I’m a girl, and I’m definitely going to apply for a B.A. I’m thinking about economics, international relations, history, or European studies (if the college has it). Is there any one that would give me a competitive edge, being a girl? Does it change for different colleges? If so, how do I research which major I should apply as for each college?
Here are the colleges I’m going to apply to, as of right now:
Yale
Harvard
Brown
Vanderbilt
McGill
Lehigh
University of Virginia
University of Michigan
University of South Carolina Honors College
Tulane
Rutgers
What do you want your job to be?
European studies seems really specialized.
No. Being a girl is entirely irrelevant to the admissions process and will not give you a competitive edge at any school you will apply to.
I would find the required course list for the major(s) you are considering and read the course descriptions for the classes to see what seems most interesting to you. The majors you’ve selected are similar enough that should you change your mind part-way through college, you should be able to switch majors without too much trouble.
^That’s not true, there are some STEM schools that are overwhelmingly male, so being a female can give you an edge up., I’ve heard this often regarding Harvey Mudd.
Yes, but she’d stated initially that she knows she wants to do a BA in one of the the majors she’d listed. For those majors, its irrelevant that she’s a girl.
Most of the colleges on this list don’t admit by major, so picking one major over another won’t necessarily help you in admissions. For example, at Yale, you could apply as a history major, get admitted, and immediately change your major to English without any particular process.
Only at colleges where you have to apply to specific majors or colleges would some majors be an advantage. But even then, all of the majors you’ve selected are usually in the same school/college within a specific university, so it wouldn’t apply. For example, at Michigan all of those majors are in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA).
Also, if you’re from NJ, why would you apply to Michigan or USC? UVa kind of makes sense since I think they meet the full financial need of all accepted students, even from OOS. But Michigan and USC don’t, so unless your family is very wealthy it may make sense to replace them with some other reaches or matches. (And also, your list is very reach heavy! The only school you have that could be a safety is Rutgers, and Tulane and Lehigh are probably matches.