I’m interested in bioengineering but other than an internship andcancer related volunteer work in my junior year, my EC profile doesn’t exactly complement my choice in major. (Though I do have a lot of classes that fit this). On the other hand, my humanities-side EC’s are stronger (and I’ve been doing them longer). I have a well-trafficked blog on literature. I am a tech editor on my school’s newspaper. I’ve been published in literary magazines and I have a significant amount of community service hours at the library. I know it’s generally discouraged to apply to a major you’re not interested in, but I wonder how much it even matters at some private schools like USC and Rice which let you change majors without much trouble.
As a high schooler, your ECs don’t necessarily have to match your intended major, since most high school students won’t have found much advanced ECs in fields like bioengineering. Apply for the major you want to go into- don’t try to game the system in that way.
You said it yourself…it’s generally discouraged to apply to a major. Well, I am not sure it’s discouraged, so much as it may not matter. You do not have to apply as any major. You have stong credentials and you should emphasize what interests you. Seems to me you are very interested in literature and you have the ECs to back it up. So IMO, that’s what you focus on. You seem like a great candidate to me and there is nothing wrong with having diverse interests, so be sure that your application reflects your involvement in bioengineering too.