<p>out of curiosity, how is it possible that colleges tend to claim that the major you apply to does not affect your chances of admission? </p>
<p>the reason why i ask this is because let's say i applied to all the same colleges i did, but switched my major to something business related. it is very clear from my application that i have almost no knowledge of business (i'm a science girl, and make it very clear through my essays, EC's, and recommendations), but i still would have the same chance of being accepted with my same stats? </p>
<p>obviously, my example is quite out of the ordinary, and probably rarely happens. people are usually able to gauge what their prospective major should be in accordance to their goals for a career. but i still do wonder if colleges judge or evaluate a student behind closed doors by the major they plan to pursue.</p>
<p>Every college doesn’t deny this… If a college has multiple schools, acceptance rates and credentials may vary. Take Georgetown for example:</p>
<p>College
School of Foreign Service
Business
Nursing</p>
<p>If you apply for English, it’s not a difference from Biology (both in College). However, History would be different from International History (College vs. SFS).</p>
<p>Of course, if you have a ton of biology-related activities and classes and research and recommendations, it may be easier for you to get in for Biology, if they were assessing separately. Colleges realize that students change their minds about majors, so unless it’s a specific program or separate school, they don’t really take it into account.</p>
<p>This. Apply for the major that makes the most sense in the context of your accomplishments. </p>
<p>There may be a slight boost given to students interested in underrepresented majors on campus if and only if they have demonstrated interest and accomplishment in that area.</p>
<p>I believe most universities with multiple colleges do not deny that choice of major may have an impact. Example, UIUC which says choice of college does have an impact and choice of major within a college may. In fact, in your situation and the example you give if you were to decide to apply for business at UIUC rather than science, you will have cut your chances of admission by about 50% since the business school’s admission rate is about half that of LAS and engineering.</p>
<p>Note it is also a misconception to believe that an underrepresented major will necessarily be easier to get into. A major that is not popular means a major that is served by far fewer professors and classroom space than popular majors. That means seats available can be very low in comparison to other majors. Example, a popular major like English at a university may admit 150 students out of 300 that apply for it, but an unpopuiar major may admit 20 out 45 who apply. You really cannot know whether it helps without actually knowing seats available and number who apply and colleges generally do not readily provide that information with a breakdown per major.</p>
<p>Most schools do consider your major interests and do admit that they consider these interests.</p>
<p>However, if your application besides your indicated major doesn’t indicate an interest in that major, the major you choose won’t matter much, and choosing one of their smaller majors won’t help.</p>
<p>When schools have separate colleges, there’s a huge impact on your chances based on which one you choose, because they’ll be considering whether they think you’d be good for that specific program, such as engineering (if you have low math/science grades, they’ll be hesitant), business, med, etc.</p>
As pointed out, for many universities your choice of college (or major within that college) affects your chances. But for places that don’t consider it, doing so is quite easy. They can send your essays off to the readers with no hint of major. They can rate your app (ECs, scores, etc) without considering your major. It isn’t hard at all, actually.</p>
<p>assuming you apply as an arts major but in fact you are a science girl …
after they admit you, you have to file a petition to the dean of the science college, only if the dean of the science college approves your change of major can you become a science major …</p>
<p>I don’t think it is an honorable thing to do trying to do this and it is not looked favorable from the decision makers, and they are in no way of under any pressure to approve you …</p>