Clients are always asking us how they can get ahead in the college admissions process. College is hyper-competitive these days and with many schools going test-optional since the pandemic began, some students feel as though they have fewer opportunities to showcase their talents above neck-and-neck competition.

But there are a few things you can consider when it comes to standing out. For one, we work tirelessly to help students craft fantastic essays. We also tell our clients to pay attention to the popularity of majors at the schools to which they’re applying. We know. You’re only a high school junior. Why should you be thinking about your major already? Well, the Ivy League now means single-digit competition and if you are dead set on getting in, you need to consider all angles.

Why Majors Matter

When it comes to essays, we have our students show schools that they’re a perfect fit by connecting the student and the school academically. We help our clients develop an academic area of expertise throughout high school. Every school to which they’re applying should have an academic program or major that’s a great fit with the niche they’ve been developing, ideally since freshman year.

But the thing is, some majors have more competition than others. Schools want to recruit classes of freshmen with various (highly specific!) interests who will go on to be the best in their respective (highly specific) fields. But at a school like Stanford, far more students are going to express interest in Computer Science (for which it offered over 300 degrees in the 2019-2020 school year) or Economics (90 degrees) than many of the languages, for example. Below are the least popular major at Stanford for the 2019-2020 school year, based on the number of degrees they conferred for each.

ART (1)
GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES (1)
IBERIAN AND LATIN AMERICAN CULTURES (1)
ITALIAN (1)
JAPANESE (1)
NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES (1)
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES (1)
RELIGIOUS STUDIES (1)
ARCHEOLOGY (2)
ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES (2)
ENERGY RESOURCES ENGINEERING (2)
GERMAN STUDIES (2)
SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES (2)

In doing this research we found many majors that had less than 10 people per year—Asian American Studies, comparative literature, East Asian Studies, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Music, to name a few. Computer Science, Human Biology, and Symbolic Systems had the most people.

College admissions can be a tough game, but there are a few strategies you can employ to get ahead. No matter what, there is truly nothing that matters more than the basics. So, if you’re looking at a school like Stanford, you should make sure your ducks are in a row, first and foremost being grades. Beyond that, your essays need to be airtight, your extracurriculars impressive, and your letters of recommendation glowing.

Need help building a resume? Call us. We’re experts at helping our clients write impressive CVs.