College advice pls - What major should I apply as?

Applying to College
1

Hi everyone, I am a 16 yr old white female student (rising senior) at a very competitive residential arts school, where I transferred from a pretty competitive STEM Magnet program. I have put a good bit of research into my college list, which is roughly as follows:

Reaches: Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, RISD/Brown DM program, Tufts
On-targets: UNC Chapel Hill, Tulane, Colgate, UT Austin
Safeties: USC Honors

I know I want to double major in studio art and a science, but in addition to advice on my selected colleges and how they match my resume, I would really appreciate any advice on what to apply as. I’ve received some advice telling me to apply as an English major, then switch over once I get accepted, because my math grades and scores are the weakest parts of my application.
I got a 28 in math on my ACT, a 33 in science, and 36s in reading and English as well as a 10/12 on my writing. In addition, I got a 3 on my AB calc exam, and 5s in US History and Language.

I am a pretty strong English student, but I also have built up a good bit of science related pieces of my application - major independent research project sophomore year, spending 2 years in a STEM magnet program, working as a STEM coach this summer, etc. Is it worth leaving these pieces out of my college essays because of my math scores?

Details:
SAT: 1520
ACT: 33, 10 on writing

There is no class rank at my school, but at my old school I was around 30/650.
UW: 3.85 W: 4.6-ish

Extracurriculars:

  • Captain and founder of running club at my school (no other sports available)
  • V Cross-country and JV pole vaulting freshman and sophomore year
  • Club (2012-2015) and recreational soccer (2015-2017)
  • Worked part time at a math and reading tutoring center for 9 months sophomore year
  • Member of honor council at my current school
  • HOSA member freshman + sophomore year
  • Part time nannying job for three summers, about ~20 hours a week
  • STEM coach at a summer program for 4 weeks this summer
  • Member of my school’s community service club for 2 years
  • Also member in GSA, Film Club, and International Relations Club for 2 years

Awards:

  • Scholastic Silver keys in Printmaking and Graphic Design (freshman and junior year)
  • 1st place in statewide institute art contest
  • 2nd place in same statewide contest in essay category
  • Best in Show at school wide (~2500 students) art show sophomore year
  • 1st place in Microbiology research paper category at the state level, publication in a junior state-level journal
  • 99% sure about National Merit Semifinalist this year
  • AP Scholar with Honor

Recs: Very good from AP Lang teacher, most likely strong from AP Bio and AP Lit teachers

APs: Human Geography (4), US History (5), Lang&Comp (5), Calc AB (3) < will most likely not submit, advice?
Course load senior year: AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Art History, H Spanish

My school allows a maximum of 3 APs per year, which is why I only have 7 total, because of the large number of arts classes we are expected to take (about 6 extra classes per semester, all honors).

2

If this worked, everyone would do it. The truth is, most universities don’t really care what your major is when you apply; and at the universities that do, switching your major after you are admitted is difficult.

I am fairly certain that Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Tufts, Tulane, and Colgate do not admit by major. I browsed around on each of their webpages individually and couldn’t find any information relevant to submitting applications or special materials for specific majors (with the small exception that Tulane recommends a portfolio for students interested in architecture).

USC (assuming South Carolina) also specifically says that as a freshman, you don’t need to know your major and can change it to anything once you are admitted. http://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/undergraduate_admissions/majors/index.php. However, they do seem to be kind of restrictive in how you can change your major after freshman orientation.

At UNC, I think you need to apply to Kenan-Flagler for their business major, but you don’t need to apply to any other majors. (For example, the CS department says “There are no specific requirements a student must meet in order to declare a major in computer science.”

So at those colleges, there doesn’t seem to be any benefit in specifying English ahead of time and changing later (and, in the case of USC, it seems it could actually hurt you).

At RISD/Brown, you have to apply to both universities separately, be admitted, and then complete a dual degree application. Brown is similar to the above schools in that you don’t have to apply to a specific major. RISD does say that completing a science major (BS) takes “careful planning.” http://risd.brown.edu/

You also may want to add more than one safety school!

Now, UT-Austin does admit by major. (https://admissions.utexas.edu/explore/academics). However, transferring majors ALSO has admissions requirements. So I’m not sure that it would make sense to specify English and then try to transfer majors later. What if you can’t switch into science?

3

Unless you apply to a school that accepts by majors, admissions officers are well aware of the fact that you can apply for one major and change once you are at the college. I’ve heard a number of college admission officers who work at colleges that do not accept by major say that they don’t pay much attention to intended major in the admission process since about half of the applicants apply undecided and about 50% of those coming in with a designated major end up switching it while they are at college. There might be an exception if a student has a very long standing and developed history of interest/aptitude (through ECs, research, classes etc.) in some obscure major but that’s about it.

If you do apply to any schools that accept by major I would list the major you feel you want to study or else you might be stuck in a major you don’t find desirable.

4

If choice of major makes a difference in frosh admission selectivity at a given college, changing into a more selective major after enrolling will require another admission process based on college grades and possibly essays.

5

Schools are very aware that some students state one major while attending to change to another. You may find that changing majors is difficult because of an academic challenging program that you must be prepared or a major is very popular so there are few openings in the program. Remember, you will need to parallel course requirements if you plan to transfer. Changing majors may be possible or not. It deoends on circumstances.

6

You also need to find out if there is specific admission to the studio art program. At some larger institutions, admission to the college of science is separate from admission to to design programs, and you will need to file at least some of your materials to each division separately.