<p>you also have to consider, where would you work with a mythology or latin major? some majors are competitive because applicants know they tend to yield better careers and everyone’s trying to aim for a good career.</p>
<p>If you major in something uncommon or possibly really obscure, it sounds more like an excuse to get into a good college than anything else. Maybe you will get into that school, but what about after that? People go to college because it likely yields a better job that makes more money; that’s what students are really aiming for.</p>
<p>Yes, being a Classics major really did help DS in admissions I’m sure, especially combined with his second major, music, and the hours he had already spent composing. He had many nationally ranked honors in Latin and great music demo tapes. </p>
<p>He did study in both these departments and graduated from college as a Classics major. He is pursuing a field that has some ties to Classics but is very different.</p>
<p>I should emphasize that he did not do this as a ploy to gain admission to a college; these were his genuine interests.</p>
<p>The boost was much more evident at LAC’s than at universities.</p>
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<p>On the other hand, a large number of majors, including very popular ones (e.g. biology, English), send a lot of graduates into non-major-specific jobs.</p>
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<p>Some years back, Princeton put out a glossy brochure about its less populated majors. It was basically profiles of students who majored in things like German, Classics, and Slavic Languages and what they went on to do with that major. Clearly the purpose of the brochure was to attract students to those smaller majors. At the same time, there was an arts initiative in which Tilghman said she was trying to attract more “green-haired” types. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that an applicant that presented themselves as an artsy potential German major would stand a better chance of getting admitted than, say, a potential English major who was also interested in politics (if all other things are equal). But as others have pointed out, your application would have to back up a stated interest in those areas to make it believable: art and German classes throughout high school.</p>
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<p>As I recall, MIT likes interdisciplinary studies. (Building 20, anyone?) Besides, it is usually lower-division courses not upper-division ones, that have enrollment caps.</p>
<p>Also, AFAIK switching majors is pretty normal, so most schools do not discriminate on choice of major, as long as you stay within the same school.</p>
<p>(Where it does matter is grad school though. But it’s pretty hard to switch fields of research!)</p>