@lookingforward, “the possible majors you state are not trivial nothings. These colleges, eg, are seeking balance in depts, picking the best and most ready, as they see it.” - This is an interesting point to me, I figured since HS students are young, possibly not exposed to a lot of majors, without a firm career direction, AO look at possible majors as more of a gauge by which they measure what a student has done in HS. For example, HS student applying as a Chemistry major - have you taken AP Chem, been to a science fair, taken the Chem SAT subject test, found a chemistry related internship, done everything Chem that’s available to them, etc? If so, than the AO checks the box that this HS is motivated to take advantage of his/her opportunities at this college. If not, well maybe this kid isn’t a fit for this college. BUT what I get from you comment is, this selective college measures it’s needs in a major with the stated interests of applicants and that factors into the selection process…even if the declared interest isn’t a major selection. So a Chemistry interest student might have a better shot at a selective college in a year when there are few chemistry interested students applying to that School. Put another way, applying to Harvard for Econ, Math or Bio makes acceptance even tougher as they get loads of those types of students. But a Scandinavian Language interested major might have an ‘easier’ time getting into Harvard due to the relatively small number of applicants (assuming that student can demonstrate Scandinavian language interest/skills/etc).