For a little context, I have just finished my Associate’s at a community college, and am planning to transfer to one of the best colleges in my state. I recently got a rejection letter, but was planning on writing an appeal to see if they reconsider.
Now, when I first applied to this school back around February, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to major in. Unfortunately, the application forces you to pick a major (as I will technically be a Junior in the Fall) in order to even finish the application so I ended up choosing the Pre-Major for Biology (I had to choose the Pre-major instead of the actual major because I did not fulfill the necessary prereqs for Biology) since it was the subject that I was leaning towards the most at the time. It was genuinely something that I was kind of interested at that point, so I even wrote a part of my personal statement about how I started taking an interest in biology and anatomy the last few years.
I submitted the application and promptly left it at that for the next few months. In retrospect, I realize that Pre-Bio was probably not the best choice to pick in my application since:
- Colleges believe that Juniors should already be able to join an official major and not just a pre-major
- I had barely any of the prereqs completed for biology meaning my transcript didn’t have much of a showing for my Bio/science-class potential, and I would have to spend most of my first year at my new school taking prereqs instead of actually contributing to the actual major (also meaning that I had a lower chance of graduating on time compared to other applicants)
- Biology is a fairly competitive major
However, a few months later during Spring Quarter, I took a random art class for fun and ended up really liking it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I am seriously considering changing my major to something art related in my next year.
So my question is this: In my appeal, would it be a good idea to bring up the fact that I want to change my major from my previously stated Pre-Bio that I put in my application?
I’m curious if including this will increase the chances of my appeal or if they don’t even care about that portion of the application anyway? Also, how should I go about phrasing my change of heart? Ex. “I changed my mind” VS “I discovered a new passion after taking the art class” VS “_______.” I’m worried that stating that I want to change my major will make me seem unsure or indecisive about my future (possibly making me look more undesirable as a student) or that I’m simply trying to “sneak” into their school then switch majors in a few months.
Any help, insight, or experience with a similar situation is greatly appreciated!