<p>@CPU I have ties to three top Ivies (very close ties with one) and my daughter is at Harvard but I am sure a current/past student knows more than me. How can they not, after all attending Harvard is a prerequisite for knowing how the admissions process works.</p>
<p>Plus, you know, there’s that old saying about us Harvard guys: “You can always tell a Harvard man…but you can’t tell him much!” ;)</p>
<p>^^LOL That applies to women too - judging from conversations with my daughter.</p>
<p>It’s an old saying. It dates back even before my time, to the days when “Harvard women” were “Radcliffe girls.”</p>
<p>@Falcon1… Sorry to break your assumption which sounds almost like fantasy, T26 is right. Harvard might ask some questions that affect whether an applicant’s gonna get in or not; at the same time, they might as some questions, just like major, purely to get to know the student more. There are interviews out there a Harvard admission officer saying that there are some students who are very outstanding academics (and by this, it doesn’t mean 2400 in SAT or 10 AP 5s, but something more significant like putting your research report on a major science magazine), but most applicants are well-rounded. And Harvard doesn’t have a problem with well-rounded applicants, and they value them as much as students who have outstanding academics in one area. Havard do encourage students to explore what they wanna study through Freshmen seminars.</p>
<p>So the questions are not a throwaway. But they don’t affect whether you get in or not. Harvard uses it to get to know the student more, not to judge if they will accept or reject the student. </p>
<p>Only read your first comment, so pardon me if you said something I said in the latter comments.</p>
<p>"But they don’t affect whether you get in or not. Harvard uses it to get to know the student more, not to judge if they will accept or reject the student. "</p>
<p>ALL RIGHT. We’ve covered this ground before. I’m in.</p>
<p>Just explain to me how YOU know this to be the case please, humanities2014 or is this just your opinion?</p>
<p>“Sorry to break your assumption which sounds almost like fantasy,” Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine… really.</p>
<p>
hahaha very clever.</p>
<p>I think what Falcon1 is saying might have some truth. In other words, if I’m a well-rounded applicant wanting to major in Math, I’d assume Harvard would prefer to have Math majors who have shown promise in the field in their HS years rather than a kid who simply took AP Calc. I might be mistaken though, since again, what do I know? Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a book with answers to all these questions?</p>
<p>Also thank you to everyone who has replied :)</p>
<p>@Falcon1 Because I saw the dean of admission from Harvard saying what I said on interview. And how about you? Why are you so sure about what you say, when you didn’t hear it from Harvard directly? (And I’m sure because I heard it directly from Harvard) Don’t be too sure about yourself. You won’t be fine with that in the future lol… (Not specifically about Harvard, but it’s better to be humble with so many things in your life)</p>
<p>^^ As I said in post #13, you have to take everything that is publicly said with a grain of salt. But anyway, I was trying to help by injecting what I know to be true - that in certain instances, it DOES matter what a student puts as his/her intended major. This is only true a small percentage of the time and I did not get into the specifics but I was tired of everyone beating the same drum that this question was meaningless. </p>
<p>Yes, you are right that being humble is the way to go so I apologize for any unintended arrogance.</p>
<p>Props to Falcon for taking the high road here.</p>
<p>Thanks Sikorsky. You, notjoe, gibby and others are good role models!</p>
<p>That’s kind if you to say, but I don’t think I belong in a class with the others! </p>
<p>I’m far too quick to become rude, sarcastic or snarky. I am sometimes embarrassed to come back later and see how badly I have treated kids who simply don’t yet know the score.</p>
<p>Just saw a link in the Yale forum to an article entitled “9 Facts about the new Freshman class”. Two of the nine “facts” are about their intended majors. Obviously, top schools track this info and care about it more than they say they do. Ii don’t know the correct way to post a link to the article but here is the URL: [YaleNews</a> | 9 facts about the new freshman class](<a href=“http://news.yale.edu/2013/08/23/9-facts-about-new-freshman-class]YaleNews”>9 facts about the new freshman class | YaleNews)</p>
<p>Sikorsky, if you’re any of those things than I need to stop posting ASAP. At the end of the day, however, we are just trying to help these kids who are just looking for some answers. Very often, we actually do know some of them. You are right about not getting into the chancing business. I should avoid this too.</p>
<p>One last word about choosing a major. rokr32 was onto something in his/her last post above. It’s all about talking the talk AND walking the walk, otherwise, it’s just information for adcoms. Good luck!!</p>
<p>falcon: the two facts about Yale freshmen intended majors are kept – you’re correct. But the reason? They then will share those same factoids with them in 4 years – to see how much they’ve veered off the course – and it’s tremendous – and tremendously enlightening (and entertaining). You know how many pre-meds are in the class of 2017 at New Haven right now? About 8 billion. Come 4 years from now – under a hundred.</p>
<p>In my 28 years of experience with Yale: Yale does not admit students based on intended major.</p>
<p>What Sikorsky said is how I’ve seen it over those 28 yrs:
