Should I apply to college w a major and possibly be denied because it’s impacted, or apply undecided and possibly not show the school I have passion toward a particular subject?
If the major is a more selective one at frosh admission, then entering undeclared and trying to declare it later will likely require a secondary admission process based on your college record, or not be possible.
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Apply with a major.
Why?
Being a to study what you want - if you know what that is up front - is more important than being at a school that you might prefer, but not being able to study what you want.
IMHO - Major is more important than school.
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The feedback you get will be more helpful if you describe the kind of majors you’re interested in, and the kind of schools you’re interested in.
Some schools don’t even admit by major. Others vary widely in selectivity depending on which program you apply to.
I’m just wondering if the actual major selection will result in denying me admission. I would rather be admitted to the school and be flexible with the major, but I don’t want to look like I don’t have direction. Communications major
Which school?
At a Syracuse it will be impacted. At other schools maybe not.
Communication is vary wide - what area of communication?
I was referring to UCLA/UC Berkeley. Communications.
Syracuse is on the list. I’d love Film and Television but I’m fine with general communications since I know people change specific direction and I don’t want to hurt my chances of going to a great school.
Media studies at Cal is high demand and you should absolutely apply to it if indeed that is the major you want to study in college. In prior years you could have applied undeclared but it will be prudent to apply the exact major you want.
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There’s a big difference between TRF and say - general mass comm or messaging.
Apply to the major you want - and less about the school.
And don’t be afraid of secondary schools - because you often get more experience. And today everyone has an iPhone and that means everyone has a camera.
When I went to SU, it’s so overcrowded you got very little exposure. My friend who had to transfer to Montana after two years due to lack of funds - I visited her. They had 20 kids and all 20 got jobs in the industry vs. likely less than 20% of my class. I was in broadcast journalism. They all had their own full time equipment. I had to share and had very little access.
If you want to be in TRF - apply wider - ASU, Arizona, and some secondary schools.
Don’t major in something unrelated just because you want a name.
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Communications at UCLA, and Media Studies at Cal (I think that’s the closest thing they have?) are in L&S, so you shouldn’t get shut out because of major competitiveness - it’s not like Computer Science or Nursing. Don’t worry about it. It’s also okay to apply undeclared if you really aren’t sure; but if you think you know what you want to study, just say so.
There may indeed be gradients of demand - ucscuuw has more info about that for Cal, above - but it’s not worth having to fight your way into the program you want because you didn’t apply in the beginning.
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Actually, at Cal MS is a high demand major that is competitive. I dont know about UCLA but at Cal the OP should either apply to it or risk being unable to declare.
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UCB does not have a communication major, according to Degree Programs < University of California, Berkeley . A slightly related media studies major is a high demand major, according to L&S High-Demand Majors for First-Year Students | Letters & Science . Other related majors rhetoric and English are not high demand majors.
Does UCLA do frosh admission to the communication studies major? https://comm.ucla.edu/admissions/ only references current students applying to the major after taking some of the prerequisites.
But if that major is in high demand then an already competitive school just got even more difficult to get into
Well, you don’t seem that committed to Media Studies in particular. Maybe the Rhetoric major would appeal just as much Rhetoric < University of California, Berkeley
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It comes down to whether you really want that major or not. If you dont care about what major you end up with, and you want to attend Berkeley then sure you can apply undeclared BUT how would you decide if you get into Berkeley undeclared and get into another school for communications. Would you be ok going to Berkeley in lieu of doing communications at the other school?
Don’t think too much through the lens of admit rates, and focus on whether you truly want a specific major.
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Would you be satisfied attending UCB but not being able to get into the media studies major? I.e. where you would have to choose some other major like rhetoric or whatever.
So for UCLA it should be undeclared then since you apply to Communications later? Would you suggest I apply to Cal in English since media studies is high demand?
Good question! I believe that a school like Berkeley provides so much in addition to the major - but I am also very interested in film/comm. I want to maximize my chance to be admitted so I have choices I guess… Thank you for helping me
Do that only if you would be satisfied attending UCB with English or another non-high-demand major like rhetoric, because in that case, if you are admitted, it will be unlikely that you will be admitted to the media studies major later, because most of the space will be filled by frosh who applied to the major and got reserved space in it.
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