Is physics a good major to declare? competitive?

I like physics and I used to be really interested in computer science. However, my extracurriculars and stuff are all centered around humanitarian stuff, art, and people. I told this college counselor this, and she said that if I want to go to a competitive school and want to major in a hard science (physics, chem, bio, engineering), I should have done competitive stuff and research with professors and stuff like that, so that my resume shows my passion for science. It’s too late for me to do that now, so she said I should do less popular sciences like environmental engineering. I haven’t heard of anyone majoring in physics, though. If it’s not that popular, wouldn’t it be good for me to declare it as my major? Or is it very competitive?

It depends on the school that you apply to. A more holistic school may actually like your experience in the arts because it shows well-rounded-ness and emphasis on creativity.

If physics is in the same college (ie: arts and sciences/letters and sciences) as another major you feel makes your resume stronger, you can apply as the humanities and then switch majors once accepted.

How competitive physics programs are will depend on the school and its national ranking in physics. As far as it being a “good” major- that depends what your intentions are. If you want to be a physicist, you’ll need to work towards a PhD. That’s where most jobs are, anyway. If you only have a bachelors, you’ll be much more limited in what you can do (in the field of physics, anyway). You can be a research assistant in the field, or you have to be creative in showing how your physics knowledge applied to non-physics jobs.

If you want to do some more research on the topic, check out physicsforums.com

If you have an interest in physics, then go for it. Even if you have not taken the most advanced math and science classes in your high school, you will have the courses to bring you up to speed in college. Physics is a great major and graduates find jobs easily (even if not in physics as @Nhuffer points out). I am a physics professor and my experience is that our graduates from Illinois Tech all generally successful in getting jobs with their BS in physics.