The Zinch Report

First, not all colleges offer all majors. Consider Parsons School of Design. If you send an application to Parsons and say you want a double major in chemistry and biomedical engineering with a career in pharmaceutical research, that may factor into their decision of whether to accept you. Likewise, if you tell Cal Tech that your intended academic concentration/major is Studio Art, they may use this in making their decision. What you should research and consider are departmental intersections, cross listed programs, and new majors. Many schools are creating innovative academic programs that combine subject areas that have traditionally been separate. So, if you're interested in a variety of disciplines, don't shy away from letting scools know.

Second, some schools may use this information loosely. If I were reading an application and the student said she’s interested in majoring in comparative literature and with a career as a book editor, I’d keep this in the back of my mind while reading the application. If she had spent a summer taking writing classes and wrote an essay about her favorite book, the possible academic concentration and career questions will fit nicely together with her past experience. This does NOT mean that it has to be symmetric. If it is, it is, and it will be noted because it helps create a fuller picture of her.

Third, it may be completely ignored. The Common Application (a standardized college application accepted by many colleges and universities) is designed to ask questions that some/many/any schools may want to know. For some schools, they would not necessarily include such questions on their applications but in using the Common App, they accept the fact that there will be irrelevant questions asked.

Fourth, some schools may prioritize and use this information rigidly. This is the most unlikely, but some schools rely on intended majors to determine how many students to admit into different programs.

I would venture to guess that about half the applications I’ve read had “undecided” listed as answers for both questions.  This is fine. You’re 17 years old. It’s enough that you’ve figured out which colleges to apply to much less to map out the rest of your academic and professional lives.

What admissions officers at liberal arts colleges will not be doing with the information is tallying it up to determine how many possible English majors versus Biology majors to admit. This would be a logistically impossible task because they do not know the yeild of the class they admit. Furthermore, it would be way too much information to try to track.

So, if you have answers to those questions that you think will be informative for the admissions officer, go ahead and share. If you've got a favorite class and think you may want to continue in college, fill it into your Zinch profile. If you are completely undecided don’t worry. Admissions officers, especially at liberal arts schools, respect the inquisitive mind that wishes to explore new subject areas in college. Be confident if that describes you.