<p>Hi. Recently I've heard that Psychology is one of those majors that will raise the chances of getting into the best colleges, because most colleges' Psychology departments are huge and they accept tons of students. However, I find that my true passion lies in Economics rather than Psychology, and I would like to apply to colleges such as Northwestern or UChicago, which are colleges with prestigious economics programs. Therefore, I am expecting my chances of getting into these colleges to falter because I have to compete with students with far better statistics than mine. Is this true? If I really wanted to study at the University of Chicago, would my chances of getting accepted decrease simply because I apply for a more competitive major than other majors such as Environmental Science or Psychology?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Often your best bet is to apply to undersubscribed majors … i.e. neither those that are celebrated at a particular school and thus highly competitive nor others, like psychology, that are glutted. Go to this Web site: [College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”>College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics) Next, type in the name of the college that interests you, and when you get to its profile, click on “Programs/Majors.” There, you’ll see a breakdown of majors by enrollment, and you may also find an unpopular choice that intrigues you.</p>
<p>When you apply to most liberal arts colleges (and, often to the Arts & Sciences division within a university) you are not committed to pursue the major you indicated on your application. Nevertheless, admission folks do raise eyebrows when a kid who earned no better than C’s in every science course has designated an under-enrolled choice like “Polymer Chemistry” on the application form. Likewise, perhaps you never had a chance to study Sanskrit in high school, but there should be SOMETHING in your application to indicate that this choice of major isn’t simply for admissions purposes.</p>
<p>I would never counsel an applicant to select a disingenuous choice simply to boost admission odds. But, as you scroll through a list of a college’s major offerings, you may indeed find that some of the less popular options really do catch your eye–and capture your imagination.</p>
<p>Does it increase your chances of admission to add a 2nd choice major to your application? Do they consider it seriously if your first choice major is filled up?</p>
<p>Most colleges don’t accept students into particular majors, though most universities will require you to apply to a particular “school” or “college” within the university. Typically, for example, the school of engineering is separate from the college of liberal arts (or arts & sciences, or whatever); to study engineering, you’d need to apply to the school of engineering which may have slightly different admissions standards and requirements than the college of liberal arts.</p>
<p>But within the college of liberal arts (or within a stand-alone LAC), the admissions office typically doesn’t have quota of X psych majors v. Y econ majors v. Z English majors. They say they’re just accepting the best qualified students, and those that are the best “fit.” Probably close to half the entering class will be undecided as to major anyway, and of those who think they know, nearly 2/3 will change their mind at least once.</p>