At UCLA, my son applied for their Business Economics (pre), I noticed that it would require to submit application to declare that as major. What happened if he was not qualified to declare that as major? What options that he would have?
If your student is competitive enough to get accepted to UCLA, unless there are extenuating circumstances beyond their control, declaring the Business Econ major should not be too difficult especially if they follow the recommendations/advice and schedule plan from the Economics Undergrad counselors. The counselors can also offer alternatives if your student is unable to declare the major.
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@Gumbymom thank you!
In case the kid applies ED to a non UC university and get in (wins the lottery) do they have to go to their UC application and withdraw from the campuses selected? How does the process work?
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Withdrawal for UCLA application:
Go to the UCLA admissions website at: Contact Us | UCLA Undergraduate Admission and use the online submission form to submit the withdrawal of his or her application. There is a button to click entitled “Withdrawing your application.”
If you’ve applied to multiple University of California schools, you’ll need to withdraw your application from each campus individually.
Part of the ED process and agreement is if you do get an ED acceptance, you are expected to withdraw all other applications.
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I just got off the phone with my freshman Bruin, and she is so happy at UCLA. I wanted to come here and share a bit about her experience and I’m also happy to answer questions about her experience if anyone has any.
My daughter is a double major in History and English. She aspires to be a journalist and she was selected for the Daily Bruin after a competitive application process. She is not in Greek Life and she lives in a classic triple dorm room.
Some of what she has mentioned loving about UCLA:
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The way the campus is set up, with dorms “on the hill” and campus right beside it. There are probably 15,000 kids living on the hill in dorms of all kinds, and she loves that everyone is together and not spread all over campus. She also loves that she has a home base and then “goes to campus” across the street. The guaranteed housing means that a lot of 2nd and 3rd year students also live on the hill. Others live in campus owned apartments nearby
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The architecture and the beauty of the campus. She often sends me pictures of gorgeous historic buildings, the trees, the sunset. It really is a beautiful place. The campus is also walkable. No need for shuttles to get you from one side to the other, like many UCs. There are a lot of hills and stair, so there was some complaining when she arrived—her muscles are adjusted now and she also knows some shortcuts.
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The food. UCLA’s recognition for its food is deserved. We ate at The Study (on the hill) last weekend at Parents Weekend, and it was as good as a restaurant. There are so many choices, too. At least half a dozen on the hill plus more on campus.
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Her classes and professors. This year, as a freshman, she has a professor who discovered the Kuiper Belt and another who received a teaching award from President Obama and is beloved by all students. She’s in the cluster program and took a Fiat Lux class on LA architecture. The work is no joke. She’s constantly writing papers and taking tests. The quarter system is intense. Her roommate is a stem major and is struggling through calculus and chemistry. These are “weed out” classes and can be competitive.
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The social scene. Kids definitely work hard and play hard. Most people (my daughter included) put work first. But they also know how to cut loose. What my daughter likes is the wide variety of things to do. Fraternities throw a lot of parties, but there’s always a lot to choose from. She’s in a few clubs and is meeting a ton of people all the time. And she hangs with her floormates a lot, too. She has met people from all over and has found most of them to be truly nice and welcoming. Her girlfriends look out for each other, too.
She’s only been there for about 6 weeks but she really feels she made the right choice. She says UCLA is the full package—great classes, fun social life, great quality of life. Of course things are sometimes annoying (like the week the fire alarms broke and went off at all hours of the night). But all told, she’s thrilled.
During the application process, she didn’t think she’d end up at UCLA but now she can’t imagine being anywhere else.
Maybe this will be helpful to those considering whether to apply to ucla. Hang in there through the application and decision process. You will find a great home, too
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Hi, all. My son is applying to UC’s this round. Is it still true that UCLA will not consider alternate major if the 1st major is in engineering, therefore he should just select another major in engineering? Is the 2nd major in engineering ever considered? Also, how easy is it to switch majors once in school of engineering? Thank you!
