John
Do I have a higher chance of getting accepted to a school if I declare a major?
#school #college #majors
2 answers
ROBIN CHARLESWORTH
ROBIN’s Answer
Most of the freshman courses are. generic, meaning that they are basic to most degrees. Many colleges will allow for you to declare that your major is undetermined as a freshman. The college application requires information about your senior year courses, college entrance examination scores, extracurricular activities, volunteerism, work experiences, leadership positions, citizenship, and more. I do not believe that declaring a specific major will impact the admission committees decision when reviewing your application. In the long run, if you are focused on a particular major and do not change your major, your tuition will be more effectively managed. When a student changes their major, then it often results in additional semesters to complete the required courses. Perhaps you would be interested in speaking with a college planning counselor to clarify your goals and prepare for success in college.
Jaimie Wolner
Jaimie’s Answer
While I don't believe many Universities consider Major in the admittance process, it may be beneficial in some cases to put down an intended major when applying. For example, if you are fairy certain that you want to study Business and the University you are applying for has a Business school that you can apply into as a first-year student, you could put down a major that you think would potentially be interesting to you. This could save you time down the line, instead of applying as "Undecided" and then wanting to go back and apply into the Business school (or any other school) later. Its also possible that you will only be able to take certain courses if you are a student in that field, but as Robin said, many first-year students take a lot of general classes during the first couple semesters.
I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and while you had to apply to be admitted to the Business school, you could change your major as many times as you liked. There was also no penalty I was aware of for deciding you wanted to leave the Business school and pursue a major within another field.
If you have a University in mind and a specific field of interest (business, nursing, journalism, etc.), I would recommend going online and looking up the Advising Office for that specific college. There should be a phone number you can call and have a conversation with one of the advisors about the pros and cons of applying into a field-specific school as a first-year student.
Good luck on your search!
Jaimie recommends the following next steps: