Hey everyone,
I was wondering about the best way to get into the L&S college and major of your choice.
It’s my understanding that everyone in L&S is admitted undeclared; does this mean that a major like “Chicano Studies,” undoubtedly less popular than something like Computer Science (L&S), has the same difficulty to enter as the latter? What role, then, does selecting a major on the UC app play?
If any, I would think the major selected would connect to your EC’s and interests, thus increasing your chances of admission. I’m interested in going into intellectual property law, specifically dealing with software. Thus, a Computer Science major makes sense and is my desired major. However, my EC’s are definitely more oriented for the legal realm (president of speech/debate, mock trial attorney, MUN treasurer, etc) than for the computer science/technology realm (I work for a startup during my senior year and will be taking AP computer science as a senior, but that’s pretty much it.)
In conclusion, wouldn’t it boost my chances of admission and be smarter to apply as a political science or legal studies major, but declare computer science after acceptance into L&S?
Thank you for your thoughts!
Furthermore, after selecting a non-CS major in L&S and being accepted, how difficult is it to declare CS as a major? Does anyone know the process? 
All L&S frosh applicants are considered as one pool; there are no differing admission thresholds based on intended major (unlike in CoE). Intended major may affect an admissions reader based on consistency with your essays and other application items.
Some majors in L&S are capped enrollment and require earning a college GPA higher than 2.0 in their prerequisites to get into the major. L&S CS is one of them, and currently requires a 3.30 GPA in CS 61A, 61B, and 70 to declare the major. See https://eecs.berkeley.edu/academics/undergraduate/cs-ba .
Note that taking the patent exam with a non-ABET-accredited CS bachelor’s degree (L&S CS is not ABET accredited) requires including some non-CS science courses. See https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/OED_GRB.pdf (section III.B.iv and III.B.x for non-ABET-accredited CS).
Thanks for your response!
Section “x,” “Other Acceptable Coursework,” states,
“Also, under Option 4, computer
science courses that stress theoretical foundations, analysis, and design, and include
substantial laboratory work, including software development will be accepted. Such
courses include the representation and transformation of information structures, the
theoretical models for such representations and transformations, basic coverage of
algorithms, data structures, software design with a laboratory, programming languages
with a laboratory, and computer organization and architecture.”
Does the L&S CS curriculum satisfy this? In that case, can I use the “semester hours” from the curriculum (given that they amount to 32 hours) in addition to 8 semester of hours of physics or chemistry to satisfy option 4, meeting the requirement of 40 hours?
Thanks!
https://eecs.berkeley.edu/resources/undergrads/cs/degree-reqs lists the following courses for the L&S CS major:
12 units: CS 61A, 61B, 61C
4 units: EE 16A
4 units: upper division CS design course
8 units: upper division CS courses
8 units: upper division CS or EE courses
The above add to 36 units of CS or EE courses that appear to qualify under the patent exam criteria; this does not include the 7 units of upper division technical electives, some (but not all) of which appear to qualify, or CS 70, which is often viewed as a math course.
But you would need to add the 8 units of physics or chemistry “for science or engineering majors”, since L&S CS does not require such courses.
Hi. I just started as a freshman at UC Berkeley as L&S CS. On my application, I put “undeclared - intending mathematical and physical sciences” but honestly I don’t think it matters what major you put. You are applying to the college as a whole. And you don’t have to put CS because when you come here you are undeclared regardless. Everyone in L&S is undeclared. The only way to declare is to take the classes and then meet the gpa cap (which I am currently stressing out about and I have a midterm on Thursday 
). It’s a bad idea to put political science if you want CS. Instead just put undeclared not some random major.
Thanks for your response, Rosa!
Why is it a bad idea to put political science if I want L&S CS? It is my understanding that whatever is put on the application is not considered when a major is declared since everyone comes in undeclared. The only reason I am considering putting political science is because my extra curriculars seem political science oriented (speech/debate president, mock trial attorney, model UN treasurer, political campaigner, etc)
Does putting undeclared lower one’s admission chances? I’m not much of a mathematics guy (even though I get A’s in my school classes - my SAT 1 math is just low compared to my writing and critical reading).
Would putting something like “undeclared - intending social sciences” be a “bad idea” for L&S CS?
Thank you for your help!!
It does not really matter what you put down if you apply to L&S. However, consistency of your essays and extracurriculars to what major you put down as intending can be a soft factor influencing how an admissions reader grades your application.
What you put down as your intended major may affect CalSO orientation advising in terms of suggestions on what courses to take.