<p>Is there any advantage/diadvanyage in declaring your major as undecided as opposed to listing one. I know that it is not overly important as it can be easily changed but from an admissions perspective what is the general consensus?</p>
<p>Also the same question with regards to fields of work interest fro future years…</p>
<p>It is not a disadvantage to be undecided about a major or a career goal. Many applicants are undecided, and colleges know that even applicants who think they’re decided frequently change their minds once they get to college, sometimes more than once.</p>
<p>Thanks 
that helps a lot! Also another question (hope you don’t me asking), do people tend to fill in the demographic section of the application? Will you be looked upon more favourably if, for example, you are Hispanic/Latino etc?</p>
<p>Fill it in, absolutely. Hispanic applicants are URMS (you’ll see that acronym all over College Confidential). URMs are members of a group that is traditionally underrepresented in college admissions (Hispanic, African American, and Native American applicants). Colleges are eager to diversify their student bodies by admitting URMs. What this means is that by letting colleges know you’re Hispanic, you’ll have a “hook,” a potent advantage in admissions.</p>
<p>I think that in certain schools it does matter, at least generally speaking. For example, UPenn has four different colleges - each with a different focus - and getting into Wharton, the business school, is the most notoriously difficult by far. So in some cases, you don’t have a choice- you have to decide at least on the general area of your major. I think the same is true of Georgetown, Cornell…and a couple other schools I can’t remember</p>
<p>Oh no sorry I put that across the wrong way… I actually fall under the UK White, European bracket; would I be better not stating that at all? It’s not exactly a minority after all, but I do come from a very low-income one parent household and attend an unrecognised high school. Does that mean I would perhaps be looked upon more favouably??</p>
<p>P.S. Thanks fuzzyfirebunny!! I think I will list the liberal education/arts&sciences option (or the nearest to that anyway) as that’s what I want to go for. I was just worried that by seeming vague in my academic choices and without a specific career in mind, I might come across as someone just wanting to party excessively at college (which I don’t by the way!). </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>ffb:Well, of course, if you are applying directly to a college (Engineering, Business, etc.) within a university, then by definition you must declare an area of interest. No one who is mulling over Ethnomusicology vs. American Studies is going to apply to Penn Wharton or Columbia SEAS! But at schools like Yale, where every undergrad, regardless of proposed major or areas of interest, is admitted to Yale College, being undecided is not a disadvantage.</p>
<p>2014: If you’re white, it doesn’t matter whether you leave the section it blank or not. As for your low-income background, it’s another factor colleges will consider in reviewing your application. Colleges are interested in assembling a class that is socioeconomically diverse (but not as interested as they are in assembling a class that’s racially diverse.</p>
<p>“I actually fall under the UK White, European bracket”</p>
<p>So just wondering, are you applying as a US citizen or an international applicant?</p>
<p>on a related note, can you list a double major on the application?</p>
<p>chair: yes you can list dbl major. As was stated earlier, it’s just a point of curiosity for the file readers – it has no bearing on how your file will be evaluated.</p>
<p>sorry to hijack your thread op, but i have a question relating to this:</p>
<p>does it look bad to declare a major like international relations or EPE if a lot of your ecs skew to the science side?</p>
<p>T2GE4: how? from what i saw on the drop down box, there’s no option for “double” or anything like that. maybe i’m missing it?</p>
<p>and i actually think (with justification) that intended major does matter a little. when i was at an information session they presented case studies (essentially a more detailed results thread post) and in one example, the admissions officer put less emphasis on one guy’s low SAT math score–in the low 600s–because he was intending to major in english/some humanities area.</p>
<p>Raphael: i think as long as you haven’t been historically weak in your humanities classes then that’s fine. otherwise it’ll just be confusing to this adcom why this kid who’s stellar in science and terrible in humanities/social science wants to major in the latter.</p>
<p>in that case, i might put undecided. it’s not that my grades reflect this skew, only my ecs</p>
<p>anyway, this is all speculation as i won’t be applying until next year, so i have a year to make up for it.</p>