Faking Majors?

[Anonymous]

I did this to stand out as an applicant. I had extra curriculars that I could tie to the major I said I wanted to study and got a perfect score on the SAT II (back when that was a thing) for my intended major. Even 20 years ago, you couldn't get into an Ivy as a white kid from the suburbs with straight As who was president of a few clubs. You needed a story. Since I had no idea what I wanted to major in, I just picked the thing that I thought would most help me get in. Since I had the grades and test scores to back it up, I did not see anything wrong with it. Other kids have parents who donate buildings or pay for years of travel sports. I bought a Princeton Review book and spent hours studying for the SAT subject test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, is it a popular trend for students who are planning on doing a STEM major (Engineering/CS etc) to apply with a humanities major like English and History and then pivot once admitted? I heard this is quite popular in the private school kids applying to top colleges. How do they manage to 'hide' the evidence in their resumes? Won't AOs be able to see that they are bluffing?

I would think boys would "fake" non-STEM majors, and girls would "fake" STEM majors - but honestly, colleges are privy to this, and many have put roadblocks in to prevent switching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did this to stand out as an applicant. I had extra curriculars that I could tie to the major I said I wanted to study and got a perfect score on the SAT II (back when that was a thing) for my intended major. Even 20 years ago, you couldn't get into an Ivy as a white kid from the suburbs with straight As who was president of a few clubs. You needed a story. Since I had no idea what I wanted to major in, I just picked the thing that I thought would most help me get in. Since I had the grades and test scores to back it up, I did not see anything wrong with it. Other kids have parents who donate buildings or pay for years of travel sports. I bought a Princeton Review book and spent hours studying for the SAT subject test.

I know kids who do this - they are not quite URMs, but they are mostly either white or Asian, so they go with a story - usually about a place they have either never been, or hardly been. I think colleges will crack down, soon enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi, is it a popular trend for students who are planning on doing a STEM major (Engineering/CS etc) to apply with a humanities major like English and History and then pivot once admitted? I heard this is quite popular in the private school kids applying to top colleges. How do they manage to 'hide' the evidence in their resumes? Won't AOs be able to see that they are bluffing?

Many top universities have direct admit to CS/Engineering/Business majors. So firstly, you would not be able to switch. 2nd, even at a school without direct admit, your EC/Academics need to support your desired major, and being in the robotics club, coding club, and math club and volunteering to teach ES kids to code does not scream you want to be a History or English lit major.

So yes, AO can easily see they are bluffing if their resume doesn't support it

Isn't UVA business 3rd year (apply second year)??

[Anonymous]

It works because there isn't strong competition for the humanities seats, and there is no good way for a college to detect "humanities talent" in a high schooler. It's incredibly easy to fake humanities talent because plagiarism is easy.

[Anonymous]

Why are colleges even requiring majors on applications at all? My (tippy top) school did not require a declaration until end of sophomore year. You indicated interest on your application but it was not binding. They wanted everyone to explore majors freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi, is it a popular trend for students who are planning on doing a STEM major (Engineering/CS etc) to apply with a humanities major like English and History and then pivot once admitted? I heard this is quite popular in the private school kids applying to top colleges. How do they manage to 'hide' the evidence in their resumes? Won't AOs be able to see that they are bluffing?

Of course admissions will see you're bluffing. If you spent 4 years coding and doing robotics, admissions is not going to believe you're genuine about being an English or elementary education major.
I actually don't know anyone who has tried this and my kids go to competitive private high schools.

Jeez, my kids’ school doesn’t have robotics and coding. So screw those kids, huh. They can’t build their resumes!

Lots of online coding classes for kids if they are interested. Robotics might be tougher - but look around - maybe a local University or summer camp.

I have a kid who did FIRST in ES and MS and then was very involved in FRC Robotics, CAD programming in HS (and applied to college as a humanities major, BTW, which she then declared and has stuck with. But, it was always a question during college interviews). There are community teams as well as school teams. And most locals HSs in The MD and VA Burbs are also involved in FIRST through FRC or FTC. NOVA offers Vex duRing the summers. There is a lot out there. Contact FIRST and they should be able to point you towards a team. Or you can volunteer at tournaments or with the younger FIRST teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It works because there isn't strong competition for the humanities seats, and there is no good way for a college to detect "humanities talent" in a high schooler. It's incredibly easy to fake humanities talent because plagiarism is easy.

It doesn't work because you don't just have to add in the humanities, you'd have to subtract out some of the STEM stuff.

[Anonymous]

We wanted to do this but the college counsellor said DS transcript screamed STEM as he had also taken engineering classes in HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi, is it a popular trend for students who are planning on doing a STEM major (Engineering/CS etc) to apply with a humanities major like English and History and then pivot once admitted? I heard this is quite popular in the private school kids applying to top colleges. How do they manage to 'hide' the evidence in their resumes? Won't AOs be able to see that they are bluffing?

Of course admissions will see you're bluffing. If you spent 4 years coding and doing robotics, admissions is not going to believe you're genuine about being an English or elementary education major.
I actually don't know anyone who has tried this and my kids go to competitive private high schools.

Jeez, my kids’ school doesn’t have robotics and coding. So screw those kids, huh. They can’t build their resumes!

You are actually in a golden position. Go to the FIRST Robotics website and look at the resources they provide for starting a robotics team at the school. There are $$$s and other resources available as they are very actively encouraging new entrants. Your kid will look like a superstar if they were the one to actually start the club!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did this to stand out as an applicant. I had extra curriculars that I could tie to the major I said I wanted to study and got a perfect score on the SAT II (back when that was a thing) for my intended major. Even 20 years ago, you couldn't get into an Ivy as a white kid from the suburbs with straight As who was president of a few clubs. You needed a story. Since I had no idea what I wanted to major in, I just picked the thing that I thought would most help me get in. Since I had the grades and test scores to back it up, I did not see anything wrong with it. Other kids have parents who donate buildings or pay for years of travel sports. I bought a Princeton Review book and spent hours studying for the SAT subject test.

Not true for my UMC ORM white neighborhood. Being tops at academics with the standard meangless ECs was plenty. "Straight As" wasn't enough, but APs were. It wasn't enough to coast on the baseline curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It works because there isn't strong competition for the humanities seats, and there is no good way for a college to detect "humanities talent" in a high schooler. It's incredibly easy to fake humanities talent because plagiarism is easy.

It doesn't work because you don't just have to add in the humanities, you'd have to subtract out some of the STEM stuff.

Everyone is screaming that interdisciplinary" is the only way to survive ChatGPT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi, is it a popular trend for students who are planning on doing a STEM major (Engineering/CS etc) to apply with a humanities major like English and History and then pivot once admitted? I heard this is quite popular in the private school kids applying to top colleges. How do they manage to 'hide' the evidence in their resumes? Won't AOs be able to see that they are bluffing?

Many top universities have direct admit to CS/Engineering/Business majors. So firstly, you would not be able to switch. 2nd, even at a school without direct admit, your EC/Academics need to support your desired major, and being in the robotics club, coding club, and math club and volunteering to teach ES kids to code does not scream you want to be a History or English lit major.

So yes, AO can easily see they are bluffing if their resume doesn't support it

Isn't UVA business 3rd year (apply second year)??

I said Top universities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are colleges even requiring majors on applications at all? My (tippy top) school did not require a declaration until end of sophomore year. You indicated interest on your application but it was not binding. They wanted everyone to explore majors freshman year.

Because at many larger schools, Business, CS, engineering are direct admit/impacted majors. So if you are not admitted as a freshman, your path to transfer in is virtually zero.

However, there are plenty of excellent schools where this is not the case. My own kid applied to mostly schools like that, because yes kids do change paths and they didn't want to be restricted. Entered as a ChemE major and is adding CS as a minor. But nothing will be declared until spring of sophomore year.

[Anonymous]

Switching majors is a legitimate thing. I did it more than once. You think you want to do something, then when you get into it at college you realize you don’t. Switching should not be forbidden.