Hey everyone, I was recently accepted into a couple of UC schools, including UCSD, UC Davis, and UCSB. However, when I applied to UCSD, I did not see an “Engineering - Undeclared” major like the other schools, so I applied to “Physical Science - Undeclared” instead, thinking that engineering fell into that category. So, I have been accepted into Physical Science at UCSD and into Engineering majors at the other two colleges. I have recently learned that the Engineering program and Physical Science program at UCSD are separate and I will need to transfer to Engineering. This is particularly disheartening due to the fact that I feel confident that I could have been accepted into the Engineering program if I simply listed it because of my high school math and science performance. I want to attend UCSD due to their great academics, location, and even a friend attending, but I know that it will be fairly difficult to transfer into the engineering program because it is capped and don’t know if I want to take the risk of not being accepted after attending the school for a year. Any advice?
Thanks
I know a friend who applied to the wrong nursing program at CSULB and was able to switch without problems during orientation. Though some schools like UCLA with impacted majors such as economics will be hard/not allow to switch into if declared a different major. If you live in SD or near the area, I would take the drive to talk with an express counselor about the issue. Or first go to a local community college and talk with the counselor there how you can get in touch with a UCSD representative. Or call admissions directly at UCSD.
@Nickthecuber: UCSD has very specific instructions if you want to switch to any of the “capped majors” which includes all the Engineering majors. You can try to contact UCSD admissions and possibly appeal for the major change, but how can you prove that you mistakenly picked the wrong the major on the application? I do not think UCSD can do anything about it other than explain the procedure for switching major once you enroll. UCSD is not offer an “Undeclared Engineering Major” so you would have had to designate a specific engineering major on your application along with an alternate uncapped major.
Here is some information about changing majors: https://students.ucsd.edu/academics/advising/majors-minors/capped-majors.html
I don’t think that I can do anything about it either except going there for a year and trying to transfer, but I will email the admissions office to make sure. With that in mind, do you recommend that I attend UCSD due to their prestige or go to another school?
I would go for the direct admit, unless you are willing to risk staying in the Physical science major at UCSD. Both UCD or UCSB will give an excellent education in Engineering, so it is more about “fit”. Which campus would you prefer spending 4 years attending? Prestige is not what employers are looking for in an Engineering graduate, it is the skill set that you can bring to the job.
Thanks for the advice! Btw, why do you rule out UCSB? I’ve heard that it is fairly strong in engineering, better than UC Davis on some websites, and has a much better social atmosphere.
I did not rule out UCSB. I posted that both UCD and UCSB would be excellent schools for Engineering. Pick the one you like best.
Oh, misread it. I though you said UCD and UCSD. My mistake
Thank you all very much for your input!