Best major choice for Ivy League acceptance?
If I'm trying to get into the Ivies, I heard from some people that it's best to apply as undecided to improve my chances. I've even heard teachers run on about how its easier relatively to get in as engineering instead of business.
Is this the world's biggest case of BS, or is there some validity? Should I apply as undecided, engineering, or business?
I don't think it's really mattered unless there is a different school (e.g. engineering vs liberal arts) for the major with separate admissions process
e.g. wharton vs. upenn
mostly I think it's so they can analyze their yields by prospective major and figure out who they're losing
math
Apply for the major that's most related to your background.
If you were captain of mathletes, had a 800 math score and won numerous competitions in mathematics, then it wouldn't make sense to apply as an English Major.
If you can demonstrate legitimate talent and interest in STEM, then it will help you at those Ivies that are actively trying to improve their STEM programs (think Yale or Columbia). By demonstrate legitimate talent and interest, I mean either through high school extracurriculars or through masterfully crafted essays.
Edit: Also, why are you asking for undergraduate admissions advice at WSO? College Confidential exists for a very good reason.
This is also completely dependent on which Ivy you're applying to. For example, business at Penn (Wharton) will be tougher to get into relative to engineering at Penn than the equivalents of Cornell, where this relationship is likely reversed.
I am not sure if this impacts your opinion - but there is actually a common backdoor used at Penn to get into Wharton by Engineering students. While college, (CAS) students must transfer into Wharton in order to pursue a dual degree between both the College and Wharton (say Wharton/Sociology for example) - Engineers only have to apply for a dual degree and have a certain GPA (above 3.4 I believe) and then are automatically granted a dual degree track. From there you can opt to drop your Engineering degree, and voila, you're a Wharton student without have undergone the rigorous internal transfer process.
Transferring from the college (CAS) is quite difficult. You need a top notch GPA (some say around 3.9). As a previous poster said though, I'd recommend college confidential - as this site is more oriented towards professionals.
there's the thing: i'm good at STEM fields but also very business oriented in my school, so im not sure to go in as econ, business, or engineering, applied sciences, etc.
does checking undecided endanger me? or is it actually the safest thing to do?
It depends on the school. For example, I know Cornell doesn't accept anyone who applies as undecided. I got this from talking to one of the admissions officers.
I think it'd be safer to not apply as undecided since it makes it look like you have an idea of what you want to do.
look very hard at your background, compare stats with those admitted by major, and see which major makes the most sense from the admission's point of view
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