I know that Stanford says that they do not consider intended majors when applying, but I have previously seen a post on here from a Stanford graduate who viewed his file and saw that the officers compared him with other people with the same intended major. The reason I bring that up is that I applied for Studio Art to Stanford. I sent in a portfolio and have both regional and international awards in art and I feel like that would play a decent part in my decision. I think the same may be true for music, dance, or theater majors. Does anyone know about or have any thoughts on this topic? I would be surprised if for visual and performing arts the admission process didn’t differ.
Yes, it does matter. It matters at every college. A college needs balance of interests among its student body to roughly match its resources.
Of course it matters! Why else would they want to submit an art portfolio for their consideration?
Stanford, like most schools that are not schools of specialized study or conservatories, want a student body that will span a variety of interests, majors, etc. You won’t be accepted into a specific major nor do you have to declare one until spring of your sophomore year.
Stanford has been putting some major $$ into its Arts Initiative that began in 2006. They have brought in world-renowned faculty, built a brand new Art and Art History building (McMurtry), expanded their already superb art collection and renovated the Cantor Museum, opened a new contemporary art museum (the Anderson collection), and built a state-of-the-art Music Hall (the Bing):
https://arts.stanford.edu/about/
Arts and humanities programs are alive and well at Stanford!!
And what they are looking for in its student body – no matter what the interests are – is passion and commitment. And talent with national and international recognition certainly won’t hurt!
Good luck!
I think that I’m the poster to which you’re referring regarding viewing an admissions file.
As you suspect, Stanford absolutely considers intended major when you apply. I don’t think that they state anything to the contrary. Your accomplishments in your intended field plus the fact that the field is underrepresented at Stanford should work in your favor.
AFAIK, though, the process is the same for all majors. That is, all decisions are made by the Office of Undergraduate Admission regardless of intended major. They may, however, solicit faculty input about the portfolio that you submitted, and this input would be added to your packet.
@aleaiactaest thank you so much for your input! I appreciate it 
My son is a freshman as a human bio major. I believe it’s his dance supplement and related essay that helped with his acceptance at Stanford. He didn’t have high awards but went to a performing arts school.