How hard/easy is it to switch your prospective major in college??
Do you have to bind to the major written on your application? How long will you have to wait before you can switch away from your app major??
Also, how hard would it be to switch schools in College? For example, switching from SEAS to Wharton at UPENN??
I am asking this because all my ECs are geared towards education(I don’t know why, I didnt do it on purpose), and I want to put “education” on my college app, but switch it as soon as I get in the school…because I have no intention on becoming a elementary teacher…
<p>apply as undecided? Or pick whatever you really want to study. Not everyone follows the career path their h.s. ECs might suggest.
About changing, that varies from college to college. Some places view your prospective major just as a suggestion, and you'll be free to choose any major once you enroll, whereas other places will assign you to that major.</p>
<p>As for switching schools, again, that depends. Specifically at Penn, transferring from anywhere into Wharton is HARD. Other interschool transfers are much easier to accomplish.</p>
<p>if its a popular major/school, as wharton is, do not count on transferring once u get into another major. it is almost impossible because of the limit the major can hold and many ppl are dissapointed in having to complete their degree in 'education' or wutever.</p>
<p>It is extremely easy to change majors so long as you don't switch between schools within the university. Most colleges don't even expect you to declare your major until the end of sophomore year. On the application, you can just apply with an "undecided" major. However, some schools within universities (Wharton for almost sure), have a different application process from the rest the school. You are not the first person to think of switching majors as an admissions strategy. Going from math to physics? Okay. Going from math to biology? Okay. Going from physical education to engineering? Probably not okay. You can check with the individual college so long as you present it as an honest question.</p>
<p>Ok, I understand Dufus. But somehow an "undecided" major seems unfavorable infront of an adcom's eyes. Am I just being absurdly frantic or is there some truth in that statement?</p>
<p>I appreciate all your responses by the way!</p>
<p>In "Acing the College Application" by Michele Hernandez, she says:</p>
<p>"Colleges are not supposed to use this information in making an admissions decision since these answers rarely correspond with what a student actually majors in, but they often do since it is there. My advice is that if you are thinking of putting down economics, government, or some other very common major, just check off undecided. However, if you do have a more atypical interest [so long as the college has that department], write it in. My feeling is that it's none of their business - how can a high school senior really know what he may major in?"</p>
<p>I would add that the choice of major should match anything you say in the essay.</p>
<p>most classes u take in college are General Requirements..</p>
<p>the major itself is just a few classes... so if u have a lot of AP/IB credits, and u start ur major early, you will prob. have place to switch..</p>
<p>if u dont, you might need to either do summer school or take extra general courses to free up spots...</p>
<p>NOTE: it shouldnt be that bad if ur switching to similar sphere... ex. from General Math to Applied Math.. Since they have many common courses..</p>
<p>Im sorry but this situation still seems ambiguous
Here is my scenario:
I have all my ECs for education, but I plan on getting into economics/engineering (really common majors)...
I can write my essay about education since I have a half decent hook in it...</p>
<p>so should I or should I not put it down as education if I plan on changing to say..economics later..</p>
<p>Give me a straight answer in your opinion please :)</p>
<p>When you said engineering, that put a different slant on it. Admissions for engineering majors is different from other majors. You are either applying to a specialized engineering school or the engineering college within a larger university. The applications process is much more numbers driven and your Math SAT and SAT II Math scores are much more important. During freshman year, there is a common curriculum for all eng majors regardless of speciality. The curriculum includes calculus, physics, chemistry, and computers all at the same time. In most majors, the faculty is nurturing during freshman year, but engineering faculties try to thin the herd. Except for the extremely selective engineering schools (MIT, Caltech, Harvey Mudd, Georgia Tech), it is often easier to get admitted than it is to survive freshman year.</p>
<p>If you want to go engineering, you probably have to declare it in order to apply. Check with the colleges just so you aren't trusting me too much. Between Education and Economics, I would say to write your essay about your love for learning and the thrill of passing knowledge on to others (is that too over the top?). In declaring your major, it probably doesn't matter what you do.</p>
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It is extremely easy to change majors so long as you don't switch between schools within the university.
