UCLA and UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science - Declaring Major or not

Colleges & Universities University of California - GENERAL
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Hello,
My daughter wants to apply for Psychology at UCLA, but not sure if going undeclared in College of Letter and Science is better, or in a very closely related field like Disabilities studies (which she is interested also), or just stating Psychology will result in same chances ?
Stats - UC GPA I think is close to 3.9 or 4
Very Strong EC profile

Would you be able to help with similar guidance for UCSD and UCB ? thanks a lot !

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Same situation here. DD with 4.41 uncapped UC GPA is concerned by naming Psych it will hurt chances of getting in to Berkeley or UCLA.

I always assumed that as long as she names something within L&S, changing later wouldn’t be hard.

I see UC Berkeley no longer names Psych as “high demand” as of Summer 2024, so that’s good news.( The high demand majors had to be admitted by major to secure their spot. But since Psych no longer on the list, I “think” you can still switch into major after admission into L&S.) But still…seems impacted.

Her profile, essays, dual enrollment classes, EC’s, volunteering all related to Psych/Wellness or Neuroscience, maybe Education at a stretch. So it’s a legit interest.

So – to name major or not to name major?
I can only find “transfer” data by major but not incoming freshmen data.

THANKS

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For anyone interested, Gumbymom has FABULOUS guides that cover this. I just re=read (links below.) but TLDR is UCLA does NOT consider majors within L&S for incoming freshmen:

and for Berkeley…well hard to say. Officially, Psych is not a High Demand major so it should not be a concern, but TBH I have my suspicions. Please correct me if I am being paranoid:

Thanks Gumbymom!

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For UCLA, choice of major is not considered for admissions in the College of Letters and Sciences so applying for Psychology or Undeclared will not make a difference.

@Cecelia1:
For UC Berkeley, this information was recently posted on the website even though Psychology is not listed as a High demand major currently, it was a High Demand major for the last couple of years.

Effective Summer 2024, to declare the Psychology major, students who were admitted in Fall 2023 and onward must be admitted to the program. In order to apply students must meet the following requirements: grades/GPA, prerequisite courses completion, and apply within their eligibility window. Criteria for admission for all students regardless of admit term:

  1. Complete all prerequisite courses as outlined in Tier I Prerequisites (see below) with a letter grade.
  2. Maintain a minimum 2.0 average GPA in the prerequisite courses.
  3. Approved program plan documenting intended completion of the major within the standard upper division 2-year window.*
  4. Brief writing sample demonstrating persistence of goals towards major and future plans with Psychology.

*The window of eligibility differs for students who enter as First-Years and students who enter as Transfers.

  • First-Year students: Apply as soon as eligible and no later than the application window at the start of 5th semester (or prior to the accumulation of 59 units or less).

For UCSD, Psychology is not a Selective major so she can apply as a Psychology major and she can select an alternate major or Undeclared. If she does not meet the threshold for her primary major, she will be considered for her alternate or for Undeclared.

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Welcome to CC!

Honestly if all of her profile, her EC’s, PIQ’s, etc line up with psych, that’s how I’d recommend she apply…she seems like a strong enough candidate to go for it!

Also, not sure why my post was linked, but good luck to your D25 too! :slightly_smiling_face:

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thank you and good luck to yours too!

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Excellent info. Thank you!
At Berkeley I see you need to earn your way into major. (sorta like getting pre major status at UCLA.) Makes sense that they want only qualified students in a crowded program.

But still I wonder…what is known about whether mentioning the intended major affects acceptance at all by Berkeley’s L&S?

Other than high impact majors, does UC Berkeley definitely accept by college, not major (like UCLA)? Or Is there greater risk to chances vs. going undeclared?

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See page 27 of the UC application guide for information regarding Undeclared and Where Major is a factor in admissions on this link.

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thank you!

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