Hi, I’m starting my UC application. I heard your chances of getting accepted are higher if you put a declared major. Is this true? I have no idea what I want to major, all I know is that I want to be in the medical field, maybe even a pharmacist or vet.
What major, alt. major would I put for these careers?
For some of the schools, it’s best to apply undeclared because you’ll be undeclared when you’re accepted. For others, it is in your best interest to apply for the specific major you want to be accepted into if it is highly impacts (as it can be hard to impossible to change into certain majors.
Do more research on the UCs that you are interested in and think about what your application looks like in respects to your grades and extracurriculars.
thanks, still looking for input!!
UCSB was very explicit in info session that major does not matter.
Some UC’s will admit by major into some of the schools (Engineering especially) and some will admit you into the UC first, then into your major. Several campuses have capped/impacted majors (Engineering/Biological Sciences). If you apply as Undeclared and you are interested in any of the capped/impacted majors, you may not be able to switch into these specific majors later. You need to check each schools policy on how they admit so see what best fits your situation.
For UCSB, you need to select a specific Engineering major but for L&S, major does not make a difference which is one example.
Here is UCD’s admission policy for example::
Admission decisions are made based upon the qualifications of the applicant pool and the number of available spaces within each academic area:
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences admits by college
College of Biological Sciences admits by college
College of Letters and Science admits by division within the college
(Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies; Mathematics and Physical Sciences; Social Sciences)
College of Engineering admits by academic department
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/freshman-admission-matrix.pdf shows the effect of choosing a major on application.
At some campuses or divisions, choosing a major on application does not affect chances of getting into the campus or division, but allows for the possibility of direct admission to the major as a frosh (though it is possible to be rejected from the major but admitted to the campus as undeclared). If the major is a selective one, then it can be difficult to get into it after enrolling, so it would be better to choose it on application to have the chance of being directly admitted to the major so that you can skip the subsequent competitive admission process.
But some campuses or divisions have you apply to a specific major and you are either admitted to the major or rejected entirely.