<p>It’s not like a university that requires an app to a specific program, but you can bet they know which depts are reaching capacity, based on kids who did ultimately declare certain majors, which programs need more students, etc, and what to do to achieve what they need. You can’t account for changing majors, but you can try for the right balances up front, per the current snapshot. (Similarly, how do you think they know they need a bassoonist or two?) And, from the outside, there is no telling what those needs will be, in advance. </p>
<p>The old line is: male classics majors. But hey, unless you took plenty of classics related classes in hs, how will you look real? and what if they got a nice handful in the last few years and they are all sticking?</p>
<p>Yale getting 30k apps and 5k are not qualified? My own guess is that it’s far more than that, courtesy of the Common App. </p>