<p>Many of the schools I want to go to are very hard to get into (Georgetown, Cornell, Dartmouth, JHU, etc.) and I was just wondering if choosing a rarely chosen major (Medieval russian literature) can increase one's chances of getting into college. I know it sounds rediculous but then can you change it after acceptance? I don't think I would ever do it but I was just curious.</p>
<p>well it's not a nice way to do it. but if you want to do nursing or international health apply to the nursing school at Georgetown. it's acceptance rate is much higher than the other schools at Georgetown.</p>
<p>Wait so it really does?</p>
<p>well i checked back on the georgetown threads, and apparently the NHS (nursing school) acceptance rate is going to go down because they got LOTS of applicants this year. but good luck. i didn't get in, but i got into my first choice anyways.</p>
<p>Umm say you want to be an engineer. To do so, you get engineering internships, take advanced physics classes, take post-BC calc, etc.. you take the Physics AP tests, etc. You obviously like physics/engineering. That's obviously what you're planning for your future (otherwise, you wouldn't take the SAT II/AP tests for college credit if you don't need credit in that field... someone aspiring to take russian medieval lit would go as far as they can in russian, do a study abroad program in russia, take lots of advanced writing classes and found a russian/medieval lit club.. and volunteer at renaissance fairs, etc.. possibly write a paper on how dueling is vital to western civ heritage and submit it to a medieval literary magazine). They will know if you're faking interest.. and if they sniff you out, then you're out no matter what you planned on majoring in.</p>
<p>This is a very commonly asked question.</p>
<p>It has very little sway in decisions. However, if you put down a major that you don't seem to be interested in at all (as the rest of your application indicates a propensity for something completely different), it may look bad for you. You need to support your intended major with your ECs, awards/honors, essays, etc. That shows a passion/focus, which is ideal in admissions. I don't think they'd automatically reject you for showing such a discontinuity, though. They know that the applicant may (and probably will) change majors eventually, and that it can be difficult to show your interest in something (EC-wise, etc.).</p>
<p>All in all, if you have a strong interest in something uncommon, you might put that as your intended major and you'd definitely support it in the rest of your app. If your interest is something a bit more common, you might put it as your major or you might check 'undeclared.'</p>
<p>it can affect admission. </p>
<p>I would say if you are applying to the ivy league and you are a great math/science student, you are more likely to get in if you check the box for engineering than if you say physics. I think Princeton might actually have a separate admission pool for the engineering school, but I don't know what the extent of this is.</p>
<p>Yes it would, depending on the school.Since those schools are higher ranked then it won't because they need to uphold there school name by giving admission to the people who are qualified to be there.my friend applied to UC davis to a popular major so she was rejected but when she reapplyed to the same school with a differrnt less popular major then she was accepted.</p>
<p>Do you think it would matter to a school that might be experiencing a shortage of qualified applicants in a particular major? Assuming, of course one is completely qualified and demonstrably passionate about such major?</p>
<p>I mean, for me, </p>
<p>I'll be doing a lot of materials science research, possibly participating in Intel STS. Besides, I do a lot of debate/Model UN...etc</p>
<p>what I really want to major in is Electrical engineering, but isn't putting down Materials Engineering (for universities that apply to engineering schools e.i.Cornell) or political science/communication (for schools that apply to the whole university e.i. Stanford) have a little bit advantage over putting down Electrical Engineering? </p>
<p>I know it's not a big deal, but shouldn't it affect a little bit?</p>
<p>I mean, i do have passion for engineering in general, and communications/speech, but for my major I want to do Electrical engineering. I feel that I can have a better shot if I put down Materials Engineering...(note that if you're applying to a school like Cornell where u apply to different colleges, it wont work to put down political science b/c there's no garentee transfering colleges, but like MIT where u apply to the whole university, there IS garrentee you can do whatever major you want given you have enough GPA)</p>
<p>I think it is misguided to say that choice of major does not affect admissions AT ALL. i know under-"represented" departments would love to see students wanting to major in say astrophysics who show genuine interest
male nurses, male dancers, female businesswomen (although increasingly less so in recent years), female mathematics majors all get some sort of recognition (although most probably NOT a guaranteed admission).
nowadays, with the craziness of college admissions, it is ALWAYS good to have an asset, putting you above other applicants</p>
<p>i mean, if a female put engineering, it's gonna be a pretty big bump...</p>
<p>Hehe, kinda off topic, but caltech has an English major! If I applied to caltech as an Eng. major... jk! Don't worry I wont take any spots from you crazy math/sci geniuses!</p>
<p>After going through the whole process this year jack, I'll give the best advice I can give. If you indeed decide to declare a probable major (being undecided will not put you at any disadvantage if ur just applying to a general CAS) make sure your application backs it up. </p>
<p>I actually applied to Georgetown, Cornell, and Dartmouth. I was accepted as an International Health major in Georgetown's School of Nursing and Health Studies and as a Human Biology, Health and Society major at Cornell's College of Human Ecology. I was rejected at Dartmouth College. Now I attribute at least part of my success at Georgetown and Cornell to applying to the specific programs i did, indeed they are very similar to each other. My extracurriculars, class choices in HS, essays and recommendations all reflected both an interest in health care and policy, which came through on my application. </p>
<p>While at Dartmouth I basically applied for just general admissions and maybe wasn't exactly the best fit on paper for the school (I don't regret applying at all though). Yes its true that both the College of Human Ecology at Cornell and School of Nursing and Health Studies at Gtown have somewhat higher acceptance rate than the rest of their respective universities (though I suspect NHS at Gtown took an enormous dive this year) however if I didn't appear to be a good fit for those programs (along with very competitive grades, SAT's, and EC's) I would surely have not gotten in. </p>
<p>So, the morale of my rant is this: If you can indeed prove to the college that medieval Russian literature is something your passionate about then by all means apply to a specialized program like that. However if you can't your plan will backfire and you won't get in to that school (even if you would have been competitive as just another undecided applicant.) </p>
<p>Happy Hunting!</p>
<p>Is there really an advantage for females pursuing engineering or business? It sure doesn't seem like it for business atleast.</p>
<p>sorry aquamarinee, that was kinda outdated then. women in business is no longer exotic, i think now its women in mathematics (not to seem sexist)
and this is all from an article i read somewhere ... if only i can find it again</p>
<p>O.o really? I heard that at MIT, a lot of women pursue mathematics, but not EE. I heard this from them some time ago.</p>
<p>haha that's interesting. I'm... female and... hoping to major in applied math. :)</p>
<p>During my freshman yr, my engineering teacher said that women in engineering/math would be very beneficial. However, I talked to him a few weeks ago, and he said he was no longer confident about that. He said it would probably still help as they are still rarities, but, each year, more and more females are going towards those majors (maybe they heard it would help, too? maybe they just enjoy it?)...</p>
<p>So, I'm not sure if that helps, but that is what I believe.</p>
<p>Just an FYI the NHS International Health major at Georgetown only accepts 35 students - I imagine that a lot more goes into picking those students than just stats - they want to get a good diverse mix. Anytime you are trying to apply to a small program you need to consider that it may also be a risk.</p>