<p>Do colleges accept people differently depending on what major they apply for? For example, in a college with engineering and biology sections, with the engineering being far more popular, would an applicant have a much better chance of getting into the biology section than the engineering section?</p>
<p>Most colleges do not focus on what major you put down on your application. Most students change at some point during their years from what they put on their application, and adcoms know that. Instead, they focus more on what school/department within the college you'll enter into. If you chose engineering, you'll go into the engineering school. If you chose bio, you'll go into the college of sciences. Some schools will want to admit more students into one college versus the other, so it just depends school to school. But I wouldn't apply to a school and put down a major within a college that you don't want to be in. For example, if you want to do bio, don't apply to the engineering program, you'll end up hating life. If you want to do engineering, and apply to the bio program, you'll waste atleast a semester, and maybe even a full year of school. Also, if you do get into the school under a certain college/department, and ask to switch after being admitted, they might rescind your admission offer. So just apply to whatever you want to do =) Showing your passion for your chosen major in your essays will be much better than trying to apply to a program that's easier to get into because your grades arn't exactly on par.</p>
<p>Yes! For example, at UT Austin, getting into the business school is VERY different from getting into the liberal arts school. Not only are some majors more selective than others, but at many universities the people who look at your application evaluate how good a fit you are for your top-choice major when deciding on admittance (Rice is a good example; they stress often in their admissions presentation that although you are by no means locked into your first choice, you should choose carefully, because it's a factor!).</p>
<p>In colleges or universities where the majors are in the same school, it doesn't matter. If the majors you're looking at, for example, are all in the School of Arts & Sciences, it doesn't matter which one you choose. If you have to apply to a specific school within the university, it might matter - applying to the School of Engineering can be quite different than applying to Arts & Sciences.</p>
<p>Most LACs have only one "school" so generally the major doesn't matter.</p>