Changing Your SEAS Major

electrical engineering research.

SEAS students may be considered for admission to other undergraduate engineering or applied science majors within the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Use the links below to get started.

Major Change for Approved SEAS Students

Approved SEAS students may be considered for admission to any other approved undergraduate engineering or applied science major within the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Direct-admit freshmen within the first year of study

Students directly admitted to SEAS as a freshman may change their major at any time during the first year of study. Specifically, students who join UB during the fall semester are permitted to change their major prior to May 31 of the same academic year. Students who join UB during the spring semester are permitted to change their major prior to December 31 of the next academic year.

For such students, a change of major within SEAS requires the following:

  1. Approved major status within SEAS.
  2. Submission of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Major/Minor Change Application by the deadlines noted above. [1]

General case

Transfer students (internal and external to UB) and direct-admit freshmen beyond the first year of study seeking to change major within SEAS must meet program-specific GPA criteria.

A change of major within SEAS requires the following:

  1. Approved major status within SEAS.
  2. UB and SEAS academic good standing.
  3. Submission of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Major/Minor Change Application. [1]
  4. Students seeking to move from a computer science to an engineering program (or vice versa) must complete four required core courses (see below) with grades of C- or better and a combined core course grade point average of at least 2.5. Students are permitted to repeat at most two core courses one time.
    Note: A ‘R’ (resign) grade does not count as a repeat. Students are also permitted to repeat test and college credit originally earned while attending High School without penalty from this policy.
  5. The minimum overall cumulative GPA required for the major or approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies. The GPAs required to join a program vary by academic year and requested major. The table below provides the GPA requirement for the 2019-20 academic year. Learn more about overall cumulative GPA requirements for previous academic years.

Core Courses

Engineering Courses:

  1. Calculus 1 (MTH 141 or MTH 153)
  2. Calculus 2 (MTH 142 or MTH 154)
  3. General Chemistry 1 (CHE 101, CHE 105, or CHE 107)
  4. General Physics 1 (PHY 107 or PHY 117)

Computer Science / Bioinformatics Courses:

  1. Calculus 1 (MTH 141 or MTH 153; students applying for the BA computer science degree may complete MTH 121 or MTH 131)
  2. Introduction to Computer Science for Majors 1 (CSE 115)
  3. Introduction to Computer Science for Majors 2 (CSE 116)
  4. Discrete Structures (CSE 191 or MTH 191)

Overall GPA Requirements

Major Overall GPA
Aerospace, Computer, and Mechanical Engineering;
Computer Science (BA and BS); Bioinformatics and Computational Biology		 2.8
Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Environmental,
and Industrial Engineering; Engineering Physics		 2.5

Major Change for Intended SEAS Students

Intended SEAS students may be considered for admission to any other intended undergraduate engineering or applied science major within the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

A change of intended major within SEAS requires the following:

  1. Intended major status within SEAS.
  2. Submission of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Major/Minor Change Application. [1]
  3. The potential to be admissible to the approved engineering or applied science major of interest. Please see the Admission to SEAS for Current UB Students webpage for detailed information regarding the admissions criteria for the approved major.

The applicant must show that they could eventually be admissible to the SEAS program of interest.

[1] Note: the Major/Minor Change Application opens around the seventh week of the fall/spring semester and closes at the end of the drop/add period. This opening date provides adequate time for students to change their major before the registration period opens.