Switching to Electrical Engineering at UC Davis

Colleges & Universities University of California - Davis
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My son was admitted to the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis, but he is interested in switching to Electrical Engineering. He has already been admitted to Engineering programs at other UC schools, but prefers UC Davis. However, he is concerned about how difficult it might be to change majors.

Has anyone here gone through a similar experience? How challenging is it to transfer from Letters and Science to the College of Engineering at UC Davis?

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From the UCD website. Pretty straightforward if you meet all the course and GPA requirements:

https://ece.ucdavis.edu/undergraduate/frequently-asked-questions

All non-major students must attend a Change of Major Workshop before submitting a Change of Major form on OASIS, no exceptions. ECE Advising does not offer one-on-one appointments to non-major students. Workshop dates are listed above.

Note: All Change of Major requirements must be fully met before submitting a Change of Major form. Forms are reviewed once per month.

The ECE department will not review any OASIS petitions from non-major students until all Change of Major criteria have been satisfied.

Transferring into Electrical and Computer Engineering requirements (Current UCD Students):

  1. Be a registered student and have completed at least one quarter (minimum of 12 units) at UC Davis.
  2. Have completed not more than 135 cumulative units (excluding AP units); students who have - completed more than 135 units will be considered on an appeal basis only.
  3. Be in good academic standing and meet minimum progress requirements.
  4. Have received a letter grade for all courses that satisfy Engineering degree requirements.
  5. Have met the following:
  6. completed at least the following five courses: MAT 21A, B, C; PHY 9A; and CHE 2A (Exclude CHE 2A if you are transferring to Computer Eng.) and a GPA of 2.0 or higher in all completed MAT, PHY, BIS, and CHE courses required for your intended major, and have received a C- or better in each of these courses.
  7. Have no grade lower than a C- in any completed engineering course required for your intended major(s) taken at UC Davis
  8. Have a 2.0 or higher UC GPA in completed engineering courses.

Once you have completed the above requirements, or taking the last course, you may submit a “Change of Major” Petition.

  • This is located in OASIS, under the tab “Forms & Petitions”/ “Submit A New Form”/ “Change of Major”.
  • Select “Change of Major or Degree Type”.
  • Select Major: Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering.
  • List the courses you have completed to satisfy the requirements above.
  • Submit your petition.
  • Wait for a major advisor to review your major change petition.
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Thank you. Will he able to take these courses from letters and Science? I hope he may get credits for some AP classes .

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The Change of Major Workshop will address all questions but it will be more difficult in getting major related courses since he is switching colleges along with major. What major is he admitted for in L&S? Are any of the Math, Physics and Chem classes part of his current major curriculum?

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He got admitted to Data Science in Letters and Science.

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Based on the Data Science curriculum and the required classes needed to change into EE:

Math 21A, B and C overlap for both. He would need to take Physics 9A and Chem 2A which is not part of the DS major requirements.

He will need to talk to an advisor and attend the workshop but it looks doable.

Data Science is a capped/selective major and only open to continuing students through a lottery currently, so he should make sure he wants to switch majors.

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You can compare the major requirements here:

MAT 21A, 21B, 21C (calculus) and MAT 22A (linear algebra) are required by both majors. EE additionally requires MAT 21D (vector calculus) and 22B (differential equations).

For AP credit, General Catalog - Advanced Placement (AP) Credit & Chart says:

  • 5 on calculus AB or 4 on calculus BC = MAT 21A
  • 5 on calculus BC = MAT 21A and 21B
  • 5 on chemistry = CHE 2A (EE requirement)
  • 4 on English (either) = ENL 3 or UWP 1 (English composition course)
  • No AP physics score gives credit for PHY 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D (EE requirement)
  • Computer science A = ECS 32A (data science requirement)
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Math 21A, B and C overlap for both. He would need to take Physics 9A and Chem 2A which is not part of the DS major requirements.

These classes are for L&S and Bio Sci students as well. Many non-engineering majors need the Chem 2 and Physics 9 series. My Davis grad studied Cognitive Science (in L&S) and was required to take both.

Chem is a common freshman class. Enrollment will depend on your pass time and a bit of luck. Enderle is the best teacher but everyone knows that so his courses fill quickly. Physics 9 tends to be a 2nd year course. That means that it might fill before freshmen get the chance to enroll.

Math 21 is a rigorous math series. If he is in engineering, he might consider taking the courses at Davis rather than using his AP scores to get out of them.

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Old final exams for MAT 21A and 21B appear to be on the web, so trying them may allow for a more informed decision about whether to take advanced placement through AP credit.

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Thank you so much for the detailed reply. He is taking AP stat at senior year and he is not enjoying it, so he thinks he will not enjoy data science as well and want to change to EE. He got 5 on calculus BC so he can skip 21A & 21 B . He is taking AP Physics now at school ,it is so unfortunate that he will not be able to get the credit for that . How about taking Physics over summer in Community college? Will that help?

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One more question, how to get the AP credit? Is it automatic after he submits his score ? Or does he need to do any other steps?

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https://assist.org will help show what community college courses cover what UCD courses.

Check with UCD on any rules about matriculated frosh taking summer courses.

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My Aggie is a few years out so rules may have changed. When they were at Davis, a lot of their friends did Physics in a summer education abroad program. It served two purposes - for their major (bio sci & cog sci), physics was a stand alone course and not a pre-req for other courses. As such, they felt comfortable taking it at an accelerated pace. Second, it gave them extra units which pushed them ahead of their peers in order to get earlier course registration pass times. Davis still assigns pass times based on number of units completed.

I would double and triple check that a course required for the major is allowed at Community College. It might be simple, but you don’t want one person (L&S) saying it is possible and another (engineering) saying it won’t work.

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They apply automatically once he submits the scores.

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