<p>I'm a little confused. It seems that Yale students select a major during sophomore year, but it also seems that this decision is not entirely in their hands. Each department only lets in a certain number of students for each of its majors...so what happens if a student isn't accepted into the major of their choice? Do they simply wait until grad school to pursue their actual major?</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure that only a few majors are actually selective (e.g., EP&E and IR), so I don't think it's a problem for most people.</p>
<p>There are only a few majors that are selective...</p>
<p>Architecture, International Relations, EP&E (Ethics, Politics, and Economics), and there's been talk about limiting the Environmental Studies major because demand is increasing. </p>
<p>For all of these majors, you apply some time in the first or second semester of sophomore year, and if you don't get in you can chose another major. IR and EPE are selective, but i'm pretty sure it's not hard to get into the architecture major as long as you've taken all the prerequisites. The major itself is a lot of work though. </p>
<p>IR and EPE are both pretty vague and broad based humanities majors. If you have a specific area you want to concentrate on, you could probably do it in another department (one of the regional studies departments, philosophy, political science, economics, etc.). Remember that only about 10-14 classes are taken in the major, so you can easily take electives if you want courses in ethics, politics, and economics. </p>
<p>Another thing worth noting is that you can get into almost any selective class or program if you're persistent. I suspect that if you take the prerequisites for a dept, get to know the DUS and keep in contact, and write a good application, you'll probs get into the dept. of your choice. And even if you don't, if you're persistent people will probably drop out and they'll let you in. The same applies to directed studies... even if you don't get in, keep emailing Jane Levin bc lots of people drop it during reading period. You'll get in if you want to. And the same applies to freshman seminars, and a lot of exclusive seminars. A lot of people applying to these things don't care that much if they don't get in, so if you're persistent they'll probably let you in.</p>
<p>kwijiborjt, is the same true for the engineering department? I would expect since they ask about prospective major they would allow you to take classes related to your major? Or do you take general classes the first year?</p>
<p>kwijiborjt, are Architecture, International Relations, EP&E selective because of having high demands, or do they take a more limited amount of students for greater focus/some other reason?</p>
<p>I'm interested in majoring in architecture. Do you have a general idea as to how many students apply for the major and don't get accepted?</p>
<p>Cognitive Science also requires that you apply (like EP&E), though I'm not sure if that implies a cap...</p>
<p>The Writing Concentration within the English major is also selective, applicants must submit a portfolio of written pieces.</p>
<p>HMS09,
When my D visited with an arch prof and students in the department a couple of years ago, she was told that most applicants made it into the major, but that not everyone got into their preferred track (architecture and design; architecture: history, theory, and criticism; and architecture and urban studies). I've never seen any numbers and I'm not sure how accurate this is, so hopefully if there are arch students on the forum, they will speak up.</p>