Change of Major Procedures

Students may change their major (declare the pre-major, full major, or double major) during office hours in the Sociology Undergraduate Office. The major GPA applies only to courses taken at UCSB or another UC. Courses taken at a junior college or state university are not calculated into the GPA. The social science and diversity courses are not computed into the GPA, but must be taken for letter grades.

To Declare the Pre-Major:
Students must have completed at least one of the pre-major GPA requirements with a 2.3 (C+) GPA. The student must supply a current unofficial transcript and a copy of their New Student Profile or credit memo if there is any transfer work. When approved, students will be officially declared a pre-sociology major. It takes 2-4 working days for the paperwork to process through the Registrar's Office. Students will remain in pre-major status until they complete all pre-major requirements and subsequently petition for full major status.

To Declare the Full Major From the Pre-Major:
Students must have completed all pre-major courses in order to declare the full major. No courses can be in-progress. All pre-majors have a file in the Undergraduate Office, including current grade records, so no transcripts need to be provided. It takes 2-4 working days for the paperwork to process through the Registrar's Office.

To Declare the Full Major From Another Major:
Students must have completed all the pre-major requirements with a 2.3 GPA (social science and diversity courses must be taken for letter grades, but will not be computed into the pre-major GPA). They must supply a current unofficial transcript and, if necessary, proof of transfer work. It takes 2-4 working days for the paperwork to process through the Registrar's Office. It is strongly advised that as soon as a non-major is eligible to declare the pre-major, that the student do so, and not wait longer in order to declare the full major.

To Declare a Double Major:
When a student adds pre-sociology or sociology to an already declared major, the change of major procedures are the same as previously outlined. Additional paperwork and a self-addressed, stamped envelope is required. Because the College of Letters and Science must approve (or deny) all double majors, the paperwork processing time is much longer than for a single major. It can take the College 1-3 weeks to sign off on the paperwork and forward it to the Registrar's Office.