Is my declared major hurting my chances at top colleges?

[egganog]

My top choice schools are Columbia University, UC Berkley, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon. I have always loved math and computers, but I didn’t realize that I wanted to major in Computer science till this summer. All my ECs and Classes don’t really have anything to do with Computer science or stem. Can I still get into a good college with my declared major? Should I apply undecided?? Would that hurt my chances more though?
Demographics: Asian female in rural/small state.
GPA 4.0 (my school doesn’t weigh)
Full IB
Taking 2 IB math classes this year (IB Calc and IB math studies)
Speech and Debate (placed at state all 3 years, State Champion last year)
MUN, BPA, Mock Trial, Track, Honors Society,
Tutoring math to kids
Volunteer at the food bank (since Sophomore year)
Wrote Discrimination and Hate curriculum for my old elementary school

I know a lot of my activities don’t have to do with stem at all, but I can’t imagine doing anything else. I want to major in computer science and then get a master in cybersecurity.

[Gumbymom]

UCB offers CS in the College of Engineering (EECS) and the College of Letters and Sciences. EECS is a direct admit, but CS in L&S is not and the college does not admit by major. CS in the College of L&S will require that you take pre-req courses and obtain a 3.3 GPA before declaring.

I would say you are competitive for UCB but there are no guarantees.

[skieurope]

It will hurt at Berkeley Engineering, as it will for anyone applying as a CS major since it is an impacted major. However, it is also a major that is extremely difficult to switch into once accepted into another major.

The other colleges you mentioned do not admit by major, but do admit by school. If you get accepted into engineering, it’s generally easy to switch majors.

Bottom line, though, don’t plan on trying a back door. If you want CS, then state that as your intended major.

[happy1]

Many colleges do not accept students by major. For those colleges it doesn’t much matter what major you put down because admissions officers understand that you are free to change majors once you get on campus.

For colleges that do accept by major you are better off putting down the major you want. It can be very hard to transfer into a popular/selective major and you don’t want to be stuck at a college where you can’t study what you want.

[RichInPitt]

CMU has competing factors.

1. Yes, applying as a CS major will make it much more difficult to be accepted. The SCS acceptance rate is well under 1/2 the university as a whole. But...
2. If you want to major in CS, you pretty much need to be accepted into SCS. Enrolling in another college, or undecided - it’s pretty near impossible to transfer into SCS.

[ucbalumnus]

@skieurope

It will hurt at Berkeley Engineering, as it will for anyone applying as a CS major since it is an impacted major. However, it is also a major that is extremely difficult to switch into once accepted into another major.

The other colleges you mentioned do not admit by major, but do admit by school. If you get accepted into engineering, it’s generally easy to switch majors.

At CMU, CS is in its own division (School of Computer Science or SCS). It is extremely difficult to change into SCS after enrolling in one of CMU’s other divisions, including its engineering division (College of Engineering).

[skieurope]

@ucbalumnus

@skieurope

It will hurt at Berkeley Engineering, as it will for anyone applying as a CS major since it is an impacted major. However, it is also a major that is extremely difficult to switch into once accepted into another major.

The other colleges you mentioned do not admit by major, but do admit by school. If you get accepted into engineering, it’s generally easy to switch majors.

At CMU, CS is in its own division (School of Computer Science or SCS). It is extremely difficult to change into SCS after enrolling in one of CMU’s other divisions, including its engineering division (College of Engineering).

Thanks for correcting. I bow to you.