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Change of Major Criteria

General Criteria/Considerations

Minimum requirements include:

  • Satisfactory academic progress in your current major.  Satisfactory academic progress is defined as successfully completing at least two technical courses of at least 3 units each (with the exception of ENGIN 26) towards your current major requirements each semester.  This is in addition to any requirements for your prospective major.  Students who are not making satisfactory academic progress in their current major are ineligible to change their majors.  Note that Incompletes and late course drops can also negatively impact your eligibility.
  • Major-specific minimum GPA and/or course requirements.  See below.
  • Completion of at least one semester at UC Berkeley (except AE – see below)
  • Good academic standing
  • A planned program that includes a realistic trajectory for completing all degree requirements within the time allotted by the college.  Please note the following:
    • Students are expected to complete their lower division courses before their upper division courses.  Course plans should reflect this.  If allowed to change majors, students will be expected to follow their submitted plan.
    • Please note that EECS, ELENG, and COMPSCI courses often have the majority of their seats saved for ECE, EECS and CS students – it is very difficult to get into them.  Even if applicants have the option of taking upper division courses in these majors, students who apply for a change of major must submit plans that do not include tech electives from these departments unless they are applying specifically to ECE or EECS.
  • Submission of a change of major application to your ESS Adviser before your 5th semester begins (except EECS and AE – see below).
      • A single semester abroad does not count towards our deadline; more than one semester abroad through EAP would count.
  • For students who are interested in doing a double major (two majors in the College of Engineering), criteria are the same unless otherwise listed.  Students should refer to the double major website for additional policies.

Major Specific Criteria

Aerospace Engineering (AE)
  • Highly competitive and subject to space availability.
  • Only available to frosh admitted Fall 2022 or later.
  • UC GPA of 3.3 or better in all technical coursework completed to date.
  • Completion of two semesters at UC Berkeley (summer does not count as a semester).
  • Submit your application to your ESS Adviser by either December 31st (before finishing your fourth semester) or May 31st (immediately after finishing your fourth semester).

Double major:

  • Highly competitive and subject to space availability.
  • UC GPA of 3.3 or better in all technical coursework completed to date.
  • Completion of two semesters at UC Berkeley (summer does not count as a semester).
  • On track and making normal progress for the AE major:
    • Must complete three technical courses towards the AE curriculum every semester.
    • Students should take AEROENG 10 in the fall of sophomore year; if unavailable, they must substitute another AEROENG technical course to maintain normal progress.
  • Statement that explains the motivations for pursuing a double major in AE.
  • Must submit applications to ESS Adviser by May 31st (immediately following your sixth semester) – Double major applications are only reviewed once a year.
Bioengineering (BioE)

UC GPA of 3.3 or better in all technical coursework completed to date.

Civil Engineering (CE)

UC GPA of 3.0 or better in all technical coursework completed to date.

Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)
  • 3.5 Overall UC GPA and 3.5 Technical UC GPA
  • Students cannot double in ECE+CS (in CDSS) or ECE +EECS
  • ENGIN 7 will not be accepted as a substitute for COMSCI 61A
Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences (EECS)

Only For Fall 2026 Admits or later

Notes:

  • The criteria below only pertains to students who enter UC Berkeley in Fall 2026 and beyond.  Students who entered before Fall 2026 will be held to the old criteria which can be discussed with your ESS Adviser.  Students will not be able to switch between criteria years.
  • Deadline:  students must submit before the beginning of their 4th term.
  • Change of major to EECS or a joint major with EECS must be the student’s first change of major.

Students must earn a minimum 3.7 GPA in two courses of the first four courses that they take from the list below.  If you meet the GPA eligibility after taking two courses, you are free to apply at that time – you don’t need to complete four courses to apply:

  • EECS 16A
  • EECS 16B
  • CS 61A
  • CS 61B
  • CS 61C
  • CS 70

Policies:

  • Courses must be taken at UC Berkeley.
  • Only your two top course grades will be counted for the minimum Major GPA requirement.
  • Courses repeated for a grade will count towards the four course maximum.  Please note that students can only repeat a course in which they receive a D+, D, D-, or F.
  • Courses taken after the first four lower-division EECS course attempts will not count towards meeting the 3.7 GPA criteria.
  • If there are excess qualifying courses in the same semester as the fourth course, then only the best grades from that semester will be counted.  Example:
    • A student takes three qualifying classes during their first two semesters then takes two qualifying classes in their third semester.
      In this case, the first three classes will count towards the criteria of four courses and only the top grade from the third semester will be used towards the criteria.
  • For students who are adding EECS as a double major and their current requirement is ENGIN 7, they will need to take both ENGIN 7 and COMPSCI 61A to complete their major requirements.
Engineering Science (ES)
  • Change of major for Environmental Engineering Science, Engineering Math & Statistics, and Engineering Physics all require a UC GPA of 3.2 or better in all technical coursework completed to date.
  • Change of major for Energy Engineering requires a UC GPA of 3.3 or better in all technical coursework completed to date.
  • Adding a double major; or adding simultaneous degrees for any Engineering Science major: UC GPA of 3.5 or better in all technical coursework and an overall GPA of 3.5.

As a reminder, students can list EECS, ELENG or CS courses in their plan if they are listed as part of the core curriculum options, but should NOT list any of these courses for technical electives or excess engineering units.

Environmental Engineering (EnvEng)

UC GPA of 3.0 or better in all technical coursework completed to date.

Industrial Engineering Operations Research (IEOR)

UC GPA of 3.0 or better in all technical coursework completed to date.

Materials Science & Engineering (MSE)

Change of major: UC GPA of 2.5 or better in Math and Physics courses completed to date.

Adding as a double or joint major:

  • Overall UC GPA of 3.0 or better, and
  • UC GPA of 2.5 or better in Math and Physics courses.
Mechanical Engineering (ME)

The criteria below only pertains to students who enter UC Berkeley in Fall 2026 and beyond.  Students who entered before Fall 2026 will be held to the old criteria which can be discussed with your ESS Adviser.  Students will not be able to switch between criteria years.

UC GPA of 3.3 or better in all technical coursework completed to date.

Nuclear Engineering (NucE)

Change of major: UC GPA of 2.5 or better in Math and Physics courses completed to date.

Adding as a double or joint major: Overall UC GPA of 3.0 or better and a UC GPA of 2.5 or better in Math and Physics courses.