<p>My concern was that putting down study interests such as engineering would affect my application to Stanford adversely; although I am interested in the field my ECs are diversified and almost unrelated to engineering/science entirely. </p>
<p>It's not to say that I haven't taken AP/honors science and calculus classes and done well, I just haven't done Intel, attended a physics summer camp, or the like.</p>
<p>Does anybody have an opinion whether specifying an educational focus on the common app influences decisions one way or the other?</p>
<p>What are you interested in studying?</p>
<p>Have an answer? If yes, put that down. Stanford gives almost no weight into what you put down on the application for intended field of study. They do not expect high school seniors to know for certain what they will major in- in fact, one of the institution’s goals is for you to entertain a thought of studying something else. High school classes often pale in comparison to their Stanford counterparts- in many if not most cases, there isn’t even a high school counterpart for an offering at Stanford. </p>
<p>I say almost no weight, because they are always looking to craft a student body, and it’s not good for the school to have 4000 students in one major. That said, if they are actively seeking out a certain type of student, they will undoubtedly give more stock to the ECs/recs/essays than an intended major. If anything, the intended major would just be a confirmation of it all.</p>