Alternate Majors?

[shuttupjessmah]

Some of the UCs are asking us to put an alternate major. Can I put one major in the College of Letters and Sciences and my alternate major in the College of Engineering? Or is that not allowed? Please help me soon! I want to avoid the traffic jam of applications since it's so close to the deadline!

[Erin]

Jess, I know you've applied already, but what did you decide to do?

I don't see any problem with giving to seemingly opposite majors; after all, you are still young and still have a lot of time to decide.

[shuttupjessmah]

I applied to UCSD, UCLA, and Cal under Undeclared Letters & Sciences - Social Sciences, or whatever was the closest version to that at the school. Then I applied to Davis and Irvine under Chemical Engineering. haha. We'll see what happens next month, won't we?

I'm pretty darn scared, though! At least I pulled up my Math II score to a 790. Too bad my next highest score is a 680 US History. I'm rather nervous and hope that I get accepted to most of the schools I applied to, but I only applied to six schools total (sixth one being Santa Clara University). I'm hoping for at least 4/6... though 5/6 or 6/6 would make me bounce off the walls! haha. We'll see, we'll see. The wait is killer. What also sucks is that my school has like 10% go to Cal. I'm pretty damn low in school ranking (only in Top 50%), and I'm crazy nervous. Sure, there's another 10% that gets into Davis, but... I'm shooting for better than Davis.

I find it best to not think about college and steer clear of the Counseling Center. It makes the wait all the more bearable. One month. One month.

Is it true that schools send out their acceptance letters out first and their rejection letters out later? Because that's what some people have told me... and does that mean if I don't hear from a college that everyone else has heard from, does that mean I didn't get in?...

wow... this college worrying is hurting my head...

[Erin]

Hmmm... I'm not sure of exactly when and how people are notified, but most of our students know the dates that results will be available on the various UC websites. I'd guess that you'll know a lot more in a couple weeks, so don't worry so much.

And you need to be confident that you'll be happy no matter where you end up. Or perhaps that the highest-ranked school isn't necessarily the best. We had a student last year get into UCSD, hate it, and then transfer to lower-ranked UC. She's much happier now. So it's really hard to tell how you'll feel about where you go.

Just relax. There's honestly no point in working youself up too much. Trust me, I see this every year. The next few months of your life will be very exciting with all the changes, and you should enjoy every minute. It's really a very special time of life, in my opinion.

[shuttupjessmah]

The thing is, I'm not sure if I'd actually go to UCSD if I got in. I just need to be able to say I got into a school better than the ones my cousins go to or have gone to. It's all about family pride and bragging rights. Basically, I have to get into a school with a better reputation than UC Davis.

haha. I guess I'll take your word on the special time part, though I'm not sure how happy I'm going to be seeing people get into all their schools, and me sitting there watching them walk around in their college apparel.