<p>My d has pretty a lop-sided skill set; does quite well at math and science, but writing and humanities - not so much. She is applying to small LACs.</p>
<p>One question on the application is regarding intended major, and she had written in math - her intended major du jour.</p>
<p>Which made me wonder - do intended majors make a difference in admissions and/or financial aid?</p>
<p>re: admissions- it totally depends on the college. if the application asks for "intended major" then it might make a difference, but you won't be able to findthat out unless it is published somewhere.
re:financial aid- no, Scholarships-yes in many cases.</p>
<p>Being a female math major can be a plus in admissions, and there may be a scholarship dedicated to women in that field. Of course, it will depend on the school, and, possibly, on whether her stats and EC's give credence to her math interest.</p>
<p>It depends on the school. I believe that women applying for programs like engineering might have an edge...but not a huge one (in other words...if you aren't in the ballpark for accepted engineering majors being a woman isn't going to take you over the top). </p>
<p>Some schools do offer departmental scholarships to folks declaring majors.</p>
<p>Most students put undecided in that box. The reality is most ARE undecided, and even most of the "decided" ones switch majors at least once.</p>
<p>I know two LACs recently built science/math buildings. Both admission forks mentioned their need to fulfill expected expansions. In other words, built a building, hired more professors; they need to have more kids. It's just a normal business decision( or pressure ) that they need to have certain number of students in order to justify their numbers of professors. Thus, your D would have an edge to apply those LACs as science/math major if they don't have enough.</p>
<p>In addition, my impression is even highly selective %IT schools show an edge for girls as a whole.</p>