<p>I applied to UCLA as a Political Science major, but now I wish I had applied as a Psychology major. The page on assist reads "students originally admitted under other majors will not be permitted to change their major to Pre-Psychology or Psychology or to double major in Psychology"</p>
<p>Is there any way I can change the major and personal statement on my UC application?</p>
<p>This sucks because now I'm not very motivated to finish my Spring courses in Poli Sci. So it's either I do a major I don't like, or take on loans and go to USC, or settle for CSUN. Moving out of LA is not an option for me =(</p>
<p>SMCguy, you need to call UCLA or e-mail them. Tell them that you would like to change your major from poly-sci to psychology and have a good reason why.</p>
<p>I think you need to re-evaluate and question your position. Ask your self if you NEED a psych undergrad degree. If you don’t, and don’t plan to use it as a means for a grad psych degree, then maybe just enter UCLA as a poly science major and see how you like it or switch into another major if you hate poly sci. When you transfer in, you’re generally free to take whatever classes you want(with some exceptions in some departments-film, etc). I transferred in this Fall 2009 as an art history major, then switched to philosophy, and now I’m thinking about Comp Lit(still undecided). Last quarter, Fall, I took 2 psych upper division courses, and I wasn’t even in the psych department. I thought the two psych classes would be interesting, and one of them was, but at UCLA psych(at least the 2 classes i took) were VERY scientific, or were trying hard to be scientific. </p>
<p>The thing I’ve come to realize at UCLA is that they offer A LOT A LOT of courses in many departments. Sometimes the majors that you think will be the most interesting, or will end up being the major you think you want, turn out to be something different(or at least the classes tend to either disappoint if you have certain expectations). By this I mean, you might find more “psych” type classes in say Literature departments or even poly sci classes. ONe class I dropped this quarter from my schedule was in the german department and had predominant readings of freud, and other psychologist. In some poly science departments, you also get readings of different psychologists and philosophers(its just a matter of picking the right classes and looking at the reading list beforehand).</p>
<p>Also, even if you don’t major in psych or poly sci at UCLA, you could technically take as many upper division psych classes as long as there isn’t a restriction for non majors. From my experience, the restrictions aren’t stringent. I think the restriction tends to do more with enrollment times. Seniors and juniors in the department get first dibs, and after that, anyone from any department can enroll in the courses. As long as you’re making progress in your non-psych major, you could end up taking as many courses in the psych department that it would be considered a double major. It just won’t say that in your degree, but you could generally write it on your resume. Your transcripts would show all the courses you’ve taken while at UCLA to prove your ability to understand psych as if you had majored in it(assuming you planned on a psych grad degree and needed the psych undergrad degree as a qualifier of some sort).</p>
<p>Lastly, if you’re UCLA material, I personally wouldn’t settle for CSUN just because you want a diploma to read “psychology” on it. I think you’d be doing yourself a disservice, and if you’re staying in LA, UCLA’s name will carry more weight than CSUN.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone, especially liek0806!! I’m probably going to stick with Poli Sci because I really want to get in. Later, I’ll look at possible double majors. =) ok I fee a lot better. I love this board!</p>
<p>lol SMCguy I’m in the same predicament for Cal. I want to switch from philosophy to psychology. On top of that, however, I have to do practically all of my premed requirements…at Cal no less. It looks like I’ll be staying for at least 2.5 years and using both summers.</p>
<p>Though, one thing I do know is that these universities want you to work on what you’re passionate about. I asked on this board whether I could make the major switch at Cal, and many said that Psych is capped so it would be nearly impossible. Despite this, I have spoken to both an alumnus and a member of the admissions department, and they say that you can switch as long as you have the major prereqs completed and great grades in those prereqs/obviously strong interest. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if the system is the same at UCLA, but I would imagine that it wouldn’t be much different. Either way, there’s always the double major option as you mentioned above, or you could just minor too.</p>