We are often advising clients on how to get ahead in a world in which prestigious universities have single-digit acceptance rates. First and foremost, you need to have the basics down if you really want to get into an Ivy League school like Brown. You must have a stellar GPA in the most advanced classes offered at your school. You have to have exceptional extracurriculars. You also need to have really excellent essays. But each year, tons of hyper-qualified students apply to the Ivies. So how is anyone supposed to get ahead? One strategy we suggest is picking the right major.
The Right Academic Niche
If you don’t have the grades to cut it, focusing on a strategic major isn’t going to help you get into Brown. But if you’re truly a top-tier candidate, it might help you nudge past the competition. And with so many applicants, it could be the push over the edge that ultimately works. We advise our students to spend all four years of high school developing an academic area of expertise. Think of this as a personal academic brand, if you will. Schools don’t just want smart, capable students. They want smart, capable students who are going to go on to be the top expert in a particular field when they graduate and then donate money to their school’s endowment. Brown is likely not interested in students with 4.0 GPAs who don’t know what they want to do with their lives. They want students with 4.0 GPAs who are absolutely dedicated to microbiology or who have a passion for American public policy. We encourage our students to illustrate how they are a perfect fit for Brown by identifying the major or area of study that most closely aligns with their academic niche. In other words, you want to tell Brown that you’ve been passionate about a highly specific subject since you were 13. You’ve built extracurriculars and been involved with activities that are highly relevant to that subject and you know Brown is the very best place for you to continue that highly niche education.
Before going any further, a word: Writing your college supplement about a particular major does not bind you to it! If you’ve had enough of global economics after high school, feel free to declare yourself as an art major once you actually get into Brown.
We digress. The thing is, some majors are more popular than others. Economics tends to be a popular major at most schools, whereas languages tend to be less popular. We recommend identifying a major that is less popular and fits closely within your niche to target. This way, you’re competing with fewer people.
The Majors at Brown
We looked into the number of degrees Brown awarded by discipline in the 2019-2020 school year. Brown organizes this data by categories that are designated by the National Center for Educational Statistics. What that means is, the disciplines it lists below may or may not exactly correspond to a major offered at Brown, but they should give you a sense of what areas of study are most and least popular. (Another note on the data: students with one degree but a double-major are represented twice). Ok, it’s not really a top-ten list. What we found is that 17 (!) areas of study had *no* graduates in the 2019-2020 school year:
Architecture (.5 %)
Education (1.1 %)
Natural resources and conservation (1.6%)
Philosophy and Religious Studies (1.6%)
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics (1.9%)
Communications/journalism (2.1%)
Health professions and related programs (2.4%)
History (2.6%)
Public administration and social services (2.7%)
Psychology (3.2%)
Here’s the full list of areas of disciplines and percentage of grads:
There are some ways to get ahead of the competition when it comes to college admissions. Focusing on an academic niche and then finding the right, less-frequented major that interests you is a good approach. Just make sure your resume and classes match and position you as an expert in that area.
Need help with your high school resume? Call us. We’re experts at helping students align with activities and extracurriculars that will impress.