<p>do you guys think at the most selective schools it's better to say what your intended major is or to say undecided?</p>
<p>It won't matter because they know most kids change it.</p>
<p>The only time it would matter is for applying to schools within a university. If you put "English Major" versus "Chemical Engineering Major," that would make a difference because usually those majors would be in different departments within the university (Faculty of Arts versus Faculty of Engineering), and therefore may have different admissions requirements. However, "English Major" versus "History Major" will likely have little if any affect on your admissions decision.</p>
<p>I have a friend who didn't get a scholarship. When she asked why, they mentioned that one of the things was that she was an undecided major. Just guess. Perhaps write in your essay what your interests are, including the major you are thinking of now, as well as otehr interests that might affect it.</p>
<p>If your prospective major bears on your reason to want to attend that particular school, why not mention it?</p>
<p>They also may appreciate knowing. If everyone put undecided, how would they possibly pick a class?</p>
<p>If your prospective major is the sort of thing that every school has, you probably don't get anywhere by mentioning it (unless you have different colleges within the university and it is to the colleges you apply). </p>
<p>The only exception I remember is from an information meeting at Berkeley. They said if you don't list your major in the application, they would not guarantee you would be allowed to switch to that major once you were at the school. This turned my son off from the school entirely.</p>
<p>It can be of benefit if you are fairly sure of your major and it is something unusual. They need to fill up those classes. They will also consider whether you can study what you want to study at some other college. I think your application would have to bear out your interest in some way. I've heard kids claiming unusual interests just because they think it will help, so I'm sure colleges have heard this as well.</p>
<p>My daughter is studying Egyptology at Brown. I'm sure telling them this was what she wanted to study was key to her acceptance. But then she had three correspondence courses in Egyptology on her transcript, a recommendation from an Egyptologist, and a couple work samples (a research paper and a hieroglyph translation, which the Egyptologist had wrote nice comments on). It was clear that she was genuinely interested. Since Brown is the only college in the Western Hemisphere with this as a major and my dd had decent enough credentials otherwise, I think this was the deciding factor.</p>