Does my major affect my chances of getting into certain schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>(Before I get started, I realize that the answer to that questions is YES, but I'm wondering to what extent)</p>

<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>I'm a high school senior currently filling out my college applications and am unsure of what field I'd like to go into. However, after working on my UC essays with my college essay coach for the past few weeks, I feel like a "biology-related" field might be a good fit for me. But throughout high school, I feel like my classes and extracurriculars (to some extent) don't show a student truly interested in biology. The only courses I've taken related to it are normal Biology (my freshman year) and Biotechnology (which I'm currently enrolled in). I haven't taken the AP nor the Subject test. As far "biology-related" extracurriculars, I've been a volunteer at my local hospital for the past 2 years now. My current unweighted GPA is a 3.33, and weighted is 3.67. I am active in about 5-6 extracurriculars (clubs, volunteer work, athletics, etc.). On top of that, I feel like I have a strong case to make in my UC essay, so I'm pretty confident in that regard. Now with all that said, would I have a better chance applying as "undeclared/undecided", or should I go under a "biology-related" field? The schools I'm looking at are the UCs, Cal Poly SLO, and USC. I might also apply out of state to Tufts and Brown (but I'm unsure about the latter at this point).</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>P.S. I know I've written a lot in this post, but what are some schools on the east coast you guys recommend for undergrad biology? I'd like to keep my options open if I don't get into anywhere "good" in California.</p>

2

<p>Cal Poly SLO more than the other schools you mentioned. For UCs and USC, it makes little difference (other than for film at USC and UCLA, in which case they are reaches) and neither for Tufts nor Brown.</p>

3

<p>The more competitive the college, if they ask about a potential major, they need to see it makes sense- that you have shown this interest by taking the hs courses AND that you are prepared for college level classes in that area. For Brown and Tufts, 3.3 and no AP bio will present a challenge. Don’t know if you had AP in math, chem, physics, but these matter, as well. The competition will have the stats and the prep. </p>

<p>There’s some disagreement about whether undeclared matters. Ime, a competitive college needs to see where your academic strengths might lead you.</p>