Changing degree: everything you need to know

Why is changing degree such an important decision?

Changing degree is not a decision to be taken lightly as it will lead to a series of consequences which you should consider carefully, such as meeting new classmates (who will be younger than you), new teachers and a new syllabus. This is why it’s important that when making this change you choose a new degree course which really excites you.

Reasons to decide to change degree course

There are different reasons why you might decide to change your degree course, including:

• You didn’t truly choose your existing degree course yourself. Instead, it was chosen in response to your friends’ choices or you chose it out of desperation.
• You want to earn more money in your future career than your current degree will allow you to and so decide to change to a new degree which leads to better-paid career opportunities.
• New degree courses appear which appeal much more to you. Becoming aware of these new opportunities may motivate you to leap to an emerging sector which will allow you to learn new skills, develop more quickly and even revive the passion for studying you may have lost.
• Finally, it may be that what you want to study doesn’t match your talents. In this case we suggest you move into another field which is a better match for your abilities and where you can better exploit your potential.

How do I change degree course?

There are two ways of changing degree course:

• Change degree by going through general admissions
  This involves applying for a place on the degree course you want to study as if you were entering university for the first time. You don’t have to take the EvAU (Spanish university entrance exams) again if you think the grade you already have is high enough to be admitted to the new degree you want to study. However, at micampus we recommend you sit the entrance exams again to make sure you get a place.
• Change degree through the change of studies route
  In this case, you can only ask to change from one official bachelor’s degree course to another and one of the criteria is to have passed 30 course credits which are recognised for the new degree you want to study. Other factors taken into account when deciding whether to let you switch degrees include the similarity between the courses, your academic transcript and your grade on the university entrance exams, among others. Moreover, each university reserves a specific number of places to allow students to use this option.

Differences when it comes to changing degree

The process of changing degree within the same university is practically the same as the process of changing to a different university. The only difference is how easy the process is, as we will explain:

1. Changing degree in the same university
   If you decide to change degree within the same university, the process is much simpler as the administration already has nearly all the documentation they need from you, such as your entrance exam grades, the grades you got in your previous degree, the subjects you passed so they can decide whether to transfer your credits or not, etc.
2. Changing degree to a different university
   However, if you decide to change degree and go to a different university, you’ll have to provide the new university with all the aforementioned information as well as anything else that specific university requires.

Can you change degree once the academic year has started?

This is usually the question that all students who want to change their degree course ask and the answer is, no. However, if you’re in the first term of your course and are certain you want to change degree, you can cancel your enrolment in the second term in the event you want to do a degree which has nothing in common with your existing one and there is no chance the university will validate any of your subjects to your future degree course.