I heard it is a bad idea to pick an easier major for admission and then switch to something more competitive like engineer.
However, how hard is it to switch from one type of engineering to another type of engineering?
I am not sure which type i want to do yet
anyone^^^
also it would be better if it was more specific to UC’s
I don’t know a ton about UCs, but in general for college when you need to apply by major you are best off applying to the major you are interested in studying. If you do otherwise, you might well find yourself at a school you like but stuck in a major you have zero interest in pursuing. Colleges are wise to the ploy of people applying to a less competitive major and then trying to move into a more competitive major and typically try to discourage it my making these type of internal transfers very difficult if not impossible.
IMO your time would be best spent searching out a group of reach, match, and safety schools based on your academic stats and preferred major that appear affordable and that you would be happy to attend
im interested in engineering so how hard is it to switch out of a major like chemE to matE?
Lots of schools of eng have a common eng track and don't admit direct to the eng major until end of soph year anyway. Do your due diligence. For sure the first year for many eng students will follow a common path of calcs and chems and physics, bio etc.
Look up the 4 yr plans,. Then you can see how similar they look in the beginning. As drop out from eng is so common, it is good to have a plan.
My advice is apply to your preferred major at the UC’s. The College of Engineering admits by major but switching within the same college is easier than from a different college.
Depending on the UCs it may or may not be easy to switch within the college. UC davis is relatively easy to switch into engineering and within majors. You need a 2.0 in pre reqs. UCLA on the other hand makes it nearly impossible to switch into the college and even once you are in an engineering major it is still hard to transfer into another major. The colleges are smart enough to counter applicants who try and “game the system”
Depends on the college. Try web searching for “[college] change major [new major]” to find out how difficult it will be to change to the new major. In some cases, it may be less difficult if you are already in the engineering division; in other cases, it may not matter which division or major you are currently in.
Where it is difficult to change into a major, it is generally because the major is enrolled to full capacity, and student interest to change into the major far exceeds any available space that may occur due to higher than predicted attrition.
how is it in UCSB and SLO? for switching within engineering
https://eadvise.calpoly.edu/majors/changing-majors-within-ceng/
https://engineering.ucsb.edu/undergraduate/academic-advising/change-major-college-engineering
Meeting the requirements does not necessarily mean you are guaranteed the major change.
i heard it is nearly impsosible to change majors at SLO? is it true?
so if I were MatE, i can never switch ot other enigneeirngs like BME, ME, EE, etc…
Re: #10
See the first link in #9.
Switching major is possible at SLO, but what trips up most in-coming Freshman is the 1st requirement listed on the links I posted in #9. You have to meet the criteria as an in-coming Freshman for your new major. If you are not qualified for BME/EE/ME as a Freshman applicant in the first place, then it may be difficult to switch your major. This keeps students from selecting an “easier” major for the initial admission acceptance and then switching to a more competitive major later also know as “the backdoor” method.
I also heard getting ur classes is really hard at SLO
especially for Material Engr
@eyemgh is the resident expert on SLO scheduling for Engineering majors but they changed their scheduling priority based on earned units vs. random class registration by last name so getting classes is easier. You will run into class registration issues at many of the schools of interest especially large state schools like UCLA/UCB etc…
If you are picky on class times and professors, then you will have issue any where you go.
If you have not already done a visit to SLO, I suggest you take a tour, talk to some Engineering students, sit in on some classes and form your own opinion. No one can tell you which school is right for you since that is a personal decision so go visit any schools of interest to determine if they will be a good fit.
People who have trouble getting classes at Cal Poly fall into three categories, those who are disorganized, picky about times or rigid about professors. As a student, if you know PASS well and have planned multiple routes through your curriculum so you have multiple possibilities to build a schedule every quarter, don’t dodge times or professors, you’ll have no problems. My son is a rising senior in ME and he’s been locked out of a single class. It’s because he’s so far ahead he was competing against seniors for a class they needed to graduate when he was still a junior. He didn’t get it because graduating seniors have the highest priority.
He is taking it as a senior. He only has 15 hours left his senior year, so he’ll get the bulk of his masters degree done in 4 year. So, no, getting classes isn’t an issue IF you have your ducks in a row.
Switching majors within your “college” shouldn’t be a major issue at all. I’m not quite sure what you mean by college…if you mean your entire college, or your “college” of majors (my school calls each type of academic area a “college”…the college of science, college of liberal arts, etc.
But I’ve switched my major from physics to political science to astrophysics, back to political science, and now international politics/national security, and I’m fine. Partly because I lucked out and the courses that I took in my first 2 years ended up being the required courses for my national security major, even though I didn’t know what I was doing at the time.
So switching from one type of engineering to another type once you start college? Shouldn’t be a problem at all. People change majors all the time. And if you’re staying in the engineering/physical sciences category, they should all have pretty similar classes.
how bout for MatE tho
theres only a few classes and its a small dept. compared to ME
@MrElculver2424, some schools make that very easy. Some schools don’t. The switches you made at your school would not be possible at Cal Poly. Their change of major process is extremely involved. You can’t simply change. You have to go to workshops, take specific classes, get approval of both departments, the list goes on and on. It’s a multi-quarter process. I’ve never run across a CP student who has changed more than once. I don’t know this to be the case elsewhere, but changing majors seems to be more of an ordeal at schools that admit selectively by college or by major. For example, ME is a very difficult admit at Cal Poly. IE is not. Their policy prevents less qualified students from choosing IE as a way to get into ME through the backdoor. At schools where your intended major is not used in the selection process and everyone from Psychology to Engineering to Art History compete for admission in the same pool, switching is usually straightforward.
@eyemgh You’re probably right; I didn’t realize we were talking about a certain college here. I just read and responded to the original post. My fault