<p>I'm just curious about something regarding my resume (I don't mean to make this a 'chance me' thread).</p>
<p>I recently decided that I wanted to apply to CAS with a double major of History and English. All my life in school I've naturally excelled in those two fields and found them my favorite, but because of parental pressure, I would always be the science/math student most of the time. Much earlier in my high school career, I was going to apply to Cornell with a Biochemistry major, but much more recently, I guess, I broke out of my "pressure shell" and will pursue what I like.</p>
<p>My question is, a lot of my extracurriculars are based around math and science because of my constant push to be science person, but my consistent A's lie in my history and English classes. So my question is, if you put extracurriculars based around science with a transcript that was excellent when it came to history and English, would it be attractive to Cornell because it's considered 'versatile'? OR would I look weak because I seem like I've spread myself too thin and haven't really 'followed my passions' too well?</p>
<p>Should this mean I should enter CU with a science major then?</p>
<p>(I ask this assuming I have the GPA to enter Cornell, the SAT scores, the SAT II scores, and the essays- just to limit out any other factors that may influence the answer to my question).</p>
<p>yea either apply undecided or biochem major and then switch to history and english...
a radical move would be to just straight up tell the adcoms ur situation in ur essay..they might like that you have explored other things during high school and made a good decision for yourself...</p>
<p>I was thinking that maybe undecided could work, but I don't know how the admissions office would look at that? They might think I'm unfocused?</p>
<p>In all honesty, I'm really interested in medicine as well as history and English. But since I'm more natural at the latter two, I wanted to pursue them. That's when I realized I could do what dewdrop suggested!</p>
<p>Why not major in history and biology, or English and biology?</p>
<p>That wouldn't look as weird as just applying with a declared double major of history and English, would it?</p>
<p>And dewdrop, did your friend attend CU? And was his resume similar (in summary) to what I said above? >< sorry</p>
<p>you can do anything and premed (you dont need to double major with biology)...and im pretty sure most CAS students apply undecided...in your essay, just say that you enjoy a wide variety of subjects and you arent finished exploring yet...</p>
<p>apply as a history/english major...too many hard science majors in CAS make me think it may be even be an advantage if youre interested in non math/science subjects. just explain the way you came to your decision in your essay about what you want to study and why. i wouldnt take it too literally, they dont exactly hold you to what you wrote. just choose a major you genuinely think you would like and write a good essay about why you enjoy that subject. you don't have to feel the need to make sure its going to be 100% accurate to what you end up doing.</p>
<p>i would strongly tell you to NOT apply undecided. they limit the amount of acceptances for undecided majors. although its an option, colleges want to make sure that you have an idea what to do in your life. you can always change your major later on.</p>
<p>i would strongly advise you NOT to decide on a major just to appease college admissions people...if you are undecided, apply undecided and explain truthfully why you are so...if you really want to apply as a history and english major, apply for a history and english major and explain why you wish to major in those subjects...college administrators want to know the real YOU and wont admit or reject you based on quotas...i applied undecided and clearly explained why I hadn't decided on a major yet, and got in (i can private message you my essay if you want an example)
if you go to an Arts and Sciences information session, the administrator will tell you that CAS students typically change their majors multiple times before settling...they know that liberal arts students choose liberal arts schools because they want to explore different subjects and get a well-rounded education...and that they usually have a difficult time settling on a major</p>
<p>i agree with laurstar...since you have majors youre interested in and would enjoy studying, you have more than enough to work with to write a good essay that will show you have interests and plans for your education. the essay is only used to judge the way you think about your education and to see if you have drive and initiative...so why waste the opportunity to stand out by writing an essay about being undecided. oh and the whole "i want to explore everything" essay is pretty cliche and done by a lot of people each year. so if you go that route, know that the adcom just finished reading hundreds of those.</p>
<p>Ahh, I don't know what to do now. Apply undecided or decided? The thing is, I feel Elgguj is right that if I write an essay about why I'm undecided, which in most cases is "I'm interested in a variety of things," it might seem cliched.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if applying undecided <em>is</em> the right thing to do because my resume seems that way, then why not do it? PuzzleChampion, can you please PM me your essay? The reason I ask this is because I want to get an idea on how not to seem cliched when writing an essay about why I'm undecided.</p>
<p>And, again with with Elgguj said, I did hear that CU has a "brain drain" of people in the arts, history, and English sectors..</p>
<p>But then, couldn't I double major Biology with English or Biology with History, like dewdrop suggested?</p>
<p>..>_<! so many options~!</p>
<p>(By the way..I'm really appreciative of everyone responding. I asked my history teacher about the same question I asked in this forum [because he was really the only one I could trust. My GC didn't want me to apply to CU because she has this stereotypical view of Ivy Leagues, and feels that only the best of the best can get in, so I didn't want to consult her], and he really didn't know how to help me. So thank you everyone for giving me advice to clear my dilemma ^^)</p>
<p>^^well said elgguj. and you dont need to justify why you had a lot of science ecs but want to be a history major. im sure a philosophy major doenst have any philosophy ecs either, etc... they know that in high school you are figuring out what you like. thats where you experiment and dive into your interests in the higher level honors and ap classes</p>
<p>i dont think you should be afraid to do history/english. writing a kick ass essay about why you want those will distract them from your ecs. just be honest and true to your heart. but remember, they can see through the bs</p>
<p>Thanks laustar07 ^^ (I ended up reading your post before you edited it- and I have math and science awards too, just not any awards that I won in writing contests or history conferences -__-)</p>
<p>But what about Biology and English together?</p>
<p>Okay, I think I've narrowed down my choices. I'll work on my EC's more this summer and try to incorporate for English/history based ones, such as volunteering at a history reservation, or entering writing contests.</p>
<p>The latter two I'm thinking about using only if my resume hasn't propped up to make me more focused in one area. I'll go undecided and see what I can do with that for my essay, what my recs can say, and others. If I can find many EC's and win writing contests this summer that helps me focus in on as history/English type person, I'll then major in History/English</p>
<p>Thank you soooooooo much everyone for helping me out.</p>
<p>Any more advice is still appreciated though!</p>
<p>are there any literary or history clubs? i know my school has a literary magazine, and even a history club. ask the newspaper sponsor if you could write some editorials for a couple of issues. go to your history teacher and ask if they need a student aide. are you in nhs? see if you can tutor kids in history or english. its activities like these that can show that you are dedicated...ish. becuase you are worrying about this during your senior (im guessing) year, it shows that you just wanted to randomly add this onto your resume. but what would make an interesting essay is writing about how you were so into math and science, and then later on in your hs career, you discovered how much history and english meant to you (was it an inspiring teacher? great experiences? you cant just use the excuse that you got all As. i got all As in english too but i happen to despise the subject...doesnt mean that im going to major in it becuase of a good grade) so you decided to try and immerse yourself in the subjects as much as possible. i dont know...think about it</p>
<p>you also cant count on winning all of the writing contests you enter. and dont just tack on biology because you had science-y ecs. everyone majors in bio at cornell. doesnt make you stand out</p>
<p>I really don't think you need get so stressed out about your major choices. Admissions officers and other people at cornell don't expect you to come in knowing exactly what you want to do, and even expect you to change. I know that in engineering they do not take your major into consideration at all when evaluating your application and I bet its very similar in the most of the other colleges. Your major choice on your application probably won't be the deciding factor on your admission.<br>
Just don't stress to much about checking of the right box for your major.</p>
<p>Ya-Alim I strongly suggest majoring in something you are very interested in, even though your parents want you to do otherwise, you should do what you like to do =]</p>