<p>In high school, a lot of the extracurriculars I followed reflect my interest in chemistry. Although chemistry is a prospective major, I'm planning on applying as a computer science major...When colleges see my ECs and then my major, will the lack of comp sci ECs hurt me? I mean, I can just apply as a chem major and a lot of my ECs will be relevant, but I'd rather do comp sci. I'm not sure if I should be following whichever subject I have a greater interest in or if I should enforce consistency on my application...Any feedback is greatly appreciated :)</p>
<p>If your interest is chemistry, state it.
If you're planning on pursuing computer science, also state it.</p>
<p>Realistically, colleges don't expect your ECs or you, for that matter, to perfectly follow your intended college major.</p>
<p>It gives you a boost if you are an aspiring epidemiologist who won the YES competition, but I'm not entirely convinced that it's because they had the EC and the intended career together--it just is a natural tendency for people to do ECs that reflect their personal interests.</p>
<p>My suggestion is if that really is the truth, just run with it. Generally, trying to conconct a story for what you do doesn't work very well unless you've spend a massive investment of time weaving that story (including with recommendations, etc) as would be the case with your break-the-bank admissions consultants. Things will just have that wonderful consistency that admissions committees look for if it's real.</p>
<p>Unless, of course, you have absolutely no interest in computer science whatesoever and purely want to do it for the money even though you love chemistry (less likely these days). You might want to omit that in that particular case.</p>
<p>
Amen!</p>
<p>(ten chars)</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses.</p>
<p>Well, the reason I'm conflicted is because I am passionate about both subjects. If I do tell state that I'm interested in chemistry but pursing comp sci, won't that make me seem fickle? </p>
<p>"I'm terribly interested in chemistry, and I spent the last three years or so delving into chem, so I'm applying as a comp sci major" :( Yeahhh...</p>
<p>I don't want to seem juvenile when I ask this, but if colleges are looking for qualified individuals, would it benefit me to just go with chem? I can produce supplemental recommendations and make my application strong(er?) in that aspect.</p>
<p>Also, I think I'm being a little vague regarding computer science...Programming is just one of those things that I do almost everyday. I come home, open a compiler and program something completely random I thought of at school. I truly enjoy studying algorithms and experimenting with programs. It just feels more appropriate to develop my interest. The problem is, there aren't a lot of comp sci oriented ECs available at my school. We don't have a programming team (even if we did, our region won't have any other competing teams). I already exploited my school's comp sci program to the extent that I can teach the class (exaggerating a bit). Given these circumstances, I focused on chemistry... Hitherto, I rendered a transcript with chemistry all over it (which I also enjoy) whereas my interests lie with comp sci. </p>
<p>Once again, thanks everyone for your opinions. I'm doing a college search for one of my classes, and your responses are helpful as to which schools I will be researching.</p>
<p>PS. ledzep, when I started reading your post, "Kashmir" started playing...I thought that was kinda cool, haha</p>
<p>No one knows better than a college admissions department how "fickle" kids can be. The vast majority of students in undergraduate schools change their majors at least once, sometimes as strangely as going from engineering to philosophy. Don't sweat it. They don't expect 17 year olds to know exactly what they want to do.</p>
<p>Besides, unless there is a particular school at which you have to apply as a CS major or risk not getting into that major later on, you don't have to mention your presumed major at all.</p>