Everyone who got accepted to College of Letters and Science has the same message. I think even for high demand majors. It’s basically admission to L&S. Your kid needs to complete the pre-reqs and declare the major at the end of freshman year.
At New High Demand Majors Policy from the College of Letters & Science - Office of Undergraduate Admissions, it says for high demand major, “seat is guaranteed” but also says “subject to completing prerquisites” which I understand as maintaining a 3.3 avg on the prereq courses. IS my understanding correct that it is the same prereq as last year for CS. That would mean it is still not a guarantee
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It is a guarantee in that if you meet the requirements, there will be a spot for you in the major.
subject to completing the prerequisites, maintaining good academic standing in the College, and filing a declaration form
The general statement does not state a specific GPA so I would get confirmation if the requirement is still a 3.3 GPA for CS.
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My kid’s first and second choice are both impacted majors from L&S. We called UCB undergraduate admissions office today to clarify which one gets him into the college. The answer we got is the College of L&S only considered first choice major when evaluating students. So it is his first choice major that he has a reserved seat. If he can full-fill the pre-requisites he won’t be turned down.
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D23 is deciding between UCB and UCSD (7th College). Her major is Molecular and Cellular Biology. We are in the Bay Area. Thoughts and pros/cons you can share based on experience? Some factors are academic stress, dorm facilities, safety, research opportunities. TIA
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I believe “good academic standing” at UCB is maintaining a GPA of 2.0. And you won’t “meet a pre-requisite” if you got below a C- in a course. So I translate their FAQ as get a C- or better in the pre-requisite classes. If you’re still seeing a 3.3 requirement on the web site, I suspect it’s just not updated yet. But I agree with @Gumbymom, best to check to be certain as this is a new program.
We are happy that our son is attending our local University UCSD. Even though we don’t see him much, we have a mind set that we can see him any time if we want to. We don’t miss him much.
Another good thing is that if he forgets to bring something from home, we can hand deliver. So convenient.
Sorry, this is just parents’ point of view.
The point is it is nice that your kids go to schools nearby.
I got in for a Haas major but I was obviously admitted straight to L&S, is there any advantage this gives me at all applying to Haas undergrad? Also how competitive do we think Econ LS will be to get into?
According to the UCB Econ declaration website:
Students who meet the admission requirements as listed above are guaranteed admission into the major. Instructions for officially declaring the major will be provided in the admission notification. Students are responsible for taking the necessary steps to ensure that they are officially declared in the Economics major after admission.
I cannot speak to how competitive the actual pre-req courses are but you should assume that since you will be attending a competitive UC, that the students will be equally qualified.
Here is the HAAS academic guide: https://haas.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/business_administration_major_map.pdf
Early Acess program for Freshman: https://haas.berkeley.edu/undergrad/admissions/freshmen-applicants/
Make sure you know the pre-req courses required for HAAS since most but not all of the Econ courses overlap with the HAAS requirements. Being an Econ major does have a large overlap with the HAAS requirements, but I do not see any special advantage when it comes to applying for admission.
This is how you will be evaluated:
The following factors are evaluated and weighted as listed below for the Continuing UCB & Transfer Applicant Pools:
50% – Grades & Coursework
35% – Essays
15% – Activities & Awards
Admission Interviews: The information submitted as part of the written applications typically gives us the full picture of a student’s experience and aspirations. All applicants have the opportunity to submit a video interview along with the application. The video interview is not mandatory but strongly recommended.
https://haas.berkeley.edu/undergrad/admissions/application-process/
Definitely talk to your academic advisor whom will have more insight into how competitive and possible tips on getting into HAAS.
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Awesome, very helpful! I heard Econ was a “high-demand” major that would require a separate application process, would it still just be based on performance in pre-reqs?
High Demand major process: This new process provides peace-of-mind to students by ensuring that their application will be subject to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions holistic review process. If they select the high-demand major when they apply, they will be guaranteed a spot in the major they selected (subject to completing the prerequisites, maintaining good academic standing in the College, and filing a declaration form).
You can ask the academic advisor at orientation about the specific details since it is a new policy.
In this case…you just need 2.0 GPA (you put CS as first choice major)
Hello… Just throwing it out there… my daughter was accepted into the Landscape Architecture program in the College of Environmental Design, and she is really trying to connect with someone that is currently in the program, or was also accepted in, to find out more about it, how it might differ from other university programs (she’s been accepted to several)… We will be visiting near Cal Day (hope to attend, but she has a conflict that may limit that)… really hope to find someone she can discuss things with, or see classrooms in action, have as a guide… TIA!
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This kind of information seems to be a little one sided. I don’t think kids are clamoring to leave Cal, and it had a record number of in-state applications this year. I’ve got two kids there, and a third is on her way. They couldn’t be happier. It’s hard, academically, but I would think that kids would know this going into to it. I’m curious what is meant by ‘toxic culture’.
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My D23 was accepted under Global Studies, one of the high demand majors (which we had no idea was a high demand major).
We have several questions and hope we can find some answers.
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anyone have a student already in this major (Global Studies) and can tell us more about the level of demand of it. Does it have the grade deflation that everyone talks about?
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If she wanted to change her major, how hard is it to do in L & S?
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Does L&S majors have the “grade deflation” or is that more STEM majors and HAAS?
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How is the academic advising in L&S? Is it a fend for yourself advising?
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Anyone’s student done abroad? Does CAL have a good program or does the student have to organize it all themselves and get approval for the program they choose? D23 really wants to go abroad and needs to know that CAL supports it and there is a good established program.
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How are internship opportunities for L&S and more specifically Global Studies (if anyone knows)?
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We live within 35 minutes of the campus, and my D23 is worried it will feel like she never left home. She really wants to have that college experience away from home.
I realize some of these questions may be best for their own separate post but thought I might start here first.
what major?
My son is a first year at Cal, intended MCB. He has not experienced any “toxic” culture, nor would I say anything has been cut throat. He is very busy and as one would expect it’s rigorous and challenging. He has interacted with many students in a collaborative setting and has found other students are happy to study together and help each other out. A year ago I was similarly concerned with the things I heard about the culture at Cal. My son’s experience so far has been great and has not borne out those stereotypes. He has met many people from cultures and backgrounds different than his own and that has been an added bonus. Additionally, choosing to go to school pretty close to home has been the right choice for him. He often chooses to come home via public transportation on the weekend. It’s a nice balance of autonomy at school during the week and seeing family and local friends when he wants to. Not having any air planes involved definitely keeps the cost down for us.
(Also I was on campus Sunday after Spring Break and still have a hard time believing MY kid goes to Cal!!)
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@scrambro and @socofam, sorry! Did not mean to say that UCB is not a good school. We initially tried to convince our son to choose UCB over UCLA. It’s close to home and good college for his major. All we heard about UCB from his friends is negative feedback. We didn’t want to force him after listening to multiple kids.
No one gave a positive feedback like you did. Thank you.
I will remove my comment.
Applied Math and Computer Science
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