<p>Do you think that a major has a strong influence on the admissions decision? For example, for Wharton, it'd obviously be much harder to receive admission. I am wondering whether or not choosing a specific major in CAS would influence the decision.</p>
<p>Or similarly in engineering – are there loads of Electrical engineering students and few Mechanical engineers so the latter is easier to get in?</p>
<p>My guess is that they look at your major and your extra curricular activities and essays and see if they coincide with the selected major you chose. However, I dont think they put a huge weight on what you put in as your major on the application because it’s probably going to change. Penn briefly mentions this online, but I feel like they have to put a little leeway or restriction in admission according to major.</p>
<p>You are competing for a seat in a school. Within the school, some majors may have a shortage of students.</p>
<p>It doesn’t really have much of effect since this is not declaring a major, it is just stating what you are currently interested in. I think it may have an effect if you identify yourself as premed as they are a dime a dozen and most of them will change their plans in freshman or sophomore year. A situation where your declared major will be of interest is if you are a woman who is applying to a major like physics, and mechanical or electrical engineering where women are very underrepresented. In these majors women are easily below 20% of the graduating students each year. I have heard from both admissions and faculty that Penn would like to recruit more women in majors where they are underrepresented. </p>