Selecting a major - HELP

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I didn't really become interested in engineering until this year but as I've researched majors a bit more, I'm definitely interested in it. Problem is, my scores are weak and I'm out of state. I really want to give engineering a shot but I also do want to get accepted to Berkeley and I know any major in their engineering dept. is extremely competitive.</p>

<p>SAT - 2140 M: 670 R: 800 W: 670
SAT 2 - chem: 630 math 2: 630 us hist: 750</p>

<p>GPA: UW - 4.0 W - 4.61
percentage: 1/550</p>

<p>I've taken AP chem (got a 2 unfortunately) and am currently in AP bio and AP calc AB.</p>

<p>And my personal statement doesn't explicitly state my interest in any major. The themes revolve around incorporating hard work into my life as seen by my family's example and my innate curiosity. They're good, solid essays but they don't discuss any intended major as advised.</p>

<p>So my question is, should I even bother selecting engineering? I'm not set on any one field of engineering, though I was leaning towards biomed; I figured I'd just select engineering undeclared and that would hopefully give me enough flexibility to move around. Right now, I'd select any of them that would that even get me into the engineering dept.</p>

<p>And if not engineering, are there any science options that would work for my scores? B.A. vs B.S.? I'd prefer B.S. if at all possible.</p>

2

<p>First, engineering @ Cal is very competitive to get in,
if you’re thinking about taking a backdoor (get into Cal first and then change major to engineering), you’re taking risks b/c they might not let you.
Second, i don’t know what the prompt is this year, but you should always answer the prompt completely, does the prompt this year ask you to elaborate on your intended major? cus that’s weird…
looking at your subscores for sat+ satii, it seems like you might be in a disadvantaged position compared to those who apply to engineering major with math+ science test scores of 700 and above…
i think if you have good essay+ good gpa(which you have) and good extra-curriculars, then you have a good chance of getting into berkeley… maybe not engineering specifically
but if you’re 100% sure that you want to pursue engineering, you should just go ahead, there are a lot of good majors @ Cal, and you could always make your own via interdisciplinary studies (although this is not popular with students pursuing a science major)
i hope that helps! good luck</p>

3

<p>So what did you end up choosing?</p>