undeclared major

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Irvine
1

I am an upcoming freshman for UCI (class of 2022).
I applied to UCI as computer science and computer engineering, but got accepted as undeclared major.

Is it hard to change major from undeclared to CS or CE? I went through the website for uci major-changing (http://changeofmajor.uci.edu/). So if I meet the requirements that are listed on the website perfectly, am I guaranteed to change or UCI only selects number of students (top students) since the spot is limited?

If it’s not guaranteed even if I meet all the requirements perfectly, then I don’t want to go because I don’t want to pay a lot of money and not able to get the major that I wanted.

BTW, If I am not going, then is it easy to transfer from community college to UC’s?

So which one is easier?

  1. go to UCI as undeclared and work hard to change major to CS or CE
  2. go to community college and work hard, then transfer to UCI(or other UCs that are better than UCI) as CS or CE

Which one has a higher chance to get into CS or CE major in UC?

Thank you !

2

It is not guaranteed that if you meet UCI’s CS/CSE requirements you will be able to change majors since it may depend upon how many spots are available at the time you apply to transfer. I would contact UCI and ask how many Undeclared majors are able to switch so you have an idea of your chances before deciding one way or another.

3

Thanks for replying!

I went to UCI last week and asked about changing major.

People in admission office and department of engineering said that if I meet the requirement, then it is guaranteed to transfer, but people from Undergraduate/Undeclared Advising Program said that it’s not guaranteed because there is an limited number of students to transfer.

Everyone answers differently.

I also contact UCI online but some don’t answer my questions and some told me to ask other department or program. I can’t get an exact answer. I don’t know what to do and I have to make a decision before 05/01 whether to attend or not.

4

Would you be happy at UCI if you are unable to get into CS and pursue another major?

5

Thanks for replying! I won’t be happy and satisfied if I don’t get the major that I am interested in at UCI. That’s why I am stuck and don’t know what to do.

6

Any universities where you got a direct admit into CS or CE? Since you are declared, did you ask how easy it will be to get the required pre-req courses to switch majors? Will you have lower priority in getting the CS classes thus prolonging your time at UCI to graduate?

7

From what I understand, it is not extremely difficult to change your major from undeclared to CS. HOWEVER, what is difficult is enrolling in the intro programming classes that are required to change your major. The intro programming classes are usually major restricted and only have a few slots left for nonmajors. I believe many students enroll during summer session to fulfill the requirements. I would ask the students on the UCI subreddit for advice. Most kids who post on Reddit are CS/CE majors.