Does Columbia admit by major?

Does the major you choose influence the chance of admission? And would the major you choose be judged in relation to your interests and extracurriculars?

For example, my extracurriculars are heavily focused on politics/social justice/leadership, but I am thinking of studying Biology in college (I know, weird). I got a 4 on AP Bio with a 770 on the Subject and a 5 on AP Gov, so I would say Im relatively strong in both areas. But I just have no clue if they accept by major or if they just accept who they desire and majors are worried about later. I don’t want them to look at my application oddly when I present to them a bucket full of political extracurriculars and say my intended is Biology. If that makes sense.

Either way, Columbia is very strong in Political Science and it would most likely be the only college that I would study political science at, just because of the way the curriculum is designed I am not restricted to just poly sci and plus the amount of alumni in the network is tremendous. Everywhere else is biology.

The only division is between those that apply to Columbia College and Engineering. Engineers only take half of Columbia’s Core Curriculum, so there are some differences in the profile of students admitted by the College and SEAS. But among College applicants, there is no differentiation between those that indicate an interest by major. Putting undecided is perfectly fine and won’t harm an application. However, in an extremely competitive applicant pool, having an application that stands out is important. With so many really strong students who indicate an interest in a pre-med track like biology or neuroscience, it can be even harder to have a memorable application. If anything, your ECs may be helpful because so few other pre-med types share those interests.

They don’t. They admit to Columbia College or to Engineering.

They can review your app in the context of the major(s) you do mention. It’s not open season. So though they don’t accept you officially by major, your readiness, including ECs, can matter. Show, not just tell.

No math-sci activities at all?

@lookingforward I see.

The only math/science activity I have is math honor society and I don’t substantial enough for me to include it in the activities section. So other than that, I do not have any