You will be at a disadvantage with 2 capped majors since it is highly unlikely that you will get into your alternate major if it is capped. Their is limited space for capped majors so applicants that selected your alternate major as first choice will have priority over you.
There is nothing wrong in listing 2 capped majors especially if you do not want to study an alternate non- capped major, just realize you do reduce your chances of being admitted.
You may be accepted as Undeclared with no guarantee you can change into your preferred majors later. I understand your point and if you are happy with this strategy then great.
I have been on CC for 10 years and only very rarely have I seen students getting admission into a capped alternate major.
From what I heard, UCSD admits into the university as a whole first, so they don’t consider an applicant’s intended major until after the initial decisions. I understand that getting into a capped major is difficult, but I was inquiring more along the lines of getting into the school itself. I think it’s better if I rephrase my question. Do I still have an equal chance of getting into the school as undeclared if I selected 2 capped majors? I’m completely fine with being accepted undeclared. Thank you for your response!
Yes, UCSD admits into the University first so if you are competitive enough for admission into the University but not into your selected majors, then Undeclared is not a disadvantage if you are happy with that option. Getting into the University first requires meeting one threshold and then the major admissions will require meeting a 2nd threshold.
For many students that are applying to capped majors, it is all or nothing. The choice between a direct admit into their choice major(s) vs. just admission to UCSD is not an option.
My son applied to UC SAN to computer science a capped major . He had a specific path he wants to take for school and is not interested is an uncapped major so he did not list one . He understands he may not get his first choice and he may not accept the second choice . I hate waiting
My daughter applied to 2 capped majors in 2021, Computer Science and CSE (Alternate). Didn’t get into either but was accepted undeclared. In hindsight CSE as an alternate was probably a poor choice as they are equally competitive and anyone not getting into CS is likley not getting into CSE. For reference, 3.92/4.25/4.75 12 AP/3 DE courses, heavy math/science emphasis.
Thank you so much for your reply! Wow, goes to show just how competitive the CS field is. When your daughter applied, did UCSD recommend that she change her alternate choice to an un-capped major? What made her decide to keep it?
No such recommendation by UCSD. We also knew that they admitted into the school first, then the major but had no idea CS/CSE was that competitive. Reality was she was probably below average for the admit pool to CS. Kept the alternate because she was neutral between UCSD/UCI/UCSB and figured one would come through
Probably another competitive capped major like mechanical engineering. An alternative uncapped might have been applied math (not sure its uncapped or not).
The question I still have is what type of look does the alternate get once they are out of consideration for the primary? If its evaluated within the context of the ultra competitive CS pool then the chances are likely a lot lower. With the amount of applications, I cant imagine they have the resources to give alternate majors the same consideration as the primary.
@HS_kid:
UCSD has always had a statement on their website recommending that students applying to Capped majors consider applying to a Non-capped major as an alternate. This is the first year that have actually emailed students regarding changing from 2 Capped majors.
My son last year applied to CS as his first choice, and Math-CS as his alternate (which I don’t think is capped.) He was admitted to Math-CS. He had a GPA of 4.0 UW 4.72 W, 10 AP classes + 3 college classes, with a heavy STEM emphasis. So I think they do look seriously at the alternate choice. He ended up choosing UC Davis because he got into CS there.
I have noticed a problem on my UCSD application portal because, in the Major Information Category, my alternate major does not show on the portal. I have double-checked that I did select an alternate major which is Cognitive Science on the UC application. Does anyone have the same problem? I checked the portal weeks ago and everything was fine at that time.
Maybe it is just a glitch that it is not appearing on the portal. But even if your second choice major has disappeared in the system somehow, it seems that the only consequence might be that you could be admitted as Undeclared rather than as your second choice major… wouldn’t that be correct?
And in that case, once you are an enrolled student, it looks like it would not be difficult to declare the Cognitive Science major. I am looking at the FAQ here: FAQs