October 10th #askfriday
We have a question from one of our repeat #askfriday participant. I love it when we have repeat participant.
The question:
Here is another question. This is about picking a major. A counselor advised us to choose a major like History and then after your freshman year at college, transfer to Computer science ( both in the college of Letters and Science) Since it’s easier to get in as a history major than as a comp. science major. Is this true? Will the UC allow this transfer?
The answer:
Hi there, choosing the “right” major is very difficult. I can imagine where this counselor is coming from – wanting you to select a less selective major in order to be admitted to the UC of your choice. I would say a couple of things to that point: 1) Consider if your student is a compelling Computer Science and/or History major. For example, if your student is in advanced math/science courses (with good grades) and math/science related extracurriculars, yet doesn’t have this kind of portfolio in History, then this path wouldn’t be effective. More information about this is available in our UCEazy software. If you visit the “Majors” section of the PLAN, you can watch a video by a Bay Area college counselor on this exact topic. 2) If you do choose a History type route, proceed with caution. Different UC campuses have different policies depending on the major you ultimately want to move into. For more information, you will have to visit the websites of the specific UC’s you are looking at or call an admissions representative from that campus. 3) To get a sense of which campuses have a more selective process for specific majors, see this webpage posted by the UC’s. Look at the 5th and 6th columns to help you determine a route that might work best for your family: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/freshman-admission-matrix.pdf