social welfare/public policy

<p>@ usdenick: Sorry to briefly go off topic here, but I have a quick question. If you could help me out, that’d be great.</p>

<p>I applied to UCB as a phil major, but I think I want to switch to Psych…and maybe even double with social welfare.</p>

<p>Do you think it’ll be that hard for me to switch into Psych and/or social welfare if I am accepted at Cal? I have all of the prereqs done for Psych and social welfare with A’s in every prereq. (Except for 1 in Psych which I’ll be doing over the summer).</p>

<p>I know in the literature that Cal put out about admit rates for transfer for the 09-10 it said 46% were admitted. I plan on taking a lot of my majors in things related to law. Legal studies was something I considered majoring in but I couldn’t deny that my passion is truly in helping in the child welfare system in CA (I have a best friend who is a horror story). If I do double major it will definitely be in legal studies. It sort of a bummer I was so set with Humboldt but the more I look into CAL the more I want to go there :/. I just got done reading some articles in the graduate schools Social Welfare Magazine and boy was it inspiring. I can’t wait until April 31st! I already planned a party for May 1st that will either be a celebration party or a screw it let’s party party :).</p>

<p>@victoria, social welfare is competitive, I think around the 3.8 area is considered competitive. I’m basing this on my major, public health, which is also capped (150 places for current students), so they admit like 15-20 transfer per year.</p>

<p>I think it’s like 130ish places for social welfare… so probably around 10-15 are reserved for transfer.</p>

<p>Just to let you guys know, the 08-09 admit rate was WAAAAAAAAY lower than 45%. I believe it was under 25%. I am not sure why there was such a significant increase.</p>

<p>emilsinclair9: Both Psych and Social Welfare are impacted (I think Social Welfare is more impacted than Psych), but you shouldn’t have any trouble switching your major once at CAL. If you have good grades in all the Psych pre-reqs I think they will admit you. Social Welfare, I’m not sure about since it seems to be one of the most impacted majors on campus. I’m sure you’ll be a good candidate for the Soc Welfare major, though, since you have all pre-reqs done (with high grades, I assume). Generally, Berkeley makes it far easier to switch majors for transfers than other UC schools. You are admitted to your college (“The College of Letters and Sciences” in your case), so you can still switch your major to another major within that same college after you are admitted. The only problem might be if you decide to switch your major later on… then you have already started taking your major requirements and it may delay your graduation if you need to start a whole new set of major requirements.</p>

<p>VictoriaFelt: Remember that each major has a different admit rate. The overall admit rate for all transfers is something like 23%, but some majors have a really high admit rate (I think Art History has something like 45%) and some have a really low admit rate (Business Admin’s admit rate is in the single digits). I think Social Welfare’s admit rate is in the upper teens or lower 20s range… if I remember correctly. I may be wrong, however. The admissions department publishes literatures that lists the admit rates for each group of majors, I believe.</p>

<p>@ victoriafelt: thirty days has september, APRIL, june, and november . . .</p>

<p>Usdenick the literature says 46%</p>

<p>Ok… sorry, Victoria, I was wrong. Thanks for correcting me.</p>

<p>If you go to <a href=“http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/general.asp?id=28[/url]”>http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/general.asp?id=28&lt;/a&gt; and click on “Transfer Admissions” that PDF has the admit rate by major or by group of majors (on pg. 4, I think) and you are right: Social Welfare has a much higher admit rate than I thought! Good luck!!</p>

<p>@ usdenick: Thanks alot man! You just clarified everything that I have read and heard. I have such a tough time believing it’s that easy to switch into one of the best Psych programs in the country, but I love that it is! lol god I really hope I get in.</p>

<p>I guess my best plan of action is to switch majors immediately if/when I begin at Cal. I have A’s in all of my Psych and Social Welfare prereqs, so I should be fine. </p>

<p>Thanks again for the information; I really appreciate it!</p>