<p>JHS- I applied to Brown, Barnard, Penn back in the dark ages (pre-computer, pre-Common App; Brown even insisted that the essay be handwritten) and ALL asked for probable major.</p>
<p>I was undecided (I still am, 30 years later LOL…) and I’m sure it didn’t matter then and didn’t matter now. I think it’s significant for kids with a huge interest in an unconventional area, or for kids with a contrarian interest based on their gender. But for the vast majority of applicants it’s not that significant. And surely not worth trying to game.</p>
<p>To the OP: I think it is better to put undecided if that is what she is. We are convinced our D was rejected by her first choice school because she applied for an very impacted major. Her stats were well above the average for the school and had she applied undeclared (which was allowed by the school) we are pretty sure she would have been admitted. She was admitted to her current school as “undeclared” At her current school, UCLA, you apply for her major after completing a certain number of units. You cannot enter the school with the major. Many of the majors at UCLA are like this.</p>
<p>It is important to know what each individual school requires. But I still think stating that she is undeclared is your best bet if that is in fact the truth…nothing wrong with an 18 year old being undecided.</p>
<p>At some schools, it can make a difference in admissions as to what you declare as a major. If you are applying to CMU, for instance, being an undeclared may not do it for the school of computer sciences, though for the school of humanities, it would be less of an issue. </p>
<p>The problem of being a declared major is if you are applying to a school that is very competitive in that field. If you are just declaring the major because of a slight interest in the subject and competing with applicants who have extensive resumes in it, you are going to come up short. Better you are undeclared in that case.</p>
<p>I seem to recall when touring colleges with my D that the adcoms said the most popular major for the entering class was undecided. Both of my kids were undecideds and got into great schools.</p>
<p>Yale’s info sessions always get asked this question. Emphatically, they state that “probable major” is only a point of curiosity for the file readers and has no bearing whatsoever on their decisions to admit kids to the College since almost everyone switches majors anyways. It’s understood that Yale is a buffet and kids come to sample many choices.</p>