Majors

<p>When applying for colleges, does it matter what you declare your major as? Will it affect your application at all?</p>

<p>Colleges know that students are likely to change their majors several times before settling on one (or two…or three), so its impact is minimal. However, a student who has a clear demonstrated interest and aptitude in an unpopular major (the classics, for example) might get a slight boost.</p>

<p>Also, if you declare something as your major that you don’t seem to have any interest in (as evidenced by your extracurriculars) it might seem a bit fishy. Say you’re really involved in science activities in school–you do independent research, and you’re president of the science club, and you tutor some kid in physics, and then say your job involves helping out at a science museum. If you list your top three major choices as english, anthropology, and greek, it might seem a bit fishy.</p>

<p>

I doubt it. Using classics as an example, only a relatively small number of colleges have even mediocre programs – and so each of them gets quite a few applicants. The classics department at my school was always bombarded with visiting admitted students, so who knows how many applicants there were! You’d be surprised how many students take a couple years of Latin in high school and fancy themselves prospective classics majors. :rolleyes:</p>

<p>Admissions officers rarely pay attention to academic interest unless it’s something requiring or benefitting from experience or talent (e.g. music or dance). What’s the point? It’s been estimated that 60-70% of students change their major at least once, and many come in not having the faintest idea what they want to do.</p>

<p>My son applied to a top-notch engineering school as a liberal arts major. He was accepted early and invited into its honors program. Sure he had a 4.0 but his ACT was only 30. We always wondered if it made a difference…but once the school admitted him, he could have changed his major to anything. Now, as my D is applying, we also wonder just how critical that choice of major is. Rumor has it, at Vanderbilt, that it helps to apply to the Peabody College to gain admittance…</p>