<p>Many of the "Why this school" essays are much easier to write when you know what you want to major in. So what are colleges expecting for undecided students if there are so many programs the student would want to try out to see if maybe this is their " destined major." </p>
<p>It depends on the college.</p>
<p>Just lie. Well, write about one of your passions, and make sure that happens to be the one you have great grades and scores in. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a lie, though it still is deception. But who cares? Your essays or preferred are not binding in any way. Writing about being undecided is excruciatingly hard, especially with some of the 150 word limits some colleges put. Play the game. </p>
<p>It is not necessarily true that an undecided student would have a harder time writing an essay. S/he may write about how the specific school has interesting offerings in several different subjects that the student is interested in, for example.</p>
<p>Write about how the college has so many opportunities for you to try. I’m half undecided (want to go into engineering but not sure what type), so colleges who have big engineering schools with a lot of majors matters to me.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus Your description of that essay is already putting me to sleep. Admissions officers most likely already know what their own school’s catalog consists of, this topic is secretly supposed to be about you. </p>
<p>I’m applying undecided, but I know I want to major is something in the humanities or social sciences. So for all of the “Why Major?” essays, I just talk about my interest in the humanities. I would imagine it’s easier to talk about a specific subject, but it’s only easier if you actually have a passion in that subject. I don’t have a clear passion yet, so I think it would come across as kind of fake if I tried to assign one to myself and write about it. </p>
<p>@butterfreesnd It’s still hard to sum up your love for all of the humanities in 150 words. You don’t even have to choose one, two is fine or maybe even 3, but I’ve seen some of these essays just go wild. Specificity is not hard because you love philosophy for a reason, you’re not lying. You never have to directly state that “Philosophy is my life’s passion”, just list the reasons why you like it. And it comes off nicely without sounding fake. </p>
<p>@Esat936 I didn’t talk about why I loved each individual area of the humanities, there’s no space for that, as you pointed out. I talked about it much more generally - I love the humanities because it encourages open-ended discussion and because there’s something truly infinite about what can be found by each individual in a great work of literature, or something to that effect. Specificity is not necessary to writing a good “Why Major?” essay. It’s all in how you tell it. </p>
<p>Thinking about it more, you probably could write a decent essay about something even if your passion isn’t quite there. It would be harder to come up with non-clichés, but hey, the essay about the humanities that I described is basically one big cliché, so what do I know lol </p>
<p>I agree with @Esat936. If you have many interests, simply pick one and write about it. Your essay is in no way a binding commitment to follow through with that program. The “Why major” is more about you and your interests. You are most likely going to change your major regardless once you enter college so don’t be overwhelmed by this essay. </p>
<p>But what happens if my specified major is “undecided” on the common app? </p>
<p>How do I write about a love for, lets say policymaking, if I indicated that I’m undecided</p>
<p>Change what you said on the common app</p>
<p>Policy makers can come from several different educational backgrounds. The lessons of statistics, biology, chemistry, physics, economics, psychology, sociology, history, philosophy/ethics, and other subjects can all be applicable to policy making.</p>
<p>Do you guys think I should just write “other” on my common app? </p>
<p>What major(s) could you possibly be interested in?</p>
<p>I’m interested in education. Administrating or teaching or policymaking. Not the slightest clue. </p>
<p>1) I’ve heard multiple admissions officers say that they really pay no attention to the intended major (unless you are applying to a specific school/discipline such as engineering, business, nursing etc.) because half of the prospective students apply undecided and half of the people who apply with a major end up switching it while they are in college.
2) There are many reasons to like a school other than a major…it can be strong in the different areas you are considering studying (ex. strong in the sciences or humanities etc.) , you can feel comfortable with the size, location etc. of the school, you could feel you fit in well with the students you met, it could offer things you like such as research opportunities etc. And if you have any specific thing that struck you from a tour you can include that as well.</p>
<p>No, because other means that there’s a major you’re interested in but it’s just not there or something. </p>
<p>bu-bump </p>