do college majors affect your chances?

Applying to College
1

<p>does choosing a college major really affect your admission chances?</p>

<p>so heres the situation:</p>

<p>im applying to UC schools and researched what the most popular majors are. it seems that most of the popular majors seems to be something in the biological field. because i want to go to med school after college, i was thinking about going into a biology related major in college to get me ready. but if all else fails, i want to be an engineer. i was considering what possible majors can help me in both in case one fails. my cousin told me that a physics major can help you both in pre-med and engineering, and if i were to change paths later on, i can rely on a physics major to take to a path where i want to go. i kinda agree with him because most of the things that i want to be requires a lot of physics. so now im kinda leaning towards applying to colleges as a physics major. i took physics honors in junior year and im currently taking ap physics this year and im enjoying the class and the challenges it has. </p>

<p>so, will applying to college under a physics major, even though the major isnt a popular major as the others, help me get into some schools or will it be basically the same chances as if i were applying under a popular major?</p>

<p>my stats are:
GPA W: 3.96
UC GPA: 3.87
SAT: 1760
SAT 2: USH 690, Math II -, Spanish -
Involved in a lot of sports and have a lot of honors in track and soccer.
AP Scores: WH: 5, EL: 2, HG: 4, SL: 4, USH: 3
All AP classes for senior year (5 classes)
Mexican, ranked 45/668
will retake SAT, aiming for 1900+ and taking ACT, aiming for 29+</p>

<p>colleges applying to:
UCLA
UCB
UCSD
UCI
UCSB
USC
STANFORD (just for kicks) </p>

<p>thanks for the help</p>

2

<p>If I remember correctly, at the UCs you don’t declare your major freshman year unless you are going into engineering. So no, it won’t affect your chances.</p>

<p>However, having a biology major just because it will help you in med school isn’t a good idea. Because the fact is, the majority of people who plan to go to med school don’t end up making it. Like your cousin said, it’s better to use your major as a backup career plan in case med school fails.</p>

3

<p>Between physics and a biological science, it will make NO difference in college admissions. Many (most?) students change their major while in college, so but for a few exceptions (eg. impacted majors, Engineering, etc.), major does not play a role in admissions. </p>

<p>The question of which major to choose in order to pursue your career goals, that’s a different and more complex question.</p>

4

<p>i see then. thanks for the info! i dont know why i was thinking of that. maybe it was impacted majors that was getting mixed up.</p>