My DD is applying to the top colleges in computer science and I wonder if is a good idea to apply as a CS major or some other less competitive major in order to increase the odds.
You need to research each school. Many larger universities will direct admit your DD into the CS department. That requires her to declare at least the general area of study up front. It’s preferable to do that if it is an option. CS majors are very competitive. You don’t want DD to attend college for a year and find out she can’t study CS after all because her GPA isn’t a 3.75+ - or simply because the department is already oversubscribed. This actually happens at some schools, including UIUC. I believe Purdue is another school where some majors can be direct admit, and if you don’t start in the right department, you have to apply to change into the new one, and there are no guarantees you’d get approval. You might have better luck in some LACs, but my point is to research carefully.
For some majors in some colleges, it might work, but it probably isn’t a very safe strategy for STEM majors these days. It’s also not a great idea to start an application based on a lie, but your DD is the one who has to live with the results.
As stated above, it’s a poor idea for an oversubscribed major. You are setting your D up for potentially being shut out of what she actually wants to study.
Schools are also “wise” to this and some make the process of transferring majors difficult.
IMO, there can also be a big disconnect between application/courses/ECs and major when students try to play this game. The application can look more disjointed and not tell the story of the student that needs to be clear.
Agree with above with one correction, Purdue admits engineering applicants as freshman with undeclared majors and you do not seek to declare a major until after first year (and then you can actually face serious competition getting into CS at Purdue).
If she wants CS and the college requires choice of major when applying, she should apply for CS. Can that lower her chances of admission? Yes at many colleges because CS is so highly requested, although that does not necessarily rule out being admitted at many colleges, e.g., at UIUC if rejected for first choice major, you are then considered for a second choice major. You should not assume it is a good strategy to apply for another major that is easier to get into so you can change to CS later. For many colleges switching to CS into sophomore or junior year can be more difficult than being admitted as a freshman.
Straight CS is in the College of Science at Purdue, not engineering. Engineering CS is Electrical and Computer engineering. That said, Purdue still asks prospective first year engineers for their intended major and the science electives are scheduled accordingly. For example, my DD is intending to transition to chem e so she was able to get her chem courses easily because they are pre-reqs for next years. Similarly the case with the EECEs for their CS pre-reqs. If you pick another major to play the game, you could get closed out of courses.
Short answer: indicate the actual desired major. At schools where the major is more competitive for frosh admission, that is because it is “full”, so enrolling in another major or as undeclared means facing another competitive admission process later.
Here is an example where CMU students not already in the School of Computer Science face a competitive admission process (with a minimum 3.6 GPA in specified courses and 3.0 GPA overall just to be eligible) to transfer in: https://www.csd.cs.cmu.edu/guidelines-transfer-dual-degree-minor-and-additional-major-cs .