I’m a senior currently applying to colleges, but I’m not sure at all what my major would be. I am leaning towards the Humanities or Social Sciences, but I am interested in a variety of things and it’s hard to choose one intended major. I don’t want to limit myself to choose one area to tell colleges I am interested in. Do you think applying Undecided to all my schools (even my reach ED/EA, which is Penn and Chicago) would be okay, or is it still better to have an intended major, even if I’m not sure about it?
It makes no difference. Many students at these schools change their majors anyway, and colleges know that.
It would be a factor only at those schools that admit by major.
Thank you!
Penn has divisions for arts and sciences, engineering, business, and nursing, so there may be selectivity differences.
@ucbalumnus I’m applying to Penn CAS, so I think undecided should be okay? I’m definitely not going into engineering, business, or nursing, so I’m assuming my intended major is not that important?
Yeah that’s fine, it won’t hurt your chances.
I think you’re fine as long as you’re applying to CAS at schools–from what I understand, schools that don’t admit by major admit by school. So you’re good as long as you’re applying Undecided to the school where you’d be the best fit.
Looks like Penn SAS admits all students undeclared, so it looks like intended major does not formally affect frosh admission, though if the admission committee is trying to build a “balanced” incoming class, it may informally affect decisions they make. It would only become a bigger deal if some of our intended majors are in engineering, nursing, or business, as well as SAS.
Yeah I have a feeling Penn CAS undecided vs Penn CAS intended major doesn’t make a huge difference, at it is the general Arts and Sciences college. So, hopefully it’ll all turn out okay! If I’m rejected from Penn, hopefully the reason won’t be because I am undecided.
I can say with 99.99% certainty that if Penn rejects you, it will not be because you applied as undecided. Good luck!
Here is an FAQ from UPenn:
Not very important is the short answer. Identifying a major certainly gives the admissions committee a sense of which direction you’re leaning, but what you check on the application has no bearing on your course of study once enrolled. Over half of the students who identify an intended course of study on their application end up pursuing something else once at Penn. Half of the College’s applicants check the “undecided” box from the outset!
^^^I’ve heard the same thing from other admission officers – that half of students apply undecided and of those who apply with an intended major, half of those end up switching. For that reason the intended major is given little weight. The important thing is if there is a specialized school/program you want such as business, engineering that you should apply to that school/program. Applying undecided will not be the reason you get in or get rejected.