Major Decisions: Alternates and Undecided

Most students go into college with a "Plan A" major, but the UCs give you the chance to have a "Plan B" major with an alternate major, and even a "Plan C" with the undeclared option. Today, we'll be discussing how to maximize your chances of admission with an alternate major and breaking down which schools allow undeclared majors for first years.

What is an alternate major and which UCs consider them?

An alternate major is a secondary major listed on your application that most campuses consider if you do not receive admission in your first choice major. From the 2025 application cycle information, you can see which campuses consider alternates and which do not.

In short, as long as your alternate major is not nursing, business, or engineering, you can pick nearly any other major to be considered for at most campuses. UCLA hopefuls, you can skip to the "undeclared" section of today's post.

Do's and Don'ts

Your alternate major shouldn't be something you pick at random. Ideally, you choose a major with similar skills in the same broad field. For example, pick another STEM major if your first pick is a STEM major, a humanities major if your first pick is humanities, or something else related to healthcare like public health if you want to be pre-med. As the UC information explained, you should choose a less competitive major for your alternate major, so take some time to look at the stats for your

Alternatively, you can pick a completely different major if and only if you have a compelling narrative presented in some of your PIQs and activities for why that major will also suit you. For example, if you're applying as a computer science major, but you also have a passion for education and have spent time teaching coding clubs at your local middle school and building ed-tech related programs, it is clear that an education alternative major will fit your path.

Undeclared Major

If you don't have a plan B major, or even a plan A, the UC system does allow you to apply as undeclared for the most part. You can find a more detailed explanation per campus below:

Now, applying undeclared is a risky move if you don't have a reason for doing so, but the key is to do so strategically. If you've done a wide variety of things in high school and can list potential majors you want to explore in your PIQs, applying undeclared shows that you're committed to finding a major based on your prior experiences. You should not have both no narrative and an undeclared major- that's a recipe for failure. You can also explain that you want to explore majors and minors and decide on a final combination that matches your narrative to make admissions officers understand why you want to start as undeclared.

Final Thoughts

Applying with an alternate major is a very wise decision for most students, especially for those interested in competitive majors. Additionally, if you need more time to decide, you are not penalized for choosing an "undeclared major"; you just need to make sure you have several fields you want to explore described in your PIQs. If you need some help choosing what majors to apply to or whether or not to apply undecided, schedule a call with one of our counselors today!