This is not necessarily the best strategy if the majors are in different colleges. Switching between colleges can be more involved than switching majors within the same college.
I would suggest that she think about which one of these three majors and colleges would be her preference. She might also try to talk to students… I have the sense that there are cultural / vibe differences between the three colleges. My son’s freshman roommate was in College of Chemistry and it seemed pretty grindy (even compared to my son’s college which is engineering). Rausser seems relatively chill, supportive, and friendly. L&S has endless options because of the wide variety of majors, but it’s also very big and my son’s friends in L&S had trouble getting much advising.
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The College of Letters and Sciences and Rausser College of Natural Resources do not admit by major but into the College however the College of Chemistry does admit by major.
For the most recent Freshman admit data, L&S had a 15% admit rate, CNR was 17% and COC was 11%.
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Thanks again. To clarify if an L&S major is listed as the first option and a CNR as the alternative major, would CNR ever consider the kid for admitance at Berkely? My understanding is they would not.
From the UC Berkeley website about alternate majors:
Q: Can applicants to Berkeley select more than one major on the application?
A: Students can select a primary major and an alternate major. Currently, Berkeley only guarantees the review of the primary major and will not review students for an alternate major.
Q: How should I decide what my primary major should be versus an alternate major?
A: Because we only guarantee the review of the primary major, we highly recommend that students who have a strong interest in a specific major to select that major as their primary selection.
Q: Can I change my major after enrolling?
A: Students can work with an advisor to explore opportunities to change their major after enrolling. In most circumstances, it is possible to change your major. However, higher-demand majors such as Engineering, or social sciences, may be more difficult to transfer. It is easier to transfer majors in the same college.
Q: Can I select “undeclared” as an alternate major? How would that affect my admissions?
A: Yes, you may select undeclared as the primary or alternate selection. We know that some students aren’t sure what they’re interested in prior to enrolling in college, and we offer that flexibility for students. Applying undeclared does not impact your chances of admission.
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CoC majors do take the harder chemistry sequence (4A, 4B, 12A, 12B; probably the reason for “grindy” anecdotes) rather than the one that most biology majors (and premeds) take (1A, 3A, 3B; of course, premeds = competitive environment). MCB majors emphasizing biochemistry take an intermediate sequence (1A, 1B, 12A, 12B).
Perhaps compare the course requirements to check which major is most interesting.
CoC is generally considered more difficult for admission, but it is not obvious whether chemical biology specifically is more difficult than L&S or CNR.
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Doesn’t CNR have more accessible advising and more flexibility with courses?
It is definitely my impression that Rausser students have better advising with a more personalized small college feeling compared to the other two colleges mentioned. I would defer to @worriedmomucb for more info about Rausser, though, as I am pretty sure that’s her daughter’s college.
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Frosh/soph courses for CNR majors are mostly common courses offered by L&S departments (reading and composition, math, statistics, economics, biology) or CoC chemistry: RCNR Students - Declaration Reqs for an RCNR Major - Google Docs , though some majors have frosh/soph course requirements from CNR departments (e.g. ESPM courses).
Sorry, I should have elaborated. It has been a few years but, when my student was applying, they were told that there was more flexibility to request course substitutions within majors in CNR. This was a Berkeley admissions advisor who told us that CNR students could do more to customize their major. I’m sure they were not referring to lower div courses but to upper division, specialized courses within their major. Since my child chose not to attend Berkeley, I never followed through to find out if the claims of better advising and course flexibility/customization were marketing or reality.
Edit to add that this was presented at Berkeley Summer Experience which is now called Berkeley Summer Bootcamp.
Rausser is great! They do have good advising and lots of opportunities for things like research. Flexibility depends a bit on major, although there are fewer breadth requirements than in L&S. My daughter has actually been able to arrange her schedule to have a both a double major and a minor, and the college is very supportive of such things. She is also in the Rausser honors program and is working with a faculty mentor on thesis research, has been a Rausser peer adviser, has been teaching a Rausser DeCal since spring semester freshman year with a Rausser faculty sponsor, and has overall had a positive experience in getting support and guidance throughout her time there. (None of the above is meant as bragging, to be clear; it is just meant to demonstrate the accessibility of such opportunities at Rausser.)
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