Do majors matter to AOs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What majors are least competitive at selective private schools? Assuming everything in the arts & sciences except for economics, math, bio, psychology and poli sci?

I've commented on this topic before but I have no doubt that some top schools are desperate for kids in certain majors and that will impact admission decisions. For example, Princeton has one of the best and largest Classics departments in the country, but it didn't have enough kids majoring in Classics to support all the faculty positions. I think it had fewer than 10 kids graduating with a Classics major for a few years. To drum up interest in the department a couple years ago it began offering Classics as a minor for the first time (so that the Classics faculty would have more than just Classics majors to teach). If a school is taking concrete steps like that to draw more students to the department then you can assume Admissions will be aware of that need and tend to more readily admit viable applicants that are considered likely to major/minor in an undersubscribed major.

Aren't all majors offered as minors? I know all minors are not offered as majors.
What are other concrete steps that a university might take that one could search for?

No not all majors are offered at minors. There are very separate lists on school academic offering websites.

Np. I don't understand how a new "minor" shows they are trying to pull in more students? What about a major without a minor? What does that show? Like for this for Duke....based on this, where do you see they are trying to draw in more students? I don't see anything.

https://trinity.duke.edu/undergraduate/majors-minors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What majors are least competitive at selective private schools? Assuming everything in the arts & sciences except for economics, math, bio, psychology and poli sci?

I've commented on this topic before but I have no doubt that some top schools are desperate for kids in certain majors and that will impact admission decisions. For example, Princeton has one of the best and largest Classics departments in the country, but it didn't have enough kids majoring in Classics to support all the faculty positions. I think it had fewer than 10 kids graduating with a Classics major for a few years. To drum up interest in the department a couple years ago it began offering Classics as a minor for the first time (so that the Classics faculty would have more than just Classics majors to teach). If a school is taking concrete steps like that to draw more students to the department then you can assume Admissions will be aware of that need and tend to more readily admit viable applicants that are considered likely to major/minor in an undersubscribed major.

Aren't all majors offered as minors? I know all minors are not offered as majors.
What are other concrete steps that a university might take that one could search for?

No not all majors are offered at minors. There are very separate lists on school academic offering websites.

Np. I don't understand how a new "minor" shows they are trying to pull in more students? What about a major without a minor? What does that show? Like for this for Duke....based on this, where do you see they are trying to draw in more students? I don't see anything.

Although it provides little practical benefit, kids these days like to graduate with multiple majors/minors to put on their resumes. Assume you are a Politics major at Princeton. If taking 3-4 Classics classes all of sudden will allow you to earn a Classics minor you might choose to do that. In that past, that Politics major might have decided to skip the Classics classes in favor of History classes so that she could earn a History minor along with the Politics major. So the point of adding a Classics minor for Princeton is increasing student demand for Classics classes. Admitting more kids interested in Classics majors/minors supports that effort.

https://trinity.duke.edu/undergraduate/majors-minors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What majors are least competitive at selective private schools? Assuming everything in the arts & sciences except for economics, math, bio, psychology and poli sci?

I've commented on this topic before but I have no doubt that some top schools are desperate for kids in certain majors and that will impact admission decisions. For example, Princeton has one of the best and largest Classics departments in the country, but it didn't have enough kids majoring in Classics to support all the faculty positions. I think it had fewer than 10 kids graduating with a Classics major for a few years. To drum up interest in the department a couple years ago it began offering Classics as a minor for the first time (so that the Classics faculty would have more than just Classics majors to teach). If a school is taking concrete steps like that to draw more students to the department then you can assume Admissions will be aware of that need and tend to more readily admit viable applicants that are considered likely to major/minor in an undersubscribed major.

Aren't all majors offered as minors? I know all minors are not offered as majors.
What are other concrete steps that a university might take that one could search for?

No not all majors are offered at minors. There are very separate lists on school academic offering websites.

Np. I don't understand how a new "minor" shows they are trying to pull in more students? What about a major without a minor? What does that show? Like for this for Duke....based on this, where do you see they are trying to draw in more students? I don't see anything.

https://trinity.duke.edu/undergraduate/majors-minors

Although it provides little practical benefit, kids these days like to graduate with multiple majors/minors to put on their resumes. Assume you are a Politics major at Princeton. If taking 3-4 Classics classes all of sudden will allow you to earn a Classics minor you might choose to do that. In that past, that Politics major might have decided to skip the Classics classes in favor of History classes so that she could earn a History minor along with the Politics major. So the point of adding a Classics minor for Princeton is increasing student demand for Classics classes. Admitting more kids interested in Classics majors/minors supports that effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What majors are least competitive at selective private schools? Assuming everything in the arts & sciences except for economics, math, bio, psychology and poli sci?

I've commented on this topic before but I have no doubt that some top schools are desperate for kids in certain majors and that will impact admission decisions. For example, Princeton has one of the best and largest Classics departments in the country, but it didn't have enough kids majoring in Classics to support all the faculty positions. I think it had fewer than 10 kids graduating with a Classics major for a few years. To drum up interest in the department a couple years ago it began offering Classics as a minor for the first time (so that the Classics faculty would have more than just Classics majors to teach). If a school is taking concrete steps like that to draw more students to the department then you can assume Admissions will be aware of that need and tend to more readily admit viable applicants that are considered likely to major/minor in an undersubscribed major.

Aren't all majors offered as minors? I know all minors are not offered as majors.
What are other concrete steps that a university might take that one could search for?

No not all majors are offered at minors. There are very separate lists on school academic offering websites.

Np. I don't understand how a new "minor" shows they are trying to pull in more students? What about a major without a minor? What does that show? Like for this for Duke....based on this, where do you see they are trying to draw in more students? I don't see anything.

https://trinity.duke.edu/undergraduate/majors-minors

The list of majors/minors does not tell you anything. It is the ADDITION of another option (adding the option of a minor where only a major was previously available) that tells you they likely want more students to take classes in that department.

[Anonymous]

Most college apps do not ask for minors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most college apps do not ask for minors.

Duke asks for 3 (majors/minors/cert). So does Stanford/Yale.....Brown asks for two.

If they ask, it IS important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most college apps do not ask for minors.

Most colleges also accept vast majority of the kids.