<p>DS was accepted to UCI in his dream major- Mechanical Engineering. He was accepted to his dream school UCSB in his alternate major- Computer Science. He has heard that it is very difficult to move into ME at Santa Barbara. He is working on it, but if he can't change to ME before May 1st, he is really nervous about accepting to SB. He likes Irvine, but LOVES Santa Barbara. He does not want to major in CompSci. What to do?</p>
<p>is it possible if he studies at UCI for a year and transfer to UCSB next year? Then he will have both his dream major and dream school…</p>
<p>It’s still possible to transfer into ME, even though he didn’t get accepted at first. As long as he follows the requirements and gets good grades (the important and competitive part), he’ll get in. </p>
<p>Also, the undergraduate major would not matte as much. So picking the dream school would be definitely a better choice than picking the dream major. The worst scenario, if he can’t get in ME at UCSB by the time he graduates, he always apply to ME in the grad school, which matter much much more than what he majors in undergrad.</p>
<p>if one majors in computer science, do they let you take mechanical engineering classes ???</p>
<p>@Minnymom - If computer science falls under Letters and Science Department than it will be impossible to transfer to Mechanical Engineering. Atleast at UCI, you can get dual major of Mechanical Engineering & Aerospace Engineering by taking just two more class. If you are going to graduate school than it doesn’t matter where you get your undergraduate degree from you just have to get high GPA & GRE Scores to apply for graduate school.</p>
<p>Good Luck with your decision.</p>
<p>what happens is in college you never know what to expect… what if the professors aren’t as intriguing as expected? who knows anything can happen. So in that case, it’ll be better for your son to attend an university which offers the fullest rather than limited focused. So in the end, going to a dream school is far more important than going to a college just for a major. I mean, as a parent you know that studying isn’t everything so why send your son to a college just for a major? What about the 4 years he must spend at the college? From what I hear UCSB is one of most active social life campus (while maintaining a high reputation for education). UCSB has less students than UCI which for me… it’s good.</p>
<p>Pick UCSB. Don’t listen to the above posters, it IS possible to switch into engineering from another major at UCSB, albeit a bit difficult. I know this because I am currently a student here and I have friends who are trying to switch in right now. Plus, who knows, your student might change their mind in the next 4 years in what they want to major in. Santa Barbara offers so much, a beautiful campus, wonderful people, and more academic and career-related resources than one could ever need. I definitely do not regret picking UCSB.</p>
<p>however, i really recommend reading my thread “for all cc readers, reflections from a past cc reader”. it might be helpful for your decision making process.</p>