<p>Would it hurt me to declare political science, or should I put undecided first? I fear that polsci may be overrepresented at Yale, and may hurt my chances at admissions.</p>
<p>what should i do?</p>
<p>Declare it only if you have something to back it up with - ecs, awards, essays...otherwise, it won't work - that is what I have personally been advised to do</p>
<p>Like I posted on the general forum, you can list whatever you like. To the Yale adcoms, it's only a tiny window on what interests you -- it has no bearing on admissions. Debate Addict, for yale, it doesn't matter. "It won't work" It's not supposed to "work" anything but only to inform the adcoms.</p>
<p>I put Chem Engineering down -- ended up majoring in Econ. Didn't affect me one iota.</p>
<p>As someone who has gone through this process and worried about this very issue... I have to say that it barely matters (I'm not an admissions officer so I can't say definitively), even if you're a guy who puts down woman and gender sexuality studies as his intended major.</p>
<p>as far as I know, the only time specifying a major will hurt you is if you specify a major for which you are obviously not qualified (for instance specifying Math with no advanced Math classes and low Math SAT I and II scores) or if you specify a major the college doesnt have. It sometimes helps to specify a major you are qualified for that the college is trying to build up, but that's a grey area that's hard to quantify.</p>
<p>I would put undecided, unless you are fairly sure that you are going to major in that area. Or, if it has been widely mentioned in your recs, essays, activities that you are intending to major in it, then put it down.</p>
<p>What are likely to be the majors which Yale is trying to build up? I would love to major in either Psychology or Cognitive Science. Yet would declaring "Cognitive Science" in my app be better than declaring "Psychology", since sciences are slightly under-presented at Yale?</p>
<p>...honestly, what you declare will have very little bearing on the admissions process. i wouldn't worry too much about it.</p>
<p>declaring political science wont hurt you. thats what i declared.</p>
<p>6y6y6: As I stated, there's no need to "game" your file by stating something that you THINK Yale is trying to build up. The fact is they aren't trying to build ANYTHING up besides have a great entering class of curious individuals. I recall that 75% or so of incoming freshmen who listed something, ended up graduating in another major. It's COMPLETELY superfluous to your admissions chances as I stated earlier. If you really want to major in CogSci then state so. If you really want to major in Psych then state so. If you're undecided, then state so.</p>
<p>I disagree wtih T26 a little. Yale is trying to build up its reputation in engineering and the sciences. This year is, I believe, the first year that they are going to have "science readers" for certain applications because it's hard for admissions officers without science backgrounds to really evaluate top science/engineering candidates. That being said, it does you no good to declare an engineering or science major if you have nothing in your extracurriculars to back it up. Ditto with something like Classics if you've never taken Greek or Latin. They DO want kids in certain fields, but just stating your intended major isn't the way to show them your interest in those fields. In any event, what you state on your application DOES NOT MATTER.</p>
<p>I am delighted Yale is going to have science readers. Reading some books written by admissions officers, and being in high tech myself, in Silicon Valley, I have often felt that there was insufficient appreciation in admisisons offices for the science 'types' beyond the narrow 'researcher' category. Most people with technical degrees end up in related fields in the high tech industry or other applicable industries - sales, marketing, customer support, business management etc - as well as founding innovative companies, and the apparent one-dimensional focus on 'research' in the admissions writeups has been discouraging. I hope this will be part of the new way of reading science applicants.</p>
<p>AdmissionsAddict, you mentioned that one's ECs should show focus on science - I hope that is not what you meant, as opposed to your Classics example where you said one should have taken Greek or Latin. Certainly science concentrators need to have taken high level science classes, but I hope Yale will admit science concentrators with interests and passions beyond science, and who may have chosen non-science ECs.</p>
<p>I don't think AdmissionsAddict meant that those applying for sciences should have science-focused EC's. Apparently Yale is looking for ppl who have gone and will go beyond that. But it makes sense as in the example you have stated above: "specifying Math with no advanced Math classes and low Math SAT I and II scores". I think if one is applying for sciences, one's ECs should show it, not necessarily show FOCUS on it.</p>
<p>Yet I'm aware that it doesn't matter what major I declare in my app. Still, some of us are perfectionists (to a certain level). We're digging up for little details in the app which we can fulfill to enhance our chance of getting admitted.</p>
<p>Science applicants should have interests and passions beyond science. I just meant that you're going to get a tip in admissions for science, math, engineering, etc. unless you've done something to demonstrate a real interest. A person who put engineering down won't get an advantage. A person who has done very well in the Intel or Siemens competitions will.</p>
<p>I agree with AA...
to the OP, if you have done MUNs, debate, any program with IR or an internship or sth, then it will give you an advantage</p>
<p>AA, yes, if you meant a 'science tip' clearly that would only go to the people with that profile, every other student interested in science would need to compete in the general category....</p>