<p>I've heard that it gives you a alight edge if you intend to study a less popular field. Like I am greatly interested in Linguistics which isn't exactly the most popular major i can think of....
Do colleges take rarity of what you intend to study seriously is it something that can really help an application?</p>
<p>I heard that the real way to get into MIT was to declare that you’re a business major, then switch majors as soon as you get accepted. Don’t really know if that’s true though…</p>
<p>I think this kind of “gaming” is useless and possibly counterproductive. The top colleges want to know who you really are, and to decide on that basis whether tyou’re a good fit based on the kind of class they’re trying to assemble. If you send them mixed signals by designating majors that don’t correspond to the rest of your package, it will only confuse them and give them a reason to pass you by in favor of another candidate whose package and narrative make sense as a whole.</p>
<p>yeah i also heard something of the kind bclintonk stated.</p>
<p>Dunno but for some schools, colleges matter (engineering vs arts and sciences)</p>
<p>Demonstrating passion for your intended major will be considered more highly than which major you put down on the form. If your transcript and essays show a deep passion for linguistics, and you try to declare a theoretical physics major because it is unpopular at your school of choice, the admissions staff will just go “what?”</p>