I am a freshman at Berkeley that is currently signing up for classes for spring semester, and I’ve realized that I would be much more interested in majoring in bioengineering than the MCB-Neurobiology major I am currently pursuing. I’ve tried to do some research as to how difficult it is to transfer to the college of engineering from L&S and I keep getting scared - the website literally says “Admission via a change of college application is highly unlikely and students should not count on admission through this method” and “If you’re already a freshman at Berkeley, it’s imperative that you work with the advisers in your admitted college to develop an academic plan that prepares you for completion of your intended or already declared major in your current college.”
Is this just to scare me out of trying, or is it actually that difficult to transfer? Is it worth it to still try to change colleges? How difficult will that process be? And what is BioE at Berkeley really like?
https://engineering.berkeley.edu/admissions/undergrad-admissions/change-college shows the procedure.
Expect it to be difficult or competitive to change into any CoE major from a non-CoE division. You can try, but be sure to have a backup plan, whether another major at UCB L&S or transfer to some other campus in bioengineering.
https://engineering.berkeley.edu/academics/undergraduate-guide/degree-requirements/bioe shows a sample four year schedule for bioengineering.