<p>My senior friends were telling me that if a school doesn't have a high number of people of taking a specific major, it is easier for an applicant that is applying for that major to get in. Is this true? </p>
<p>EX: lets just say mount holyoke college does not have enough biology majors... would they take in the undergrads that would be interested in taking biology as their major? although they didn't really meet their regular admission standards?</p>
<p>yeah i think its true. a lot of kids at my skool didnt get into ucla as majors in the medical field but a girl who had a bit lower scores got in for engineering…i heard its hard to change majors (if u wanted to lie tho) so idk if id do that lol</p>
<p>In general, major makes little if any difference since many students change majors while in college. </p>
<p>There are exceptions, and babygrl has cited one of them, females who want to go into Engineering and have the credentials to support their interest tend to be favored over males. In addition, programs such as Engineering are different from most other majors as they are usually in their own separate College within a university. They have a curriculum that is very structured and students are often accepted as freshmen and it is more difficult to switch into later.</p>
<p>Other exceptions include (but are not limited to): impacted majors (eg. at the UCs); less sought after majors (eg. Classics, but only if you have the academics and ECs to support your intent); art and architecture type majors where you submit a portfolio.</p>
<p>Biology at most schools is within the College of Arts and Sciences which includes many other majors which students are free to switch to within their first couple of years, that’s why little emphasis is placed on the major indicated on applications.</p>
<p>^ Agree with entomom, but I’d distinguish between research universities and LACs. At research universities, it often depends on the specific school or college you’re applying to within the university. So, for example, business majors applying to Penn are actually applying to the Wharton School, which has the most competitive admissions standards of any school at Penn. Engineering students at most universities are applying to the engineering school which has its own admissions standards, and those may be tougher or easier than that university’s college of arts & sciences, depending on how highly regarded the engineering program is. But within the college of arts & sciences, most universities say they accept students without regard to major; it’s just too difficult to track what could be hundreds of majors at a large school, many applicants are undecided, most “decided” applicants will end up changing their minds, and it could compromise their admissions standards too much to have specific admissions quotas for particular majors. Often engineering schools will also often say they accept engineering students without regard to the intended field of engineering, because so many engineering students switch once they get there.</p>
<p>Most LACs also say they make admissions decisions without regard to major, but I think there may be more exceptions. For example, at Wesleyan the admissions director told us they accept students without regard to major but they’re “especially interested” in science majors because they’ve recently made major investments in upgrading their science facilities, and they need students to justify those investments (and to keep the faculty supplied with undergrad research assistants, because they don’t have enough grad students to fill those roles). That’s a pretty big exception, and it may also apply at other LACs (possibly including Mt. Holyoke) that have placed similar bets on investments in science. Many LACs also seem interested in keeping alive small traditional departments like Classics, so qualified applicants may get a little boost there. And LACs with big theater programs are always looking for theater majors. Top LACs may also be more inclined to base their admissions decisions in part on whether an applicant is a good “fit” depending on whether the applicant’s stated interests match up well with the school’s own strengths—or not. But I don’t think you should expect to gain admission at any school where you “don’t really meet their regular admissions standards.” It’s more a question of these kinds of matches being a “tip” factor as between similarly qualified applicants.</p>
<p>“Tip factor” is right on. Major can and does matter contingent upon the school, what students/majors they need, what majors they offer, etc. but trying to gain admission with a major that is fabricated as far as your intentions can be a disaster, as it is often difficult to change majors…be yourself and find your perfect fit, rather than embellishing or outright fabricating your desires in order to increase admissions chances to a major you are not interested in pursuing.</p>