<p>I am applying to Columbia regular decision. As of now, I want to major in Biology. However what will increase/decrease my chances of getting in:</p>
<p>Declaring my major in Biology (which is apparently one of 5 most popular major among columbia students) on my application</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>Going undecided and declaring my major after I am admitted (provided i do get in)</p>
<p>How about option 3: reading the application and realizing that there is no place for you to “declar[e] my major.”</p>
<p>hi kiwi, your app doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>you may not declare a major in the application. you may write what your major interests are. you have 3 choices. </p>
<p>but the core of your question, should i be honest or be undecided.</p>
<p>being undecided basically says you haven’t thought about who you are. does that mean you may actually be ‘unsure’ in the sense that you might want to be multiple things, of course! but in reality, undecided in normal parlance is tantamount to not thinking about the situation. </p>
<p>further, if your desire is to be a doctor aka that is why you wanna do biology. yes, you are one of thousands applying each year. is that bad, no. it just that in high school other careers are not known about or valued, and that is the real shame.</p>
<p>also, who you are as an applicant is more than a box you check. if your science teacher mentions how you really want to major in biology or that you want to be a doctor, that can give you away. in reality, be who you are, be the best you are, and see if that works. remember - most students are not accepted to columbia not because they are horrible applicants, but there wasn’t enough space. so trying to ‘play the game’ and see how that works, is naive at best and sinister at worst.</p>