<p>is there a greater chance of being accepted if you choose a major that might not be as popular?
(ex./ i'm interested in either environmental studies or ecology & evolutionary biology, which my activities do show)</p>
<p>are there more expectations for one who chooses a very popular major?</p>
<p>…anyone?</p>
<p>yale has consistently stated that proposed area of study is a non-factor in admissions evaluation – it’s only a point of curiosity for your file readers. They are fully cognizant that practically everyone switches majors at some point</p>
<p>yeah, I don’t think it really matters, because people switch majors so often (my alumni interviewer told me that he went in wanting to do archaeology and came out with a history major)… so I’m pretty sure it has no influence at all in your admissions</p>
<p>this can give you advantage only if your interest in the claimed major is supported by your ECs/awards/etc.</p>
<p>It has no direct effect on your chances, but I think an unpopular or unique major choice can in turn shape the rest of your application to be unique. Chances are you’ll probably have more interesting ECs, essays, and/or recommendations than the majority of applicants.</p>
<p>But yoda, your premise assumes that the student is actually interesting, versus marking off an obscure major to game the process. I maintain that at this point, applicants are who they are – not much to change now.</p>
<p>My guess is that they do care about interests, that they are interested in female math students or engineers. I say that because other Ivies openly say they’re looking for them. That may or may not be reflected in the choice of proposed major.</p>
<p>^^ Princeton had a problem with this slippery slope: applicants got wind of students declaring engineering on the application to improve their chances, then promptly changing majors after admission. P has added the prompt, below. On our P tour a couple of years ago, it was made clear that applicants to the engineering program would be expected to study engineering. Not sure how that’s enforced. We liked Yale’s assumption that students would and should feel comfortable changing majors. However, if you plan to study engineering at Yale, you might as well say so. That probably goes for any major. It won’t help you get in, but it does help admissions understand who you are.</p>
<p>Princeton Engineering Essay
If you are interested in pursuing a B.S.E. (Bachelor of Science in Engineering) degree, please write an essay describing why you are interested in studying engineering, any experiences in or exposure to engineering you have had, and how you think the programs in engineering offered at Princeton suit your particular interests.</p>
<p>Indicating a random major on an application will NOT help you gain admission.
However, having demonstrated extracurriculars in a particular field will. For example Jeff Brenzel has repeatedly stated in the Yale Daily News that Yale actively tries to recruit science people. And if you have a demonstrated interest in engineering than your chances of getting in are MUCH higher than an equitable candidate who is applying for say English. </p>
<p>Most people on this thread do not have verifiable proof of the suggestions they are giving. Not only has the admission dean explicitly stated that he wants to recruit engineering/science students, but the class of 2013 has a disproportionate number of science inclined individuals compared to the upper level classes. </p>
<p>In total there are about 20 Mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and chemical engineering majors at Yale. With Yale investing so heavily in its sciences and engineering they want to attract students who will fill that niche. I applied under MechE (but am contemplating switching to BiomedE) and I was accepted. I am 100% sure my indicated major played a LARGE role in my admission.</p>
<p>Dbate I wonder if Yale will start tracking those who declare science and make an early switch? Or if they’ll go to the Princeton essay plan to try and test the conviction? Your post may encourage some science pretenders. I hope not.</p>
<p>They already have a filter by looking at your essays, recs, and ECs. I didn’t up and decide that I wanted to major in engineering out of no where. I had competed in science fairs for years, been involved with the science honor society at my high school, both of my essays revolved around science, and I got a rec from my bio teacher who had gone with me to science fair for two years. </p>
<p>Having a demonstrated interest in a field is what will affect your admissions decisions, the box you check should flow from that and in this regard it will affect the outcome.</p>
<p>I don’t completely agree. Many kids accepted to Yale have a broad-based education and ECs in and essays about all sorts of things not directly related to their future careers: sports, music, travel, weird relatives, debate ;), a bad prom date and so on. </p>
<p>Are you saying that if you state you are planning to be an engineering major, and your ECs back that up, this will (should?) give you a leg up in admissions? I guess another philosphy could be that Yale is providing a broad-based liberal arts education with the opportunity to specialize in a myriad of areas, engineering included, and, while Yale would like attract a class that will study across the spectrum of offerings, no single department will receive a quota of applicants who declare that area their major.</p>
<p>Well yeah people have diverse interests. I was not only a science person but captain of the debate team, a trumpet player, and a football player. I just kind of left those things in the background when writing my essays. To a certain extent, though, I may just be extrapolating my experience to others. Because one person I know was really into sax and he is doing pre-med, so you never know.</p>
<p>I can still quote the 1974-76 topic resolutions. Do debaters have a secret handshake, or just that one joke about becoming a master? I ended up with a career in geosciences, and wouldn’t have written an essay about anything involving sciences or math when I was 17. I think one of the things I liked about Yale when my daughter was looking, was the acceptance that most kids don’t know, and that’s OK.</p>