<p>Does anyone know if there is a disadvantage to applying undecided?
Also, my child indicated a preferred major on the letter he sent via National Merit, but has changed his mind.</p>
<p>there is columbia’s official stance, and then i think the realistic stance.</p>
<p>columbia says there is no meaning or advantage to selecting or not selecting a major choice. and students are not beholden to the major preference when admitted. i think on the surface this is true because in the end if they say anything else then it might lead students to believe they can select a major that will serve them well in admissions, when admissions is not like that. you have to inhabit the academic interest with what you’ve done, not what you mark down. it is certainly the safe answer.</p>
<p>the realistic stance - columbia like all major american institutions is data driven, that is to say they care a lot about figuring out how to predict what the entering class will look like based on what they think they will yield. this means having equal number of students majoring roughly in the same each year to keep in line with faculty levels. it means they will ‘over admit’ in some major areas with knowledge that either a lot more students tend to choose to go elsewhere, or that there is a low yield for that major when students actually come.</p>
<p>so saying you are undecided kind of makes it difficult to know how to evaluate you, and to predict where you might be academically. it means they need to do the guesswork by looking through your courses, activities or what your counselor might say, etc. this of course puts you at a disadvantage supposing they get your interest wrong, or do not find out how deep it is.</p>
<p>from my perspective and from talking with enough admissions folks the question is not what will you major in (indeed you can be undecided when you actually attend), but what do you think at columbia you’d most prefer majoring in. it asks you to think about your skills and interests and see if you have given any thought to this, it also asks you to through your application develop a story about yourself that is coherent. so the student who says - oh economics sounds great, but doesn’t realize that economics is heavily calculus based, seems silly marking that. the goal is not to know who you are going to be - but to have used your time in high school and in this minor question to have at least given some thought to the question. (and hopefully have a twist, and a set of experiences that do not appear to be mirror images of someone else.)</p>
<p>admissionsgeek I am sending you a PM.
Thank you for the thorough response; I share your opinion exactly.</p>
<p>I fundamentally agree with admissionsgeek on this issue (and most others). As a parent, and someone who changed his major several times, I know that many, if not most, 17 year-olds do not know what their academic (let alone career) goals may be. One major goal of college (and perhaps the most important) is to embark on a journey of academic exploration. One cannot truly explore if the constant tug of filling major requirements commences on the day one steps foot on campus.</p>
<p>This is my major beef with the British system, or even “specialty” colleges like MIT or Caltech. My first major was biology; I ended up as a philosophy major. I’m not sure I would have been able to explore properly if I felt pidgeon-holed upon entering college.</p>
<p>I believe admissions folks at places like Columbia understand and appreciate the need to explore. Thus, for example, the Core. Thus, also, the clear understanding that one need not declare a major until the end of sophomore year. My Columbia son listed physics and political science as his intended major when he applied. He starts his sophomore year in September without having taken a single physics or political science course. He spent his first year exploring.</p>
<p>I suspect, but don’t really know, that the reason that Columbia asks the question is that it would be imprudent to accept 90% of its student body as pure science fanatics who have done Siemens and/or Intel, or 13-year piano or violin students who declare music as their intended major. On the other hand, over many years of experience, Columbia seems to have learned that healthy major distribution is ultimately achieved by the time the class graduates. It would be interesting to see the difference between intended majors upon entry and final majors upon graduation for a recent class.</p>
<p>^agreed. I entered college with one intended major and graduated with a different one entirely.</p>