<p>Is it easier to get into a school as undeclared? Does it depend on the school?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>It depends on the school. (And if it does matter, there may be an admission process to declare or change major later while you are a student there.)</p>
<p>It can make a difference, but which way depends on the school, year, direction the wind is blowing, etc. It’s best not to try to game the system, if you have a major you want to declare, declare it. And never declare a major you don’t want, just to get in, you may have a difficult time getting into one you do want.</p>
<p>However, there is a case where it can be important.</p>
<p>Suppose you are strongly considering majors A and B. You find out that, at school X, major A is impacted, so declaring or transferring into major A is difficult if one is not already in major A, but major B is essentially open admission for current students in good academic standing who pass its prerequisites. In this case, you can make your frosh application to major A to keep both open, but face a likely higher admissions standard, or you can make your frosh application to major B or undeclared to face a likely lower admission standard, but realize that the chance of being able to do major A later is low.</p>
<p>In that case I would raise the comment, it’s one thing to get into your second or third choice school. it’s quite another to have to dedicate your life to something you don’t particularly care about, even if you got into a great school for it.</p>
<p>My advice would be to pursue your passion at the best school that lets you pursue it - any school that doesn’t let you do that is not worth attending, even if it is highly ranked.</p>
<p>If you want a specific program, you typically need to apply directly to that program (ex. business, engineering) although you can be undeclared within the program. Otherwise it doesn’t matter. One admin. officer told met that 50% of those who apply with a major end up changing it anyway so they don’t really pay attention to that.</p>
<p>look into requirements for switching into x major at y school you’re interested in. For example, here at Penn State, business and engineering majors are enrollment controlled, so only a certain number of students can be in them at any time. Because of this, the school only admits a certain number of applicants (a la, the more qualified ones) into the major. You cannnot switch into engineering or business from another major once you enroll, execpt for the loophole. Both the business and engineering schools hold spots in the class for “undecided” kids who intend on enrolling in their schools, as undecided students are guaranteed admission wherever they want to go as long as they meet the same requirements as the direct admit students. </p>
<p>Tl;DR: look into the requirements for switching majors once enrolled at the school, or ask the department adviser what the policies are for switching into x major from another. – generally speaking unless a school is “known” for something (like business and engineering at PSU) then the major is pretty meaningless. </p>
<p>It depends on a few things.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Play to your strengths, you want to apply as a major in a field which you have good grades/scores (SATII if applicable). If you are bad at Math, don’t apply as a Math Major. </p></li>
<li><p>Apply for less competitive majors if you can. Your strengths and competitiveness of majors may not always line up, but try to find a niche. </p></li>
<li><p>At most schools, it is quite easy to change majors especially within the same college (Arts+ Sciences, etc), so you can change once in.</p></li>
</ol>
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<p>But also keep in mind that some schools admit you to the university, and then to your major (if it’s impacted). It may be much easier to be admitted into the impacted major as a freshman than it would be as a continuing undergraduate. In that situation, it would be better to declare the impacted major since whether or not you get into the university has nothing to do with what you’re major is but it might be easier to get into your desired major as an incoming freshman.</p>
<p>So it depends on the school and how they do admissions, and the only way to know is to ask the school. At my school, it didn’t matter what major you put. They admitted you to the school without regards to your major, but other schools may be different. It depends.</p>