What major and school to apply to?

[jimbojambo1]

@ucbalumnus

At some colleges, CS may be offered in both the engineering and arts & science divisions, but in some other colleges, it may be offered in only one. At some colleges, CS may be in its own division (e.g. CMU, UCI). Changing division may be difficult at some colleges.

At some colleges, you may have to apply for direct admission to the CS major, since it can be difficult to enter the major later.

I’m generally talking about those in which CS is offered in arts and also in engineering.

Part of my question pertains to what to do once I’ve found a school with CS only in Arts (i.e. no separate engineering program). Do I apply to East Asia studies or computer science?

@Knowsstuff

These subject are so diverse. Most engineering students have no clue what real engineering is until like their senior year. Not having math background at some schools would be a big no. Most schools for engineering want you to start math at Calc 1 so having precalc is important or Calc 1 now.

This is valuable insight on UMich (one of the schools I’m applying to). Thank you for that. I’m currently taking AP Calculus BC (and this time around I’m actually doing well unlike freshman + sophomore year), so I believe at least in regards to that I am qualified.

Would it be a red flag to switch intended major at a school like Harvard? Last year, I applied as comp sci. Would it be bad news if I suddenly indicated I would rather major in East Asia Studies?