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According to the UCLA website, they will only consider the 1st choice major.
From their website:
The UC application allows you to choose an alternate major, but we only guarantee the review of first-choice majors.
Changing majors within the College of Engineering would be easier than outside of the College however, it will depend upon which major to major change is wanted.
Here is the policy: https://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/change-of-major/
My advice is always apply to the major the applicant wants to pursue.
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Thank you!
Hi! Does anyone know UCLA’s policy on twins? Do they review them separately/together? Just curious. My brother and I are both applying to the UC’s with different majors
All UC’s will review each twin separately as individuals. They give no preference to siblings/family members etc…
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This question is asked ad nauseum over the years, but for a potential humanities/social science major, is there any disadvantage to putting down undeclared as your major? (I’m going to ask this on UCSD board as well)
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The College (Letters and Sciences) at UCLA does not admit by major so selecting Undeclared is not an issue. Selecting Undeclared usually only becomes an issue if the student decides they want to change major Colleges such as Engineering since meeting the change of major criteria does not guarantee a spot.
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If you apply for a specific major ( like Maths) under college of letters and sciences as your first major, curious as to how the selection process works. E.g.
- If you do not get into a specific major under college of letters and sciences, will they look into your alternate major ? What if you qualify for other majors under letters and sciences school, is it considered ?
- If your alternate major is from school of engineering ( e.g. undeclared), whether that is considered ?
Thank you ,
UCLA does not admit by major for the College of L&S and they only consider your 1st choice major. If not admitted into your choice major, you will not be admitted into the University.
Although an alternate major can be listed, it will not be considered.
From the UCLA Website:
The UC application allows you to choose an alternate major, but we only guarantee the review of first-choice majors.
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If a student gets selected in a college of L&A what are the typical scenarios that students may not get to the ‘selected’ non-capped major after the first year ? Is it purely based on the courses and grades from first year and does it mean HS GPA does not matter at that point ?
Does it mean students have to switch to another major in their second year ?
Thank you,
UCLA does not have capped majors, only competitive majors which are Engineering, Nursing and Economics/Business Economics (found in L&S). Communications is not available for Freshman applicants. Major Requirements - UCLA Communication
Economics:
Pre-Major Requirements:
• Complete all pre-major courses with a 2.5 minimum GPA and a “C” or higher in each course. Note that your grade in the Writing II course is not calculated into your pre-major GPA, however, you must earn a minimum grade of “C” in it.
Details on the link: https://economics.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/8-Econ-Major-Requirements-Worksheet-2021-2022.pdf
Business Economics:
A formula that derives a number called a Primary Score is used for admission to the Business Economics major. A Primary Score of at least a 3.3 is required. You can determine your eligibility for Business Economics by using the Primary Score calculator that is located on the Business Economics page of the Department of Economics website. It can be accessed through Undergraduate | UCLA Economics | UCLA Econ Major | UCLA Economics. Note that you must input grades for all pre-major and upper division major courses (if attempted), your cumulative UCLA GPA, and units completed (under 135) for the calculator to work. If you haven’t completed all pre- major courses, you will have to provide projected grades.
For all the other majors in L&S (exception Communications which is not available for in-coming Freshman), you follow the major course requirements and maintain a specific GPA to declare. You need to check each major of interest for their requirements.
HS GPA no longer factors into declaring a major at UCLA or any other UC after enrolling and attending.
If you are unable to meet the requirements to declare a major like Econ or Business Econ or other highly competitive majors, you can meet with your academic advisor to come up with alternate major plans based on your completed courses.
Since UCLA is a very competitive school to get into, the majority of high caliber students should have no issue in declaring their preferred majors with a few exceptions.
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A post was split to a new thread: How do UC’s consider alternate majors?
UCLA’s Bruin Day, an open house for admitted students, will be on Saturday, April 15, 2023.
No login yet from UCLA. Applied well before the Nov 30th deadline, around 25th or so.
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