<p>My scores and GPA, etc. are pretty average for Ivy Leagues, and I am applying to 3 or 4 as my “reaches.” I would love to go to Yale or Columbia and I feel that I have a fair chance, but my interests are so varied that as I start filling out applications I’m finding it hard to decide what to put down for my major. I don’t want to ruin my chances - how much will it hurt my application to say that I am undecided? Should I just pick one of my ideas and change it later if I change my mind, or is the decision binding?</p>
<p>The decision for what you put down is not binding AT ALL!! They are just trying to get a feel for your academic interests. Just put down what you like!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t think it would hurt your chances but they could be enhanced if you selected a major in an area that the school is trying to improve their numbers in.</p>
<p>Colleges understand that most students change their major at least once during their four years of school, so it really does not matter what you put down.</p>
<p>On another note, you do realize there is a huge philosophical difference between Columbia and Yale, in terms of curriculum.</p>
<p>Yale has distributional requirements every year. Students select from a broad range of courses to fulfill these general education requirements. See: [Distributional</a> Requirements | Yale College](<a href=“http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/distributional-requirements]Distributional”>http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/distributional-requirements).</p>
<p>Columbia prides itself on it’s core-curriculm, whereby every student, regardless of major, takes the same basic set of courses for freshman and sophomore years: Contemporary Civilization, Literature Humanities, University Writing, Art Humanities, Music Humanities and Frontiers of Science. It’s much more like high school than college – at least for the first two years. See: [The</a> Core Curriculum](<a href=“http://www.college.columbia.edu/core]The”>The Core Curriculum).</p>
<p>Students at Columbia either love or hate the core. Students that love Columbia tend not to like colleges like Yale and vice-versa.</p>
<p>I don’t think your indication of choice of major makes much difference at all. Choose something that is somewhat consistent with your activities and interests in high school. Trying to game the system by picking something undersubscribed probably won’t work unless your overall resume reveals an interest in the topic. (I.e., you won’t convince anybody that you want to be a Classics major if your resume doesn’t show any activities related to that, such as Latin class, competitions, etc.)</p>
<p>
That was not my intent of my response so hopefully nobody took it that way. I was merely trying to point out that some majors might increase one’s chances if the school was looking to improve their numbers. It would be very difficult to try and figure out which majors might increase one’s odds though.</p>
<p>Kdog, I agree with you–my point is just that your whole resume needs to show that you’re really interested in one of those unusual majors.</p>
<p>^I will add that every year students ask if it will help their admissions chances to put down a less popular major like Classics. So it’s good to clarify that just checking a box with nothing to support it in your application is not a viable strategy.</p>
<p>What percent of high school latin whizzes that put down a classics major actually follow through with that major? Not many. With any additional insight I have into this process, my kid, who attended NJCL events and won classics prizes, successfully put “undecided” on his application. I wouldn’t put too much faith into the idea that putting any particular intended major increases your likelihood of admission when you are not applying into a school with barriers to switch majors. The adcoms know the very poor correlation between what you put down and what is your ultimate major. They do recruit some hard core science types but your national science awards mean more than the box you check.</p>
<p>^I know of 1. D1s fr roommate was a Classics major pursued by (at least) UMichigan (OOS full ride merit scholarship), Y, Brown and UChicago. She was exceptional, caution: don’t try this at home ;).</p>