How important is interest?

<p>This is coming a recent thread but the question itself is so ambiguous that I thought it deserved its own thread. </p>

<p>Essentially, how important is interest in a major when applying to schools? How does it affect admission chances? And maybe how does it affect admission chances in higher end schools (top 50ish) as compared to lower end ones?</p>

<p>Edit: And by interest I do not mean the interest into a school, but the interest into a major. Like being interested in engineering.</p>

<p>If you are a female interested in Engineering, that is a plus. If you are a male interested in Classical Voice, that is a plus.</p>

<p>It really depends if you can fit into an under represented group.</p>

<p>What is more important is that the major fit the student…not the other way around. Have your student do a proper career search and identify their top 3 majors. When making school selections, only pick the colleges that have all three.</p>

<p>That way, if your student change majors, they don’t have to change schools. Colleges put a lot more emphasis on test scores than majors.</p>