SMCguy

I did this! I applied to UCLA as an Anthropology major and later added the Film, TV and Digital Media minor.

Best decision ever for me!!

emberjed

I'm planning, at the moment, to major in CS. If I were to apply to, say, MIT, which has an extremely competitive CS program, but apply as a prospective Japanese major (I really do like Japanese and, as I've gotten straight A's in the class, gone to Japan, won an award for Japanese work, and set myself up to receive a great letter of recommendation, I'd likely be qualified almost anywhere... though, conversely, my CS qualifications are paltry), would employers respect my degree, provided that I took all the required CS courses, filling many of my elective slots with them? I.e., is Japanese close enough to CS (though this raises the question of whether or not major proximity matters) that I could highlight copious CS coursework to potential employers and still have hope of getting a job?

ucbalumnus

If you go to a school where declaring the CS major requires a competitive application and admission process for students already at the school, then it is likely that the upper division CS courses have limited capacity. This means that non-CS majors are likely to have a hard time actually getting into upper division CS courses.

RichardJRod

Not necessarily; you want to be able to show admissions counselors that your declared major is something you're passionate about, maybe even something you have a degree of experience in depending on the degree.

Timkerdes

In some instances the TC's theory that taking the less popular major to make it easier to get into a college/university is wrong. Cooper Union, For example accepts 250 engineering students a year, 60 Art students a year, and 15 Architecture students. Even though more people apply to engineering school it is much more difficult to get into the other two school. The acceptance rate for the engineering school is 15%, the acceptance rate for the Art school is 5%, and the acceptance rate for the architecture school is 3% to 4%.

So the idea that its easier to get into a smaller school/department doesnt pan out all the time.

TheFallenOne

you also have to consider, where would you work with a mythology or latin major? some majors are competitive because applicants know they tend to yield better careers and everyone's trying to aim for a good career.

If you major in something uncommon or possibly really obscure, it sounds more like an excuse to get into a good college than anything else. Maybe you will get into that school, but what about after that? People go to college because it likely yields a better job that makes more money; that's what students are really aiming for.

mythmom

Yes, being a Classics major really did help DS in admissions I'm sure, especially combined with his second major, music, and the hours he had already spent composing. He had many nationally ranked honors in Latin and great music demo tapes.

He did study in both these departments and graduated from college as a Classics major. He is pursuing a field that has some ties to Classics but is very different.

I should emphasize that he did not do this as a ploy to gain admission to a college; these were his genuine interests.

The boost was much more evident at LAC's than at universities.

ucbalumnus

On the other hand, a large number of majors, including very popular ones (e.g. biology, English), send a lot of graduates into non-major-specific jobs.

catalina

Some years back, Princeton put out a glossy brochure about its less populated majors. It was basically profiles of students who majored in things like German, Classics, and Slavic Languages and what they went on to do with that major. Clearly the purpose of the brochure was to attract students to those smaller majors. At the same time, there was an arts initiative in which Tilghman said she was trying to attract more "green-haired" types. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that an applicant that presented themselves as an artsy potential German major would stand a better chance of getting admitted than, say, a potential English major who was also interested in politics (if all other things are equal). But as others have pointed out, your application would have to back up a stated interest in those areas to make it believable: art and German classes throughout high school.

evitaperon

As I recall, MIT likes interdisciplinary studies. (Building 20, anyone?) Besides, it is usually lower-division courses not upper-division ones, that have enrollment caps.

evitaperon

Also, AFAIK switching majors is pretty normal, so most schools do not discriminate on choice of major, as long as you stay within the same school.

(Where it does matter is grad school though. But it's pretty hard to switch fields of research!)