I’m equally tied between majoring in Political Science, History, or English; I enjoy all three very much but have been going with PoliSci because my dad said that would get me “more money” or whatever.
But - as far as admissions go and not the ultimate major, would choosing English be a less popular choice than PoliSci, and give me a better chance at a school?
Likewise, one of my friends has equal interest in Women and Gender Studies and History, would his situation be the same?
It depends on the school. There are what are called “impacted” majors, ones whose popularity makes them hard to gain admission. Those are not usually the ones you listed tho.
It depends on the college. Some colleges have plenty of capacity in most or all majors, so they admit without regard to intended major. But others admit by major because many or most majors are filled to capacity. Some have different methods by division (arts & sciences versus engineering, etc.).
At colleges where it does matter, the majors you mention are less likely to be filled to capacity at colleges on the middle-to-high range of selectivity than some other majors like computer science. But check each college to be sure. Where the major is filled to capacity so that it is more selective at frosh admission, it tends to be more difficult or competitive to change into that major after enrolling in another major. So do not think of choosing a less popular major as a “back door” into a college so that you can easily change into a more selective major later.
If you are a pre-law student (your intended majors are popular stereotypical majors chosen by many pre-law students), then any major is acceptable for law school admissions. Specific undergraduate majors may provide useful background for certain types of law practice later.
@HRSMom thanks for the response. I thought that PoliSci was very popular. Thank you though!
@ucbalumnus thank you very much for your response! Yes, i am intending to be a pre-law student 
i suppose i will go with polisci then, thank you!
Unless a college admits by major, the major you select will have no bearing on your admissions decision. College admission officers are wise to that ploy and are well aware that you can change majors once you have been accepted. The only exception could possibly be if you have an unusual major and have a long and deep history of demonstrated interest in the subject (ex. through significant research/coursework/ECs).
You may want to read http://lawschoolnumbers.com/application-prep/choosing-your-major-for-prelaw about choosing your major for pre-law.
@ucbalumnus thank you!
I went to law school a billion years ago. In undergrad, focus on logic and learning to write research papers…
@HRSMom thank you for the advice! I’ve been shaping up my writing on research papers for a long time now, but logic is still something I have to work on, especially when it involves numbers
In the page linked from #6, you’ll notice that physics, math, and philosophy majors tend to do well on the LSAT. That may be due to students in those majors doing well on the LSAT’s logic puzzle section, since their majors are likely to give them practice with logic.
@ucbalumnus I see that; unfortunately physics and math are my worst kinds of subjects. 
Using a strange major to gain access to a top school is a common tactic. And it does work.
But keep in mind that there is not free movement in college majors once you get in. Many universities have colleges within them and these are restricted and must be applied to separately. Colleges of engineering and colleges of business operate this way generally. So coming in as a PolySci major and then switching to engineering is not as easy as checking the box.
Political science is pretty popular; the problem with impacted majors is popularity vs. resources. Faculty, for example, are harder to retain in some fields than others - someone with a PhD in electrical engineering or computer science can find more opportunities and make scads more money outside of academia than they can within it, so it’s hard to attract and hire faculty into CS programs. So program sizes have to be limited because the remaining professors can only teach so many students. (Nursing and accounting. have similar problems.)
On the other hand, a person with a PhD in history or English doesn’t have as many job prospects within their field, and there’s a glut of them, so it’s easier to attract professors in those fields when you need them and grow those programs. Political science is sort of in this middle ground area, but it’s not exactly difficult for universities to find and hire professors of political science.
Well, that’s only true if the university admits by major. Most elite schools don’t, so the tactic is unlikely to work at thise places.
It’s going to be ok.
Since this is an FAQ, I made an FAQ thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1947599-faq-does-intended-major-make-it-easier-or-more-difficult-to-get-into-a-college.html