I know that some colleges have majors that are really hard to get into like Purdue nursing or engineering. What if you get rejected just because you applied for a competitive major, but would otherwise have the stats to get into the college if you had applied as a different major? Will colleges tell you this and let you pick a different major(accepted under different major)?
If you apply to a selective major & get rejected, can you apply as a different less selective major?
It depends on the school. I know UIUC will try to get students accepted any way possible, while some schools like Northwestern may not even take major into account (aside from some specialty programs). But again, it completely varies from school to school, and you have to think: Do I really want to attend a college just because of its name, or do I want to attend a college at which I can study what I desire? For me at least I would much rather major in CS at a slightly less prestigious university than some other major at a prestigious university. Best of luck!
It may be possible if the school has two application cycles, e.g. EA and RD. In other cases, you may have an option to put a second choice on the application (e.g. UIUC). Most schools do not admit into specific major.
depends on the university. Some ask you to list an alternate major and will consider you for it. Some, you get one shot – the major you listed. And some make it confusing, allowing you to list an alternate major but saying they “do not normally consider the alternate choices of applicants” whatever that means (looking at you, UCLA)
Once you are rejected you are done. Some schools will accept you in an alternate major. If you are deferred you may be able to change it. Check with the school.
Be careful in that if you are rejected from your first choice major but admitted to your second choice major or in undeclared general admission, it may be difficult to switch into your first choice major later. If your first choice major has a higher standard at frosh admission, it is probably enrolled to capacity and therefore difficult to change into (need high GPA or competitive secondary admission process).
At Carnegie Mellon you have to apply to all the schools with the various majors. (It’s one application, but you need to make your essay cover more than one major.) I remember asking my oldest (now graduated from CMU) if he was sure he only wanted to apply to the School of Computer Science, and he said, yes, he only wanted to go there if he could major in CS. Other schools have different rules, so you’ll have to look at the websites carefully or ask admissions.
You need to check each school’s policy. It varies school to school. Some schools will accept you into a different major, others will reject you outright. Also keep in mind that internal transfers can be extremely difficult at some schools (they are generally wise to the idea of students applying to a less competitive branch of the school and then trying to transfer in to a more competitive branch once they get on campus and want to discourage that practice) so IMO you are best off applying to the major you want and taking your chances.