<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I was wondering how hard it is to change majors once you enter letters and sciences, because there are two majors im considering right now which have the exact same pre reqs. If i change my mind once decisions are out can i still change majors? the two majors im considering are political economy and economics both in L&S. please help thanks</p>
<p>You can change majors after decisions are out because you’re admitted to L&S and not a specific major. At CalSO, if you select say political econ, just go with that CalSO group. If you choose econ, go with that group. But yeah, you can definitely change your major after being admitted, and this does include impacted or capped majors if you meet the requirements (normally a 3.2+ GPA).</p>
<p>How much harder is it to get into econ in compairason to political economy?</p>
<p>Economics is a capped major; once at Berkeley, you need to apply to declare:</p>
<p>[Prospective</a> Majors](<a href=“http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/econ/ugrad/prospective.shtml]Prospective”>Applying to the Economics Major | Department of Economics)</p>
<p>Political Economy is currently not a capped major.</p>
<p>[Office</a> of Undergraduate Advising: List of Majors](<a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/major/majorlist.html]Office”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/major/majorlist.html)</p>
<p>Therefore i should apply to political economics and i will be allowed to change to economics if i change my mind right?</p>
<p>If I had the choice to pick between political econ and Economics, and I was trying to maximize my chance of acceptance, I’d definitely go with political econ. You can switch to Econ once you get to Cal, pending you meet the requirements (prereqs done and GPA).</p>
<p>Thanks emilsinclair9, you made me feel much better about the situation lol, i ultimately will go into economics i feel. just looking to maximize my chances :)</p>
<p>@ koachk: Good call, and no problem! :)</p>
<p>@ sunnybanana: I’m positive they evaluate by major, but admit through L&S. In other words, if I apply into Psych (impacted/capped) instead of Ethnic Studies (or something with a low admitted GPA), I’ll have a much worse chance of being admitted. That said, it DOES matter what major you apply into. </p>
<p>The Econ/Poli Econ is a great example…perfect actually. The prereqs are the same, this means that essentially if Political Econ has say a 3.65 admit rate (I’d guess it’s between 3.6 and 3.75). And say Econ has around a 3.8-3.95 average admitted GPA, it becomes obvious to apply into the easier major to get into. Once at Cal, go ahead and switch majors.</p>
<p>Little tricks like this are the fun part of the admissions process. Learning these things substantiates how useful College Confidential is.</p>
<p>I’m a bit confused over why CAL would admit by major (in reference to the applying as a poli-econ major over econ as it may increase the chances of getting in) if they (probably) know that people will be switching to their real major of choice at CalSO… </p>
<p>Sorry if this question is confusing to read…</p>
<p>Believe it or not, tons of students change their major all the time. The reason some majors are capped is because too many students want to major in those fields. The funny thing about transferring is exactly what you’re pointing out: Why would Cal allow students to so easily switch into another major? Now to be fair, Haas is not an option to switch into, and neither are other things like not in L&S (I’m only really familiar with L&S, as it’s my college). Read up online for individual majors outside of L&S how this works.</p>
<p>But as for L&S, pending you have above a 3.2 GPA or so (and nearly all transfers do), you can actually use your CCC GPA to swap majors and get into a capped one. It’s just a weird flaw in the admissions process. It does weed out bad students that came in as freshmen (i.e. those with under a 3.2 that want to major in a capped major), but transfers can switch. </p>
<p>I know this because I did this as well as a bunch of my friends here. I’m not too proud to admit it, but hey, I loved Cal and wanted to be here. I had a 3.75 GPA, but I wanted to be sure (or more sure) I’d get in. I’d definitely recommend this for borderline applicants.</p>
<p>Does the capped major ever not allow you in because you entered in as another major?</p>
<p>@ emil-- (: I really appreciate your quick & informative response! </p>
<p>I’m pretty much sitting on the fence with which major I should apply for (English or Art History???) but to your knowledge, do you know of anyone who has gotten into L&S for English and had a pretty good GPA but bleh volunteer/extracirricular experinces (T__T apologies for being so specific…)? Ive heard from a few ppl on here (okay jk maybe just 1…) and from friends that CAL accepted people they knew with uh, mediocre GPA or are “dumb as a doorknob” (says a friend)… </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>@ berkeleyappeal: Good question. Yes they do reject if you do not meet the requirements (prereqs and GPA). However, being that nearly all of you have a 3.2+ GPA, you guys will be able to switch into capped majors (Yes: psych, econ, poli sci, etc). UCLA is much more strict about switching majors. </p>
<p>@ sunnybanana: Tbh, I know a lot of English majors. I don’t know their specifics (like how many EC’s/volunteering), but I know their GPA’s hovered around 3.7 at CCC. And lol you have literally all types of people at Cal. I do know some brilliant, Harvard-bound ones, some normal ones, and some strangely “dumb as a doorknob” as well. Yup, they exist at Cal too.</p>
<p>@emilsinclair9 Last question lol, how hard was it for you to switch into a capped major?</p>
<p>@ koachk: Really easy because I had all of my prereqs done :).</p>
<p>Emilsinclair9,</p>
<p>I am deciding to apply to Berkeley, but I am choosing to apply as a Sociology Major or Political Economy Major. I will have all the Pre-reqs done for both majors by Spring of 2012. Which major is relatively easier to get into? My essay will be about sociology since Im doing Soc. at UCI, UCLA.</p>