hey guys, so I called both admissions & the cse department and there really isn’t a way around the whole process of having to apply into a major under the engineering school. In my case, i had enough units that satisfied the minimum required to apply, but the lady at the department told me i couldn’t use those classes from the csu i’m currently at to fulfill those requirements. we have to take classes offered at ucsd in order for them to count, and then apply. i also spoke to an old friend of mine who was also accepted as undeclared out of high school but ultimately decided to switch to math-cs since cs became impacted the year that we graduated and she mentioned that it’s ridiculously difficult to get into cs now. (we’re talking close to 4.0s or nothing). math-cs follows the same path as cs, except you’re going to have to take a lot more math.
so, ultimately it’s up to you to decide what you want to do. if you feel you can handle the rigor of the classes at sd and understand the risk of not being able to get your major and are ok with being math-cs or something else as a backup plan, then go for it. if you want to be on the safe side like multiple other people have mentioned on this thread, go where you’re accepted as your desired major. in the long run, it’s your skill set that matters and what you’ve done on your own. a math-cs major can do all the things a cs major can (open source projects, etc). i’m still deciding whether i should take the risk or not, but it’s looking a little like a no at this point. i’ll still be going to transfer triton day though so maybe i’ll see some of you there!
I wasn’t told much through e-mail they just told me that I need to declare a non capped major for now, then I can apply each quarter after the screening courses have been completed. Screening courses which can be found on the capped major website. However, I am a electrical engineering major, I am not sure how hard it is switch into that major.
I guess we’ve have to wait until triton day. If not I’ll probably end up at UCSB or UCD, but biochem/chem at UCSD does look interesting since I am interested in med school and I can use that to finish my pre-reqs for that. Surprising that isn’t a cap major hah.
So I spoke to admissions today, and they told me that there is absolutely no way to go from undeclared to CS or any impacted major for that matter. The lady basically said that even if you applied, you would not be considered (even after taking 8 units of CS there). I was a little shocked. Not sure if something has changed this year. I really don’t want to do Math-CS, so I guess it’s another year at CC for me.
It’s unacceptable to study AT LEAST one more year in order to cover the classes at UCSD that we already had taken at CC. And even after that they don’t guarantee that we will be put in major. Moreover, financial aid, grants and all that help is limited, so it is needed to take a loan to cover that extra year.
@lenocturne Damn. I wouldn’t doubt that… a huge chunk of UCSD is Computer Science. I’ll ask about that in the next few days and if I get the same answer it’s starting to look like I’m gonna be going to UCI instead.
So I just had a speaker from UCSD admissions come into my CC earlier. Literally everyone present was undeclared (CS was their 1st choice). Essentially what they told me is that anyone admitted as undeclared/alternate major had met the GPA/qualifications/course requirements for UCSD itself but not their specific major. For instance there was something about mechanical engineering’s GPA in particular being cutoff somewhere around 3.5/3.6. They then mentioned that for CS it could’ve been upwards of 3.8 or so. This is given that you completed the “screening courses” for your particular CC.
All engineering majors are currently impacted for transfers. Math-CS has recently become impacted too so taking that alternative is going to be tough to do as well. CS department members will be present during Transfer Triton day if anyone is interested in speaking with them regarding this as they are the ones that’ll decide whether or not you’ll be admitted to the major. You’re going to have to take a few quarters of courses before you can be screened to transfer into CS and your chances of getting in are dependent on how many people are in the major/want to switch to the major. Overall I’ve heard that you have to maintain a 3.9/4.0 to even have a shot.
This is all I can remember off the top of my head from the speaker but if you have any questions/I wasn’t clear just let me know. Honestly the whole thing just pushed me away from UCSD. At this point I think I’ve decided on UCI where I at least know I’m in. To any of you considering taking the chance, best of luck! I wouldn’t say it’s impossible but it’s still going to be pretty tough.
Transfer Triton day today. Things aren’t looking any better for any undeclared engineering transfers They tried to promote other non-engineering majors for the most part. Guessing that’s a big part of admitting all these extra undeclared students. They didn’t give any exact statistics but stated that chances were low. If you’re really bent on UCSD, definitely shoot for it if you’re willing to work extremely hard your first few semesters. Otherwise, definitely stick with a backup school or alternative.
@cyan96 They had a full powerpoint there. Really wish i took pictures or something. If I remember correctly:
Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering Alternative:
-Physics with specialization in astrophysics BS
Computer Science/Eng Alternative:
-Cog Sci Specialization in Computation
NanoEngineering
-Physics Specialization in Materials Physics
These are just the ones I remember. Aside from that they urged us to consider all of the non-capped majors the school had to offer. As long as it’s not capped, you can put yourself right into it.
Basically, on Triton’s Day they wanted to say us that Admitted as undeclared major = NOT admitted. Who was there agrees that those two women did not believe in what they were trying to advertise about other not impacted majors. Yes, there is still a choice and those alternate majors are BS (not just BA). But, BioChemistry, Cog Sci, or Marine studies are the majors that would be useful only when we will be staying in the line to file for unemployment benefits and tell nice stories about our incredible scientific researches. In reality, the interviewer does not care what school the UCSD is if we cannot do real computer science stuff. Math- CS can teach us how to solve differential equations, but not coding. If you check classes for Math-CS you will figure out that basically all CS classes are either introduction or simple level. So, the suggestion is to accept that school which gives us major we want!
They tried to promote other non-engineering majors for the most part. Guessing that’s a big part of admitting all these extra undeclared students. They didn’t give any exact statistics but stated that chances were low. If you’re really bent on UCSD, definitely shoot for it if you’re willing to work extremely hard your first few semesters. Otherwise, definitely stick with a backup school or alternative.