvich: As long as you finish the prereqs for a bio major, just go into advising for bio and finish a bit of paper work … and voila you’re a bio major :)</p>
<p>My daughter got admitted to Pre-Science Major. She applied for Computer Science. The UW website states that all Computer Science applicants will be given Pre-Science Major as a standard. Anyone got direct admission into Computer Science?</p>
<p>Does anyone know if there is a pre-business major? As in, if I don’t get direct admission to Foster, can I still be a pre-business major or will I be admitted for my second interest (which was international studies and I don’t want to study that).</p>
<p>@SD2018Dad even my son got as pre-science major though he specified the CS as major</p>
<p>If you have not been directly admitted to Computer Science, then your major is probably going to say pre-science. I’m assuming you’re seeing that on your unofficial UW transcript. the UW CS page on DA students doesn’t say anything about whether or not the UW transcript will truly reflect what major you’ve been accepted into, but they do say that the Welcome Packet will tell you what major you have been accepted in, so if you are a DA student then the welcome packet is going to contain an enrollment confirmation slip with the major Computer Science listed instead of pre-science</p>
<p>What does it mean if you have “Non-matriculated” as your major?</p>