<p>I have wondered about this myself. I have noticed that at many state flagships, certain majors seem to be unrealistic for students who do not come in at the top ranges of GPA and SAT scores, especially if they begin with a full load of weeder courses at their home institution. </p>
<p>Even at top universities, some schools seem to have a much narrower range of apparent abilites than others, going by 25% and 75% GPA’s and SAT’s. I am not sure what this means when it comes to selecting courses and majors, though. </p>
<p>It could be that at this level, any student would be poised to succeed at any major at their state flagship, especially if they are willing to work hard and do not insist on taking honors courses or advanced levels if they are not ready, but viable choices for the major at the top school might be limited to areas in which the student has excelled at levels beyond that measured by grades and standardized test scores, by virtue of “natural talent” or superior preparation or both, with perhaps just a few majors left over that might not be all that attractive.</p>