Just wondering if the college major is taken into consideration for admission. I want to major in East Asian Studies. If fewer kids apply for that major, does admissions seek students for that major?
<p>It depends...applying to an extremely popular major is sometimes detrimental...and applying to unpopular majors, if the college/university wants to "improve" this major, is sometimes helpful...It depends on the school, and your stats...</p>
<p>It really depends on the school. For some, only applying to the specialized majors (i.e. theater, engineering, music) would have an impact while the other majors will not play any factor in your admission decisions. It really depends on the school (what school did you apply to?), but I think a great majority of schools will not accept you because you chose an unpopular major and they felt they needed students to fill it.</p>
<p>you mean "a great majority colleges WILL ACCEPT you because you applied to an unpopular major and they want to fill up the major?"</p>
<p>UCSD Fanatic, are you asking me or the OP? I know for sure for all the UC's that applying to an unpopular major WILL NOT (as I have stated in my post above) have any bearing on your admission decisions whatsoever unless you choose the engineering route (more difficult) or the music/theater route (special auditions).</p>
<p>Music/theatre route can be a culling gauntlet. Many times the admit rate for those departments are far lower than for the college. Not many kids pulling down the school stats there. </p>
<p>It depends a lot on the school. CMU has very different accept rates to its various schools, so I know it could make a difference, applying as one major over another. Computer Sciences is extremely selective. HS&S less so. But at the most selective colleges, it does not help much at all. The departments generally have their fill of students, and enough kids change their minds about majors so there is not much anxiety if there are not many incoming freshmen declaring a particular departmen as the major. Sometimes, for some reason, however, the word goes to admissions that some major needs a bump, and when that happens, the lucky students who want that field of study according to the app, will get an admissions boost.</p>