My sister applied to UMass Amherst as Biology (Molecular/Cell). She got accepted, but due to some change of events, she wants to change her major to Computer Science. Upon contacting admissions and requesting the change, she was told that the seats are filled, so they can’t change her major. Additionally, they said to use internal transfer process to move to CS. The question now becomes, how will this impact her college track? Because she is Bio, her courses will obviously be different than what the CS courses are. So if she tries to change later, won’t she fall behind? Additionally, how early can she actually switch her major? The admissions email referred her to this link: https://www.cics.umass.edu/ugrad-education/major-change-cs
@badshar Your sister should be fine. Your sister should check with the department, but I believe it is commonplace for those wishing to major in CS to apply to the major after they are students and have taken CS classes. I think you will find helpful information at the following link: https://www.cics.umass.edu/ugrad-education/details-bs-requirements which shows the requirements for a B.S. When she registers for classes she should take COMPSCI 121, MATH 131, and either CHEM 111 or PHYSICS 151, first year writing and an elective that will fulfill a requirement. I think the math and science would have been part of the Biology curriculum anyway. If she does not get into COMPSCI 121, she should be perseverant and try to add it during add/drop, follow up with the professor and keep going to the class. It’s not uncommon for professors to warn students that only a few will be let in – this serves to drive away the uncommitted who do not want to do homework for a class they may not be admitted to. She should be one of those who stay.
Just be aware, when we went to the admitted students CS session, there are many students who chose CS, who didn’t get in to the major, who were placed in the “exploratory track” They will have a CS advisor and take courses towards the major. They didn’t make it clear what stats one would need eventually get in to CS, but it seemed it would depend how many applied and what their stats were compared to how many seats they had. Don’t know how this would affect someone from a completely different major since they have these students “in the track” Good luck!!
My son is a sophomore and transferred in to CS at the beginning of this year. During the period in which he was considered a student under contract and was fulfilling the prerequisites for transfer, CS advising for these students was just a group other students, not true advisors. Maybe its changed since then, but…
I was told at the admitted student open house that you need to have those required CS classes (on their website for transfering into CS) with GPA 3.5 and above to transfer to CS in sophamore year.
Ok I’m a peer advisor in the department so I can speak to this. So the CS department has gotten huge over the last few years, and there is a lot discussion amongst the administrators on how to handle this influx. Currently, admittance into the major is technically made on a case by case basis. For most people (I’m talking like 90% here), they simply have to get a B+ in the CS and Math classes they are enrolled in for that semester and Cs in their other classes. If your sister can meet those benchmarks, she’s good. She will also have to be enrolled in CS 187 (the 2nd course in the track) and Calc 1(The first math course) because the administration has noticed that a lot of kids think that they can handle CS after taking CS 121, fill out an application and then crash and burn once they get to 187. This wastes a contract and many times, kids can’t meet the contract even after that.
The exploratory track is exclusively for incoming freshmen(starting with the CO2019) who applied for CS but didn’t quite meet the credentials for direct admittance into CS. Basically these kids come into UMass directly on contract and if they get B+s in their CS and Math classes (regardless of the level), they can get into the major). The exploratory track has a separate RAP and advisors(who are professors and not students).
In short, it’s difficult, but not impossible. I did it, and I know plenty of others that did too. But for every person that did get in, I can probably name one person who didn’t meet the grade requirement and couldn’t get in. CS at UMass isn’t easy at all, so your sister will have to work pretty hard to make sure that she succeeds.
