Are some majors harder than others?

ucbalumnus
Fri, 23 Nov 2012 01:06:14 +0000

“Safety major” may have a different meaning in the context of capped majors where there is a competitive admission process to declare the major.

For example, L&S CS may be a “safety major” for someone who wants to major in EECS. Back when L&S CS was capped, applied math was often the “safety major” for those who could not get into L&S CS.

Economics may be a “safety major” for those applying to the business major, but since economics is also capped, such students may have some other “safety major” behind that.

However, while the “safety major” in this context may be easier to get into, it may not necessarily be easier in other metrics (intellectual challenge, workload, or grading).

But note also that one reason that few students switch into majors like CS, physics, or engineering late is that sequenced prerequisities must be started early. A student who does not start the prerequisites early may not be able to graduate in 8 semesters due to the long sequence being longer than the number of remaining semesters s/he has. In contrast, the prerequisite sequences in most humanities and social studies majors are short (e.g. see history courses), so late switching into such majors is relatively easy to do (even if the courses may be not necessarily be easy).