<p>Hey everyone, I'm a rising high school senior and I have yet to come to any conclusion on what major I would like to do. I've dabbled in a variety of different clubs and extracurriculars corresponding to various majors. But, I'm still not sure what major I'd be interested in and have yet to narrow down anything. While I have been committed to various extracurricular activities, none of them show a strong tendency towards any one particular field of study. Will this fact and my indecisiveness be taken as a negative by colleges?</p>
<p>Nope! It’s not really positive or negative, but the “Undecided” or “Premajor” buttons on college apps are there for a reason :)</p>
<p>Thanks. I feel much better now! =D</p>
<p>A lot of students enter university undecided.</p>
<p>However, if you are considering a major with long prerequisite chains of courses (typically math, science, and engineering type of majors), then you need to start on those prerequisite courses as soon as you enter, so that you do not fall behind and delay graduation.</p>
<p>Most high school seniors apply as undecided, and most freshman enter as undecided. However, I’ve heard that it is sometimes easier to get in when you do have a major in mind, but that depends on the school.</p>
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Something to keep in mind. Other majors to include in that list are any fine arts or performing arts major. I’m a music major, and you basically have to start right away as a freshman (first you have to audition senior year of high school, so must start right away).</p>
<p>It depends on the school and program where you’re applying. For most liberal arts schools/colleges of arts and sciences, all students enter “undeclared” even if they think they know what they will be majoring in. Those students generally need to declare a major before the end of their second year, but that gives them a lot of time and many people change their minds. In more preprofessional programs–business, nursing, engineering, journalism–you often do apply to and are accepted to a particular program, and it can be harder to switch out.</p>
<p>If you are trying to game the system, select the major that you think best suits your academic and extracurricular history to date as well as the theme of your essay, and that is more highly looked upon.</p>
<p>What you select as your major at this point will have no bearing on anything, except perhaps who they first assign you as your first advisor.</p>
<p>In some schools or subdivisions, you may be admitted to a specific major, and it may be somewhat difficult to change major in some cases.</p>
<p>For example, the UC Berkeley College of Engineering admits freshmen either declared or undeclared; different majors have different levels of selectivity (and engineering undeclared is generally regarded as being one of the more difficult ones to be admitted to). Switching into an engineering major from any major (in engineering or not) other than engineering undeclared requires applying to do so. However, the UC Berkeley College of Letters of Science admits all freshmen as undeclared, regardless of indicated major; students declare by the end of second year in most cases, although some majors require applying to declare because there are more students wanting to declare them than they have capacity for.</p>
<p>There is a major arbitrage opportunity for those who want to attend UC Berkeley to study computer science. There is an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science major in the College of Engineering that is generally regarded as being very hard to get into. However, there is also a Computer Science major in the College of Letters and Science. One can apply to the College of Letters and Science with a somewhat greater chance of freshman admission and then later declare the Computer Science major (which is not currently an oversubscribed major).</p>
<p>At the less selective San Jose State University, a similar major arbitrage opportunity exists between the Computer Science major and the similar Software Engineering major. The latter needs lower GPAs/scores for admission at both the freshman and transfer levels.</p>