In the Common App, for some colleges, there are the school/major/interest under each university/college to choose. For example, UVA requests the applicants to show their interests to the one of the schools (Engineering, Art &Science, Architecture, etc), and show their two interests under the school. I know some school is tough to get in than others. If the applicants failed to get acceptance to their first choice, does UVA offers the second chance in other school? What will be safe school/interest to get in UVA and then change major in later time? Thanks
You may not be able to change your major. It depends on the college. That’s why you have to do your research.
Schools will usually let you switch to an easier, less selective major, but for, say, engineering or CS, if you start in a different program, it can be very difficult to switch into those later. It isn’t unheard of for kids to be in a school they like, but find themselves shut out of their preferred major.
There are plenty of highly selective colleges that will ask about your interests, but let you pick whatever major you want when you get in. That’s because those students are very smart and driven to begin with, and the college knows they will likely succeed in whatever they decide to do.
Different philosophies and different ways of maximizing the school resources.
I suggest that you be honest about your major when you apply. Colleges aren’t stupid. They will be looking for clues as to your interests. If you were in the robotics club for four years of high school, for example, but apply as a history major (or vice versa)… that’s a red flag. All things equal, they’ll prefer the applicant with the consistent story.
Should do. But many applicants apply with ‘undecided majors’ and some colleges allow the students to determine major until the end of sophomore. Back to my question, if the first choice failed to get in, do the colleges/UVA offer applicants second chance? Is the waiting list for the original school or other schools? Thanks
If you truly don’t know what you want to study, you may want to focus on colleges that are more open to exploration, such as liberal arts colleges. A few of the highly selectives, while very difficult to get into, do have open philosophies (MIT, Notre Dame (with the exception of their business school), for example). There are schools at every type, level and ranking, though, with different philosophies. It comes back to doing your research.
If you want to get into an engineering or CS powerhouse, which tend to be found in large universities and state flagships, you should be up front about your intentions. The “secret major” strategy you proposed is very risky because, even if an admissions officer doesn’t see through what you’re attempting to do, transferring departments/sub-colleges within the university is in no way assured. Even for majors other than engineering, there are weed-out classes for which you are either last-in-line or aren’t permitted to register for unless you have been accepted to that department.
American students sometimes use the opposite strategy you are attempting. They will apply for a harder-to-get-into department/sub-college, knowing if they change their mind, they’ll have an easy time moving OUT into one of the other, less-competitive, departments. Colleges plan for this. The upper level classes are typically much smaller than the freshman/sophomore classes, which help weed out those who change their mind or can’t handle the workload.
“Undecided” is certainly an option everywhere, but at certain colleges it carries more risk than at others. This is part of the research you need to do to determine which is the best “fit” for you.
If a major is more selective at frosh admission, it will be more selective when enrolled students try to change into it. The major being more selective is generally due to it being filled to capacity – if they admit more into the major, the department may not be able to teach all of the students in the major.