Changing Majors from Outside the College of Engineering

Cal Poly terms used on this page

COM: Change of major
ICMA: Individualized Change of Major Agreement
Intended Major: major you plan on changing into

General Change of Major Guidelines

Please review Cal Poly's Change of Major policy in full.
Per campus policy, you must complete at least one quarter at Cal Poly before changing your major. Please Note: Quarter Plus Courses at Cal Poly do not count for the one quarter requirement.
You must have been eligible for your intended major upon entry to Cal Poly (via the admissions process). Please see process below to determine eligibility for your intended major.
Per campus policy, you are allowed one change of major agreement (ICMA) per major. If you enter into an ICMA and do not complete the agreement’s requirements, either by failing to complete the terms or by opting out due to a change of plan or interest, you will not be eligible to request that same major again.
You must be able to graduate within 5 years (within 3 years for transfer students) from when you were admitted. A realistic quarter-by-quarter graduation plan may be required to demonstrate whether this is feasible.
You are allowed two ICMA attempts to get into the College of Engineering.
The College of Engineering reviews the change of major criteria below during summer. Changes are posted on this page before fall quarter begins. If changes are necessary at any other point during the year, they will be reflected on this page. Please check the current criteria before submitting your application. (Note to newly admitted students that are considering changing their major: we will not be able to determine if your desired major will be available when you start at Cal Poly until this review process is completed over summer.)
If you are a former student who left the College of Engineering in poor standing and were accepted into another college at Cal Poly, you do not have the option of applying for a change of major back into the College of Engineering.

Step 1: Complete Change of Major Eligibility Inquiry Form

Instructions for submitting the inquiry (Summer 2024: June 8, 2024 - September 19, 2024)

Please follow these instructions to submit an inquiry during Summer 2024 (June 8, 2024 - September 19, 2024). To submit an inquiry after September 19, please follow the "Instructions for submitting the inquiry (academic year)" instead. Note that the "academic year" university inquiry will open on September 23, 2024.

1. Determine when you are eligible to submit your inquiry:

New students (admitted in Summer 2024 or Fall 2024) may submit the inquiry beginning August 1, 2024. If you submit before this date, your inquiry will be denied and you will need to submit a new inquiry after August 1.
Continuing students (admitted prior to Summer 2024) may submit the inquiry any time.

2. Submit the inquiry form online.

3. The change of major coordinator for your desired major will evaluate your eligibility and inform you of your status within 10 academic business days.

Instructions for submitting the inquiry (academic year)

Please follow these instructions to submit an inquiry beginning September 19, 2022. If you would like to submit an inquiry during the summer, please follow the "Instructions for submitting the inquiry (summer 2022: June 6, 2022 - September 16, 2022)" above.

1. Log onto your Cal Poly Portal. Click on the ACADEMICS tab. Click on the "change of major" link on the bottom right of the page.

click on change of major link on academics tab

2. Select box labeled "I want to submit a change of major inquiry form". Select ONE major from the drop down menu and click submit box.

Select box to get to eligibility inquiry form

3. Complete the eligibility inquiry form.

fill out eligibility inquiry form

Each response has a 2000 character limit, including whitespace. Exceeding the character limit will result in the inability to submit your inquiry.

Once you have submitted an inquiry form, you will receive a confirmation email from success@calpoly.edu. The subject line of the confirmation email will read, “Change of Major Inquiry Form Received”.

The change of major coordinator for your desired major will evaluate your eligibility and inform you of your status within 10 academic business days.

After submitting an eligibility inquiry form (academic year)

View/Edit the status of your inquiry:

Log onto your Cal Poly Portal. Click on the Academics tab. Click on the "change of major" link.

You can view the status of your inquiry under the Change of Major Inquiry Form Details portlet. The default status of a new inquiry is “Requires Attention." This status indicates that an inquiry form was submitted.

Requires Attention

The Change of Major Coordinator will evaluate your eligibility and update your status:

Eligible: Student meets initial change of major requirements to proceed to next steps of developing an Individualized Change of Major Agreement (ICMA) as outlined in the email from the Change of Major Coordinator.
Not Eligible: Student does not meet initial change of major requirements to proceed to next steps for developing an ICMA. An advisor from the Mustang Success Center will reach out to the student to help determine next steps.
Pending Further Action: Student eligibility for an ICMA is dependent on additional information. Student must proceed with next steps as outlined in the email from the Change of Major Coordinator.

You will be notified by your Cal Poly email account within 10 academic business days of updated status and the next steps you will need to take. Follow the directions outlined in the email.

A student can only have one (1) active inquiry form. In order to submit a new inquiry form for a different major, the student will either need to a) withdraw their current inquiry form through their portlet or b) be deemed “not eligible” by the Change of Major Coordinator.

You can withdraw your inquiry at any time during the inquiry process by clicking the “Withdraw” button under the Change of Major Inquiry Form Details portlet.

withdraw button Change of major form

To confirm the withdrawal of your inquiry, click the “Yes, Withdraw” button in the pop-up window.

Confirm Withdraw

Once an inquiry has been withdrawn, the status of that inquiry will be listed as “WITHDRAWN_BY_STUDENT”.

To submit a new inquiry, click the “Start New Inquiry” button under the Change of Major Inquiry Form Details portlet.

Start New Inquiry

Step 2: Research

Complete Required Research

Complete the research necessary to ensure your decision. Please refer to the Change of Major Application (linked at the bottom of this page) for research requirements.

(OPTIONAL) Attend an Engineering Change of Major Workshop

If you are interested in changing your major into or within the College of Engineering and want to feel more confident in your decision, we recommend attending this workshop. An Engineering Student Services Academic Advisor and Career Counselor will review the policy and procedure for changing your major to an engineering discipline, create discussion and dialogue about changing your major, and help you strategize next steps to become more confident in your major decision.

Winter 2025 Workshop Calendar:

Friday, January 17, 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM, Virtual via Zoom; Register via HandShake for 1/17
Wednesday, January 22, 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM, Building 124, Room 117; Register via HandShake for 1/22

Step 3: Check Major Specific ICMA Criteria

These requirements should be satisfied while in an official ICMA. They do not need to be met prior to submitting the inquiry/eligibility form.