<p>I am planning on double majoring in linguistics and Chinese, but I would also like to be premed. If I have the same scores as a candidate who wants to major in a common major (biology, for example), would I have a leg up?</p>
<p>Stated intended majors don’t mean much , unless you need to apply to specialized schools (e.g. Ross @ UMich or Wharton @Penn). This question often comes up here on CC. There’s no “gaming” the stated major thing since you’re not held to it and most kids change majors.</p>
<p>The advice to you: state what interests you or list undecided if that’s what you are. Don’t worry about other applicants.</p>
<p>At many universities, you don’t simply apply to the university generally - you apply to a specific college within the university. And each college will tell the admissions office how many incoming freshman they want, and the admissions office will select those applications that applied to enter that particular college.</p>
<p>This means that if you are applying to a high-demand college, you might have much tougher competition to get in, and similarly if you are applying to a low-demand college, you might have a much better shot at getting in. For example, consider these numbers from UVa:
<a href=“http://avillage.web.virginia.edu/iaas/instreports/studat/dd/adm_first.htm”>http://avillage.web.virginia.edu/iaas/instreports/studat/dd/adm_first.htm</a></p>
<p>Technically, you might be able to game the system, slightly, by applying to a college that admits more applicants (such as Engineering) and then changing majors (and colleges) after you matriculate (for example, you decide to study Chemistry, in Arts and Sciences, instead of Chemical Engineering). This might be a tactic to try if you think your application is borderline and would get you an admission offer with one college, but not with another, in the same university.</p>
<p>Within the college, there may even be differences by intended majors - Engineering <em>might</em> know how many freshmen they need in each discipline or department, for example, and tell the admissions office those numbers (for example, X in electrical and computer engineering, Y in chemical and nuclear engineering, etc.). But I think (I am not an admissions officer) that admissions only knows the number of admission slots for the colleges at most schools, and not for individual departments within each college.</p>