<p>Ok well, I’m not so knowledgeable in this so don’t mind me asking. I have heard that if a college is known for a particular school/major (example. Upenn= Wharton) and you want to go to that school. Then, to higher your chances is of getting in, you to apply either as undecided or to another one that is less “popular”. Then once you are accepted, you switch schools. I suppose what i mean by less popular is what the school is less renowned for or the school where less people apply to (if it is possible to predict that). Comments?</p>
<p>I say that’s sort of cheating.</p>
<p>while yes, applying to a lesser school (like your UPenn example) will have a much higher chance of getting in, it’ll be as hard switching to wharton as getting in in the first place, if not harder</p>
<p>Technically speaking, it could work- but not in the way you’re saying. The situation in which it would help your chances is one where you actually would stay in the unpopular/new/underpopulated school that you applied to, and are clearly very passionate about the program/field of study. The only situation where this is really of any use is in the situation where you are applying to a reach school that you know you’ll be happy at, but the program of your choice is being built up currently.
EG 1: You apply to Super Selective School under Anthropology major which accepts significantly more students due to underpopulation in program: you are accepted only because you are clearly a student who won’t try to switch later on, but will continue with said course of study due to exhibited passion. So, even though you aren’t a top candidate, they accept you in order to fill the program.
EG 2: You apply to Super Selective School under Anthropology major, yet your application clearly shows that you are passionate in business, and they have a business program which accepts only a few students per year. They don’t accept you because it is a very transparent effort to get into the school through a nonexistant “back door”.
Schools like UPenn with particularly competitive programs in certain areas are VERY familiar with this concept- students will do anything to manipulate their way into the school. You aren’t going to have an easier time switching into Wharton through a back door- you’re essentially just putting yourself on a waiting list of students like you who thought they could cheat their way in.</p>
<p>I basically agree with the above posts, but I would emphasize that the moral considerations are really secondary in this case because the strategy simple doesn’t work.</p>
<p>No highly selective school is likely to be fooled by such a publicized and uncreative strategy. Furthermore, you may even hurt your application if your intentions are very obvious, which in the case of UPenn/Wharton should be fairly evident if you’ve been aiming for Wharton for a while (all your econ classes, ECs, etc).</p>
<p>Well, for schools like Yale, your “intended” major is only recorded for survey reasons. In others, the most selective programs, such as the engineering program at Berkeley, have separate admissions and you couldn’t really transfer into one even if you get into the school at large.</p>
<p>As other people have said, your strategy simply will not work, because transferring into the program will most likely be HARDER than getting admitted in the first place. And would you really be happy if you had to ditch your plans of being a buisness major, rather than just going somewhere else in the first place?</p>
<p>Don’t you think that if it were as easy as that, everyone would do it?</p>
<p>At many universities, it is exceedingly hard to switch schools. Don’t think of it as a useful back door strategy into your favorite school.</p>
<p>if there’s one thing colleges hate, it’s gamesmanship in the admissions process. so apply for what you want to study.</p>
<p>I’ve seen it done before, though admittedly not at a highly selective school. The class slacker applied in-state to UIUC’s agriculture school and got in despite poor grades.
Transferring out of the agriculture school, however, may be difficult.</p>
<p>At Wharton, your example, you can’t transfer at will. You need to maintain a certain GPA and apply. At some schools, like UCs, it can be impossible to transfer into some majors ever.</p>
<p>The top colleges typically don’t admit by major.</p>