<p>My Math teachers son goes to Harvard and he is majoring in Russian Studies. He said that he believes choosing a major that most people overlook may have helped him get in (Although he often does not know what hes talking about). Is that true? Do the majors you choose help or hurt you get in? If so, what are the hardest majors at harvard to get accepted in. I am going to apply for political science or something along those lines.</p>
<p>I'm willing to bet majors play a role, IF they make sense in the context of your application. </p>
<p>Say you want Comparative Literature and score 5s and 800s on a bunch of language tests, including Latin. You'll probably get it. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if you apply B.S.E. but get a 600 on Math IC....you'll get a lot of laughs....</p>
<p>It probably factors into EC's too... I am just hoping that my demonstrated interest in film studies (a tiny and not well known major at harvard) will help...but I am not betting them much...</p>
<p>Majors definitely play a role. If you've applied to a program that most people don't know exists at a school, and if you demonstrate significant interest in their particular programs, and if you show significant competence in that area, you have a very realistic shot at being admitted to the school.</p>
<p>Joey</p>
<p>I think colleges are very aware of the fact that students often change their minds, and I don't believe Harvard plans their classes according to majors, and to them, there's no difference between, for example, a biology and an English major. I did hear from a Yale rep that the only way majors would matter would be if, say, a female applicant wanted to major in physics, which is rare, and then maybe they'd want you a little more.</p>
<p>I do think it has to play some kind of role. maybe not much, but not zero either. Like what MZLover said, the major you choose, when connected with your stats, helps the adcom to decide how will you flourish. </p>
<p>But as navy_blue says, colleges ARE aware that applicant change their minds. IMO, that is the purpose of the "How sure are you of you intended major/extracurricular/career path question in the Harvard supplement. If, say, you have been getting straight Bs and one or two Cs in Physics throughout your 4 years in school, and your intended major is engineering. That's fine, so long as you don't check 1(absolutely certain) for that major. They might doubt your ability to cope in an engineering course (since you circled one).</p>
<p>"I did hear from a Yale rep that the only way majors would matter would be if, say, a female applicant wanted to major in physics, which is rare, and then maybe they'd want you a little more."</p>
<p>I hope that's true! I'm a female applicant wanting to major in physics. I guess I'll find out when decisions come out.</p>
<p>if you have demonstrated interest and desire for a major like classics though, which at harvard has about 10-12 undergrads, thats bound to turn a few heads.</p>
<p>Pre-med major is popular and highly competitive, which could be a slight disadvantage for your application.</p>
<p>harvard doesn't have pre-professional majors, does it?</p>
<p>May I recommend either geology or archeology, in addition to classics?</p>
<p>I believe the major issue at work is that if it was really true that applying for certain majors, by itself, provided a boost for admission, then that would encourage 'gaming' of the system. I.e., people would just 'say' that they were interested in such-and-such obscure major just to get admitted, and then when they matriculate, they immediately switch to the major that they actually want. And surely Harvard knows that. </p>
<p>Hence, I have to agree with some of the other posters here and say that designating a major might give you a small boost if and only if your record indicates that you really do intend to do the major, and are not just saying that you are interested in it because you are trying to game the system. For example, if you are a female and you say that you want to study physics in order to get that supposed 'female-physics' boost, yet your coursework, your EC's, and your rec's all indicate that you are probably going to study English, that might raise red flags.</p>
<p>Well, sure.</p>
<p>You can't just "say" you want to be an engineer if you haven't taken physics, etc., or classics if you haven't taken Latin.</p>
<p>Neither can you just "say" you want to play for the football team even though you weigh 115 lbs and never played in high school.</p>
<p>But people <em>are</em> admitted because the anthropology, archeology, geology or classics departments find out about them and are convinced they would be a valued contributor.</p>
<p>Happens all the time.</p>
<p><em>prays to admissions gods</em> yeah, the fact that only 4 people graduate in astro per year is pretty much my only shot at getting in... so I hope that this major bias is true.</p>
<p>So am I...go film studies...haha</p>
<p>History of Art and Architecture? A good hook?</p>
<p>Anybody know about Sociology?</p>
<p>click on w/e your concentration is, look at the bottom, and it says the number of current concentrators and the number of grads per year.</p>
<p>political science! darn...</p>
<p>defining a "rare concentration" as one that has less than 10 degrees awarded per year, here are the rare ones:</p>
<p>1- Germanic Languages and Literature, Sanskrit and Indian Studies
3- Slavic Languages and Literature
4- Astronomy and Astrophysics, Statistics, Art Studies, Women Sexuality and Gender
5- Near Easter Languages and Literatures, Folklore and Mythology
9- Earth and Planetary Sciences, Linguistics</p>