</p>
<p>“In my 28 years of experience with Yale: Yale does not admit students based on intended major”</p>
<p>T2 - Then I’m afraid we’ll have to agree to disagree. Yes, I already agreed with Sikorsky’s observation - but that is only part of it. I have to ask you, Yale tracks this data over a four year period just so that they can have a fun and enlightening discussion at the end? Yale, of all schools in the Ivies, has not been consciously trying to boost it’s enrollment of SERIOUS STEM kids? Okay, I’ll readily admit that I do not have specific knowledge about Yale’s admissions policies. However, because of the other top schools I do know about, I would have to say that the tools that adcoms at these schools have to build a class are all the same and the methodology employed to do so is also the same. I can assure you Yale does not want a class of 1300 economics majors and is looking to achieve a balance across the departments based on resources. Each year the mandates may change at top schools but again the methodology for fulfilling the individual mandates does not.</p>
<p>I have repeatedly said that in MOST cases the choice of major is not an important factor. This is because in most cases, there is nothing within the student’s background to substantiate the choice or the choice is not that interesting to the college. It is just another factoid about the potential student.</p>
<p>I respect your 28 years of experience; I have a similar amount of experience in various capacities at three other Ivies as an undergrad, grad, faculty member, very involved alumni and my partner is on the Board of Trustees at another Ivy (which I have very little interaction with). I guess we all carry away different perspectives about what goes on behind the magic curtain.</p>
<p>You bring up a very good point. Yale actively recruits a cadre of strong STEM applicants (even to the point of giving out Likely Letters) – ones they confidently feel are outstanding in their field and likely, will graduate in one of those departments. Once admitted however, the departments seem to handle the highs and lows of the eventual #s of kids who seek a degree within the respective departments. They always seem to even out at the end (although I can imagine a scenario where an unexpected bulge in a particular niche field creates the need for more instructors). The larger departments seem to be able to handle the variation in numbers.</p>
<p>Beyond the core group of recruited STEM majors (and the mythical wanted Oboe player), Yale seems perfectly content to admit willy-nilly as far as I can tell.</p>
<p>There’s a big difference between saying that Yale wants to admit more hard-core STEM students and saying it makes a difference what prospective major you put on your application. I admit that saying you want to major in French literature might detract somewhat from your image as a hard-core STEM person. But I suspect that if a kid came along with great math or robotics credentials who said he or she wanted to major in French literature, that would be an automatic admit, not an issue. In any event, I doubt they have faced that particular question.</p>
<p>The point is that saying you want to major in engineering doesn’t make you a desirable STEM student, and if you are a desirable STEM student saying you want to be an engineer on your application or not doesn’t move the needle.</p>
<p>And I would say the same thing about great skill in Greek or Latin, something Yale (and every other equivalent college) clearly looks out for. It’s a plus to have that skill, no matter what your prospective major is, and it’s not a plus to say you want to be a Classics major if you don’t have the goods to deliver.</p>
<p>@JHS You are actually arguing my point but defending T2’s perspective at the same time. All along, I have said that colleges look to build classes and there are certainly some areas that are more desirable than others at any given time (Greek and Latin all the time). I have also said exactly what you just said - it is not enough to just talk the talk but you have to walk the walk as well. You can declare you want to major in a desirable field (or write about your interest in that field) but if you don’t have a proven track record to back it up, your interest will not be taken as seriously as someone who does. If you honestly believe that a highly desirable STEM student stating on their application that they want study engineering at Yale doesn’t move the needle than so be it. I would have thought they are the first ones to get the Likely letters that T2 wrote about.</p>
<p>Your whole hypothetical case about the French Literature wannabe that is a superstar math or robotics kid, I don’t have an answer for. I am not sure adcoms know what to do about this kind of situation either. I suspect that he/she would not be an “automatic admit” as you say but would warrant a case by case review. There would have to be strong evidence that the student has the necessary skills to also excel in French literature or the humanities if he/she intends to eschew the math and sciences. In other words, poor language grades and verbal and writing scores would not fly even if the kid was a bonafide math whiz. Who needs a math geek failing French Literature? In this scenario, declaring an interest in French Literature might actually move the needle the wrong way or at least raise questions.</p>
<p>Anyway, this whole discussion has taken on a life of it’s own and so maybe it’s time to let it rest. If nothing else, if it has engendered more people to think about the this one small part of the application I am satisfied. I have said what I needed to say and am not worried about rankling veteran posters.</p>