How to Declare the Major
Welcome to UC Berkeley! As noted in your acceptance letter, you have been admitted to the College of Letters and Science, and not to a specific major. Social Welfare is considered one of the College’s impacted, or “high-demand” majors, meaning that there are restrictions on the number of students who can be declared each academic year. In order to best position yourself to declare Social Welfare as your major, it’s important that you complete the following steps as soon as possible.
For transfer students, eligibility to declare a major begins and ends before their second semester at UC Berkeley; thus, all transfer students must declare before their second semester.
Fall 2025 Transfer Students (non-directly admitted into Social Welfare)
For Fall 2025 admitted students who are looking to declare/switch into Social Welfare and will have the prerequisites completed before your second semester (Spring 2026):
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Review the major requirements and complete the 2-year program plan: A program plan must be submitted along with the application. This step is requested by the department to ensure that students are aware of the requirements; it is not a binding contract and you are welcome to make changes at a later time.
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Complete the Petition to Declare e-Form when it opens: You will upload your 2-year program plan as well as unofficial transcripts.
The petition submission period will open on Friday, December 12th, 2025 at 4pm and will close on Friday, January 2rd, 2026 at 4pm. Students will be notified of their status no later than Wednesday, January 14th.
Please note that transfer students must have completed all prerequisites for the major prior to applying to the major. For more information, please read the Declare or Change Major FAQ on the L&S Advising website. As noted, it is highly recommended that you spend some time researching a non-restricted major as a back-up and have an alternative program plan in mind.
Spring 2026 Transfer Students
For Spring 2026 admitted students who will have the prerequisites completed before your second semester (Fall 2026):
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Review the major requirements and complete the 2-year program plan: A program plan must be submitted along with the application. This step is requested by the department to ensure that students are aware of the requirements; it is not a binding contract and you are welcome to make changes at a later time.
-
Complete the Petition to Declare e-Form when it opens: You will upload your 2-year program plan as well as unofficial transcripts.
The petition submission period will open on Friday, June 26th at 4pm and will close on Friday, August 14th at 4pm. Students will be notified of their status no later than Friday, August 21st.
Fall 2025 Admitted Transfer Social Welfare Students
Transfer students who are offered admission to L&S and have selected the Social Welfare major on their application will be admitted directly to the major. These students will not have to go through the process of applying to or officially declaring their major, as they will already have been admitted (or declared) into their major.
If you are directly admitted to the Social Welfare major but do not have all major preparation courses completed prior to matriculation, plan to take those remaining courses during your first semester on the Berkeley campus.
For questions about the program, curriculum, or would like to set up a meeting with the Undergraduate Major Advisor please reach out to swugadvisor@berkeley.edu
For information on the pilot program, please refer to the Direct Admission-to-major FAQ page on the Admissions website or contact your major adviser.