<p>I'm a bit confused on that one.
So yes, is it true that if you pick a not too popular major at a certain college, the chances of you getting in is higher?
Or is that all a rumor sort of thing?</p>
<p>I’m interested in knowing the answer to this as well.</p>
<p>Depends on the school. It is true at some. </p>
<p>It has more to do with the school within the university you’re applying to though. For example, it’s easier to get into Carnegie Mellon’s Arts and Sciences program than their Computer Science program.</p>
<p>If the university has different colleges for certain concentrations and you apply directly to that program, then their may be a difference. At schools without that internal structure, there typically is not much difference. Of course, there’s always a difference when you mention something you’d like to follow through with at the university that you’ve demonstrated a passion for in the past, however, this is not true solely of concentrations.</p>
<p>I assume you are referring not to major, but to field. For instance, the engineering school at a specific university may have different acceptance rates than the liberal arts and sciences school at the same university. So I guess the answer is T and F.</p>
<p>We looked at a school with S where you do apply directly to a major. They require you to list a few choices, and if you are denied admittance to your first choice, you can be accepted into a second choice and hope to switch later. This was the only one we have come across so far that was that specific, most of the others you applied to a specific college, but not the major.</p>
<p>oh okay thanks 
!</p>
<p>In cases where you have to specifically APPLY to a major, and it’s binding (or at least it’s a hassle to switch), then I’d say yes, it matters. Otherwise, probably not.</p>
<p>For universities that have different colleges – LAS, engineering, business, etc.–what college you are applying to can make a real difference as opposed to what major. Generally, the engineering middle 50% range (rank/test score), and very often the business middle 50% range, will be higher than it is for LAS or the university as a whole. The middle 50% range for science or math admittees within the LAS college is often also higher than the LAS college or the university as a whole.</p>
<p>Many of the highest ranked universities state that chances of admission do not vary because of major within the LAS college. Even at universities where major is a factor considered (they are admitting based on how many chairs they have to fill for each particular major), the difference in chances of admission is usually de minimis. Some applicants believe that if they apply to an obscure major, they will have a better chance than those applying to a popular major but that thought process is usually wrong. What they don’t consider is that the obscure major is being allowed only a small number of seats to fill. In other words, the obscure major may admit 30 out of 60 applicants to fill 15 seats while the popular major will be admitting 500 out of 1,000 applicants to fill 250 seats. In other words, the chances of admission really do not vary much.</p>