<p>Hi,
I'm really into history, law, political science and the social sciences in general and my application reflects that with the extracurriculars that I've done and the AP's and SAT II's I've taken.. I've been advised by people to apply with a major when applying to highly selective schools like UPenn. I was wondering which major that fits under these categories is least popular and if that would slightly help my admissions chances ED.</p>
<p>Many colleges know that one’s preference as a 17 or 18 yr old is statistically likely to change. Thus, little import is placed on what you state. You can list what you’d like – you’ll be evaluated on your ability to utilize Penn’s vast resources – not just as a single focus scholar. At Penn, unless you were planning on applying to Wharton, it doesn’t matter what you list as your potential major. You’re not committed until the end of your Soph year — and that’s intentional. Penn and many colleges welcome people sampling areas of study. </p>
<p>
You should have been advised to examine yourself deeply and list what is the truth at that moment. If it’s History, list that. If it’s “Undecided” list that. There is nothing to be gamed here. Your advisers are incorrect.</p>
<p>There is really no such thing as an easier major to get into a high ranked university like Upenn. Even at colleges that admit via major, that are not that high ranked, and that have popular and unpopular majors, the choice of major is not going to make much difference. The existence of an unpopular major also means there are few students in it and low resources dedicated to it. The result is you can have a popular major, like psychology where the college accepts 150 out of 300 applicants, and an unpopular major, like eastern languages, where the college gets 20 applicants but accepts only 10. In other words, the admission rate is about the same and often for unpopular majors it is lower. And guess what one of the reasons that lower admission rate can occur? Because there are many applicants who apply to the unpopular majors under the incorrect belief that their chances of admission are higher. </p>
<p>Where there can be real differences at a univeristy, in average GPA/test scores accepted although not necessarily in actual admission rates, is among the different colleges in a university. For example it is very common at many universities for the those admitted to the engineering college or even business college to have higher average scores than those admitted to the Arts & Sciences college.</p>
<p>I’ve heard multiple admission officers say that unless you are applying to a dedicated school/program (ex. engineering, business) that they don’t really pay attention to your intended major in the admission decision as it is their experience that about half of the people coming in with a specified major end up changing it while they are at college anyway. Schools are wise to the idea that people can apply with an unusual major and then change it once they arrive on campus. </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I will apply under history as my current major interest and I’ll see where it takes me. My parents have been against the idea of studying history as they feel that it isn’t a “career”. Law interests me and so does Political Science so I may end up switching into that at a later point. </p>
<p>LOL: what do your parents think ppl who study history do or become? BTW: there is no such major as law.</p>
<p>At Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences, which I assume is the college to which you’re applying, you do not need to declare a major until the end of your sophomore year. There is some practical value to stating a “likely” major on your application in that should you get accepted your first advisor will most likely be from the department you specify. So in your case, if you get accepted ED, your likely first advisor will be from the history department.</p>
<p>My parents are adamantly against me aiming to become a professor or a historian. They feel that it’s a waste of money to pay for an ivy league education if I plan to study history. I am in complete disagreement with them but I convinced them to let me start out with history to see if it suits me in college. </p>
<p>If it helps, since law is a post-undergraduate field of study, you can always go into it from history if you’re so inclined.</p>
<p>I would argue that it’s actually more feasible to get a good job as a history major coming from an Ivy since you have access to all of the on campus recruiting opportunities and many others. History majors from Penn have a lot of flexibility career wise and if you apply to professional school. </p>
<p>Also, if you do decide to get a PhD in history, the top PhD programs are not only free, but also pay a stipend (like $20,000-30,000) so you will not go into debt doing it if you manage your finances.</p>
<p>I have tried to do research on careers that history majors can pursue outside of teaching but every time I present something to my parents, they shoot it down and say it isn’t a real career. I can’t seem to get through to them that an undergrad degree won’t be a career. </p>
<p>Have you showed them the list of jobs Penn’s History majors got last year (2013)?</p>
<p>Penn’s Career Services Office has really detailed reports that tell you who gets hired and what they make, broken down all sorts of ways, including by major. <a href=“http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/reports.php[/url]”>http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/reports.php</a></p>
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<p>Harvard had 150 History concentrators graduate last year – about 9% of its class. Do you parents think that none of them will have careers?</p>