<p>Is it a big disadvantage to apply to colleges without a major (undecided)?</p>
<p>In general no, but at some schools, it’s difficult to transfer to some majors/schools if you don’t apply as an incoming freshman. (UCs, Wharton, some nursing programs, etc.)</p>
<p>Also, having a rough idea of what you want to do helps filter the schools, but for the truly undecided, ease of transfer to any possible program one might consider majoring in should be a factor in deciding where to go.</p>
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<p>There is no way to generalize, because schools are different.</p>
<p>Schools where selectivity varies by major or division because some majors or divisions are at full capacity often have internal admissions procedures to transfer into those majors or divisions. Typically, a college GPA higher than needed to remain in good academic standing is needed.</p>
<p>Try doing a web search for “[name of school] change major [name of major]” to see if there are any internal admissions procedures that exist for the given major at the given school.</p>
<p>Being undecided typically isn’t a big deal. Those who have an idea as to what they want to study are able to write about their interests in their essays which is an advantage. Additionally as others have said, you might have a harder time transferring to certain majors at certain schools if you are admitted as undecided. However it shouldn’t be to big of an issue as long as you maintain good academic standing. </p>
<p>There are some schools that will not accept Undecided as a major. One that comes to mind is Cal Poly SLO. You have to declare a major on your application. Also as previously stated, very competitive majors at many schools are difficult to transfer into such as CS, BME and other engineering programs.</p>
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<p>It can be a big deal at some schools. For example, University of Washington is known to be highly competitive to enter the computer science major. A small percentage are admitted as frosh, but all others must apply with very high GPAs after completing the prerequisites. Needed GPAs are much higher than the GPA needed to maintain good academic standing.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus
I was generalizing since OP didn’t mention a specific school he’s planning on applying to. Of course if he eventually wants to major in EECS at Cal, BME at JHU, CompSci at UWashi, etc he will need very good grades to even consider transferring to those majors. However for most majors, at most schools he should be fine. Additionally some schools accept all students as undeclared and have the student declare their major after completing their sophomore year. </p>