I have no evidence of this idea but it seems logical. I’m wondering if anyone finds this reasoning feasible.
Do colleges favor your application if it’s to a program that have less applicants or is less popular at that school.
For instance, with a major such as actuarial science, are you a little more likely to get into a school where you may sit somewhere around the 25th percentile then someone who may be trying to get into an MBA program or something the school specializes in.
It can make a difference. Not generally, I think, but maybe sometimes, even unofficially, i.e. students might be down in a department, so applicants interested in that field may be advantaged. For example, if the number of German majors were down at a school, and it wanted to maintain that department, a student who had studied German several years and participated and succeeded in state or national German language programs/contests, would probably get a bump. I think this is hit or miss though.
Some schools, like Bucknell, do require applicants to declare an intended major, and it does affect the applicant’s admissions chances. The school states this upfront, or did 2-3 years ago.
Yes. No. Maybe.
There is no general answer to this, it varies by U. Many colleges don’t take intended major into account at all such as Stanford. Others ignore major for students applying to the College of Letters and Science, such as many UC campuses. And some admit major by major.