Deciding your Major on your application

<p>I really do not know what I want to major in at this moment I am sort of all over the place with going into medicine or finance. Should I just pick a major on the list (something that is in either of those fields presumably) or should I choose "undecided". Also, does it hurt your chances if you pick certain majors(biology or economics etc.)</p>

<p>Wow, its amazing you say your deciding between medicine and finance. I am in the same position, and would like to know as well. I feel I am an all-around person, but have narrowed it down to either finance and medicine. The problem is, they are are such opposites career-wise.</p>

<p>If you really are undecided, pick undecided. If you know what you want, pick that. Don't worry about what might or might not hurt your chances.</p>

<p>Star*: </p>

<p>Understand and agree that one should put undecided as a major if he/she is undecided. However, I did have a question. I have heard people who put down an unpopular major for the school so they have better chances of being admitted. Is there a risk in doing that? Is it easy to change majors? Because from what I've heard, its quite easy to change majors.</p>

<p>If it is easy to change majors then the admissions officers will know that too, and they won't admit you just because you're going into an unpopular major (if anything, they might look at your major, compare it to your interests and skills, and wonder what on earth is going on). If it isn't easy to change, why go through all that? </p>

<p>Personally, I'm a big fan of just telling the truth and not trying to game the system. That way you know you'll be happy wherever you end up, because they actually admitted <em>you</em> and not some random person you were pretending to be. Sorry if I sound harsh, but that really bugs me.</p>

<p>Well my concerns come from the fact that some of my friends tell me that it is imperative that you list a major on your application. Also, I had the same issue as Azhir, some majors are much more popular than others so is it wise to pick a major that is similar to the actual major I want, jsut less popular? </p>

<p>Ha, yea I know finance and medicine are pretty much on the opposite sides of the spectrum but those two areas are what interests me ah decisions decisions</p>

<p>It won't make or break your application. The only issue is that you might run into some schools (particularly large universities) where you need to apply to a specific college which ultimately accepts or rejects you if you do declare a major. Changing your major at that point can be difficult if you're a borderline student because the other college has to accept you as well. In such cases, it's better to go in undeclared.</p>

<p>I think it depends on the school.</p>

<p>Some schools know that you'll most likely change majors and just want to gauge what you're currently most interested in (Like MIT). If you're undecided, then put that.</p>

<p>Other schools have some majors where it's really hard to transfer in and if you think you're somewhat interested in it, then I would put that down, unless you think it'll hurt your chances of admission. ( like JHU's biomedical engineering...they allow an alternate major though so doesn't hurt chances as well as CMU's computer science...same as JHU)</p>

<p>And yet other schools require majors, where you pick one and basically stick with it once you're in college. Here, if you pick undecided, it'll be hurtful for you because it's hard to get into a department once you're there and you may end up with something you don't like. (UCs does this)</p>