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<p>I would have to say that that depends on the school and on the major you are trying to switch to. At some schools, it's difficult to change majors even if you're staying within the same school. For example, at Berkeley, it's no picnic to try to switch from, say, Civil Engineering to EECS, even though they are both within the School of Engineering. Also, within the Berkeley College of Letters and Sciences, it's quite difficult to switch from any L&S major into Computer Science, even though Computer Science is housed in L&S.</p>
<p>The thing is that everyone says that college is a time to explore and you don't have to declare your major until the end of sophomore year. Lots of people change their majors four times. In technical areas like engineering (including computer science), however, you do have to be on track early. Both because engineering colleges can be selective and because the course requirements are very specific. </p>
<p>This doesn't mean that it is impossible, but some departments are more selective than the university as a whole, and each major has graduation requirements of its own. There is plenty of overlap between English and history, but less between English and Electrical Engineering.</p>
<p>How hard would you say it is to switch from an uncommon major in English to Economics(their most popular major i think)?</p>
<p>And to what degree will the college make of your "prospective major" on your application? Will they take the initiative to sign you up for that major or can you just attend core curriculum courses and choose your major later?</p>
<p>I have not been explaining this well because I have been realizing some things as I have been going along. I started out by simply repeating what all of the college guides say: You aren't expected to know what you are going to major in until the end of sophomore year. Many people change their majors four or five times before they graduate. It doesn't matter whether you put a major on the app or not. In general this is true for the type of people who write college guides. However, changing your major has two issues:</p>
<p>Issue 1: Each major has different graduation requirements. If you switch majors between English and Journalism, there is going to be a lot of overlap and you probably won't lose much time. However, the more the graduation requirements differ between the two majors, the longer it will take you to graduate.</p>
<p>Issue 2: The admission selectivity between the two majors may be different. This shows up on the app not where you specify your major, but where you specify what college within the university you are applying to. If you want to be an engineer, you would specify the Engineering College. If you want to be an English major, you would specify the College of Arts and Sciences. The Engineering College and the College of Arts and Sciences each have their own admissions criteria. Once admitted to either, you would have to later apply to the other in order to switch your major to a program in the other college. In addition to Engineering, this would apply to any specialized area such as business, music, or fine arts. </p>
<p>It does depend on the specific college that you are talking about. I personally think that any engineering college would have separate admissions requirements, but business could depend on the college. Getting into Wharton at UPenn is probably a separate admissions process from the general school, but it might not be at PSU.</p>
<p>I would also add that in the College of Engineering at Berkeley, you not only apply to the College, but also to a specific major. For example, you would apply directly to the EECS major or the Civil Engineering major, etc. And certain engineering majors are more difficult to get into than others. EECS, for example, is the most difficult to get admitted into. Not only that, but you can only submit one application to Berkeley, so if you apply to Berkeley EECS and don't get in, that's the end of the game and you didn't get into Berkeley at all. Even if you could have gotten in as a Civil Engineering student or in the Berkeley College of Letters and Science, it doesn't matter. If you apply to Berkeley EECS and don't get in, the game is over and you lost. Furthermore, 'downward' shifts of engineering majors are far easier than 'upward' shifts. For example, at Berkeley, it is far easier to switch from EECS to Civil Engineering (although still not automatic), than it is to switch from Civil Engineering to EECS. </p>
<p>Also, at Berkeley, there are certain majors (and certain Schools) that do not accept freshman, but rather will accept only junior. Take the Haas School of Business. To get into the undergraduate business-administration major in the Haas School, you basically have to get admitted into one of the Colleges at Berkeley (usually the College of Letters and Science). Then you have to take all the Haas prereqs in your first 2 years, but with no assurance that you will actually get into Haas. You then apply to Haas at the end of your sophomore year. About 50% will get in. And you can only apply once. So there are plenty of people in Berkeley who came in intending to major in bus-ad, but didn't get into Haas, so they end up having to major in something they don't really want to major in. The same thing is true of the Computer Science major in L&S. It's not automatic, you have to actually apply to the major after completing the prereq coursework, and not everybody who applies gets in. </p>
<p>There are also other places that run various different schools, but in which undergrads are free to switch between them without any need to apply as a transfer. For example, MIT consists of 5 Schools that take undergrads (School of Engineering, School of Science, School of Humanities and Social Science, School of Architecture, and the Sloan School of Management), yet undergrads are completely free to switch among them. If you want to do course 15 (Sloan) but later decide you'd rather do course 6 (EECS), you are completely free to do so. There is no separate admissions requirement.</p>