Hi! I’m going to be a senior this year, so I’m currently in the middle of the college application process. I’m thinking I want to major in something involving the environment/ sustainability, but honestly I’m not completely sure yet. Two of my favorite (and hard to get into 
) colleges are UC Berkeley and University of Michigan. I have taken German at school since 9th grade, went on a German exchange through my school for a month this summer and will also take AP German this year. I love German and plan to continue to minor in it in college so I can keep learning. So, I guess my question is, will applying as a German major, which isn’t very common, help me during admissions??? Thanks!
No, because students change their major all the time.
Plus, the AdComms aren’t dumb.
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At Berkeley, German is in the College of Letters and Science, where admission is not based on major, and all frosh enter as undeclared. A few majors in the College of Letters and Science do require attaining a high college GPA in their prerequisites to declare (German is not one of them). Changing to other divisions like the College of Engineering can be difficult after enrolling.
In general, if a given major is more selective at frosh admission time, it is likely to be a selective or restricted major if you attempt to change into it after enrolling.
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- possibly declaring German as a major isn’t that WOW
- Like what MurphyBrown says, even if you were to state a “rare” major, unless you’re already demonstrated outstanding achievement in that field, it’s only a point of interest – since in the US system, most students enter college free to switch or choose a major.
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In most cases, it wouldn’t have a noticeable impact on the admissions process, since most AOs expect that college students will change their major when they enroll (as most end up doing).
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Where major does factor into admissions, such as Penn, switching to a more selective program is extremely difficult. Adcoms know all the tricks.
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Regardless of whether kids change majors, or whether they have separate colleges on campus, they’re looking at your thinking at that moment when you apply. How do you back up this interest in German, other than classes and a summer exchange?
Thing is, some majors need kids- some need more of the minority gender. It can help. But not just for ‘claiming’ it’s a passion. Same sort of goes for enviro- lots of kids claim an interest, fewer have done anything with that interest. (Just a hs club or clean up campaign isn’t an “it.”)
^ Ouch-- the truth hurts!
The one area where I’ve seen this sort of thing actually help (not at UC Berkeley, to be clear) is Classics. Many of the top colleges maintain well-staffed Classics departments but their enrollment has dwindled to unsustainably meager levels–a bit of a problem when you have tenured professors to pay.
I’ve known a few students who had demonstrable experience in Latin and Greek (see @lookingforward 's post above!) and used that to apply to top-10 colleges as Classics majors, despite being in the bottom 25% in scores/GPA, where they then received admission (most recently UPenn). They promptly switched majors, probably to the dismay of their colleges.
Of course there’s no way of knowing for sure that applying as Classics majors helped them get in, but I suspect that was the case, and I have very good knowledge of their applications and qualifications.
I don’t advocate this sort of bait-and-switch tactic at all, of course, but I did want to mention what I’ve observed.
Guys wanting Classics, many colleges have plenty of gals. Similar with guys wanting English. And yes, they get vetted for some sincerity. Some of the Ivies have been looking for more male humanities kids. Harvard has said it, eg. But yes, with the record and LoRs (and some focused activities) to back it up. (Not a record where virtually everything else points to this is really a STEM kid, who will fly off. Or a pre-med who didn’t hit the right notes in his science work and thinks he can slip in and then defect, so to say.)
It’s easy to tell stem kids to get involved with math-sci activities, harder when there’s not so much similar opportunity for other majors. Eg, it’s rare for humanities kids to get research work, even at a grunt level. Very different than plugging into a working lab. What parts of history or SS intrigue him? How young? (My D1 was also interested in the stories, they can really awaken curiosity.)
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@MurphyBrown
National History Day nhd.org
It is easier to get into Cornell Engineering school as a female. It is not that hard to transfer out of CoE to CAS later.
It would help you at some schools, but I probably not at UCB or Michigan. I know it would help at a school like the one I went to–they always struggled to get German majors (mostly they filled courses with German minors), and you need enough students to keep the department going. But don’t pick it as your major unless you really want to major in it? It’s not a tool to use to get into college and any language major is hardcore. You will have to speak fluent German in ALL your classes, write papers in German… and the expectation is you want to use your German. All the German majors I knew ended up German teachers. You need a similar fluency for a minor–you still write papers in German–but it’s less intense b/c it’s only 1 class a semester.
Honestly I think noting German as my minor gave me a small edge with BU. But that was BU. I highly doubt it’ll help AT ALL at a hyper competitive school like UCB. Definitely don’t declare it as your major unless you’re all-in.
NHD really depends on ow your school handles it. And it’s often not a sustained effort,short or long term. Some schools let kids compete multi years, others only in one grade.
What I was hoping is that OP was involved in this interest in German more than taking classes (which is a bit ‘do as you’re told’) and taking a one month trip.
@proudterrier I don’t think the common all even has a place for a minor, does it?
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However, even if it is easier for a female applicant to get into Cornell CoE than a male applicant, it is not necessarily true that a female applicant will find it easier to get into Cornell CoE than Cornell CAS.
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When we visited Cornell, I picked up the current issue of The Cornell Daily Sun. There was a half-page ad from the American Studies department encouraging students to explore it as a major. I turned to my child and said, “This is your major on your application.” Her HS background fit as a prospective American Studies major. She didn’t want to do it, though.
@suzyQ7 I applied in the Dark Ages (ie: 2001) and on the BU app you indicated your minor, if interested in one. So it worked out well for me It’s kind of a shame if the CA doesn’t let you indicate anything beyond a major b/c that means it’s pretty limiting–what about a student who wants to double major? Oh well.
@lookingforward You may not be able to use class/teacher time to complete a history day project, but it’s a contest anyone can enter.
@MurphyBrown If your high school doesn’t do it’s own History Day fair, your first round of competition would likely be at regionals. Start by going through the NHD website to find the name of your state coordinator and start asking questions there.