Can I Choose a Second/Alternative Major?

When filling out an application (or Common App supplement) for a given university, you are almost always asked to list your intended major and/or the school within a larger university where you intend to study.

Admissions officers will then evaluate you against other applicants to this particular academic program, with some majors being more competitive than others. However, some schools also give you the option to list a second, alternative major on your application. In these instances, if the school is unable to admit you to your stated first-choice major/college, they will then consider you for your alternative major. Knowing these school-specific policies is essential when formulating your admissions strategy.

In the list that follows, you will find the 2022-23 second/alternative major policies for 250 of the top colleges and universities in the United States. In the first column, you will see whether or not a given university allows you to select an alternate major, whether they consider you for admission into an alternate major, and whether or not the choice of major is very important—meaning that college with a “Yes” in this column weighs the choice of major heavily in their admissions decision-making process.

*A note regarding this table’s last column. It is likely that all institution’s consider a student’s choice of major or, at the very least, his/her indicated academic interests when making admission decisions. However, some institutions factor choice of major more heavily into the admissions process, These schools have a value of “Yes” in the final column.

Institution	Allows a second/alternate major (on application)	Considers students for an alternate major (if not admissible to first choice)	Is Choice of Major Very Important?
Agnes Scott College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
American University	Yes	No	Yes
Amherst College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Appalachian State University	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Arizona State University-Tempe	Yes	Yes	Yes
Auburn University	No	No
Babson College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Bard College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Barnard College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Bates College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Baylor University	Yes	Yes
Bentley University	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Binghamton University	No	No	Yes
Boston College	No	No	Yes
Boston University	No	No	Yes
Bowdoin College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Brandeis University	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Brigham Young University-Provo	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Brown University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Bryn Mawr College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Bucknell University	Yes	Yes (if alternate major indicated on application)	Yes
Yes	Admitted into institute, not major
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	Yes	Yes (if space is available within alternate major)	Yes
Carleton College	Yes	Yes
Carnegie Mellon University	Yes (Regular Decision)	Yes, but admission into second choice is rare	Yes
Case Western Reserve University	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Centre College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Chapman University	Yes	Yes
Claremont McKenna College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Clark University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Clarkson University	No	No
Clemson University	Yes	Yes (if alternate major indicated on application)	Yes
Colby College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Colgate University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
College of Charleston	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
College of the Holy Cross	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
College of William and Mary	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Colorado College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Colorado School of Mines	No
Colorado State University-Fort Collins	No	Yes (admitted applicants not eligible for major assigned to Exploratory Studies)
Columbia University in the City of New York	Yes (within their selected school)	Admitted into university rather than a particular major	Yes
Connecticut College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Cornell University	Yes (only Arts and Sciences)	Yes (only Arts and Sciences AND if space available)	Yes
Creighton University	No	No	Yes
Dartmouth College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Davidson College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Denison University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
DePauw University	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Dickinson College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Drexel University	Yes	Yes (if alternate major indicated on application)	Yes
Duke University	Yes	Admitted into school (Trinity or Pratt), not major
Elon University	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Emerson College	No	No	Yes
Emory University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Fairfield University	No	No
Florida State University	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Fordham University	No	No	Yes
Franklin and Marshall College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Franklin W Olin College of Engineering	No	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Furman University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
George Mason University	No	No
George Washington University	Yes	Yes
Georgetown University	No	No	Yes
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major	Yes
Gettysburg College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Gonzaga University	Yes	Yes	Yes
Grinnell College	No	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Hamilton College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Harvard University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Harvey Mudd College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Haverford College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Hobart William Smith Colleges	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Hofstra University	No	No
Howard University	Yes	Yes
Illinois Institute of Technology	Yes	Yes	Yes
Indiana University-Bloomington	No	Yes (admitted applicants not eligible for major assigned to University Division)	Yes
Iowa State University	No	No
Ithaca College	Yes	Yes	Yes
James Madison University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Johns Hopkins University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Juniata College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Kalamazoo College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Kansas State University	No	Yes (for pathway/pre-major program)
Kenyon College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Lafayette College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major	Yes
Lawrence University	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Lehigh University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Lewis & Clark College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Louisiana State University	Yes	Yes
Loyola Marymount University	Yes	Yes	Yes
Loyola University Maryland	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Macalester College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Marist College	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Marquette University	Yes	Yes	Yes
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Yes	Admitted into institute rather than a particular major
Miami University-Oxford	Yes	Yes (if alternate major indicated on application)
Michigan State University	No	Yes
Middlebury College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Mount Holyoke College	Yes	Admitted to college, not major
New College of Florida	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
New York University	Yes	Yes	Yes
North Carolina State University at Raleigh	Yes	Yes	Yes
Northeastern University	Yes (another subject in addition to their chosen major)	No	Yes
Northwestern University	No	No	Yes
Oberlin College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Occidental College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Ohio University-Main Campus	No	Yes	Yes
Oregon State University	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	No (but can request different major if denied)	No	Yes
Pepperdine University	No	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Pitzer College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Pomona College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Princeton University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Providence College	No	No	Yes
Purdue University-Main Campus	Yes	Yes	Yes
Quinnipiac University	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reed College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	No	No	Yes
Rhodes College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Rice University	Yes	No
Rochester Institute of Technology	Yes	Yes (if alternate major indicated on application)
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Rutgers University-New Brunswick	Yes	Yes (if alternate major indicated on application)	Yes
Saint Louis University	Yes	Yes	Yes
San Diego State University	No	No	Yes
Santa Clara University	No	No	Yes
Sarah Lawrence College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Scripps College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Seattle University	No	Yes (students not admitted into their major can be granted general admission)	Yes
The University of the South	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Skidmore College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Smith College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Southern Methodist University	Yes	Yes
Spelman College	No	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
St Lawrence University	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
St. Mary's College of Maryland	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
St Olaf College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Stanford University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Stevens Institute of Technology	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stony Brook University	No	No (but will be considered for admission into a pre-major program)	Yes
Swarthmore College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Syracuse University	Yes	Yes (if alternate major indicated on application)	Yes
Temple University	No	Yes (students not admitted into their desired major may be admitted as "undecided")	Yes
Texas A & M University-College Station	Yes	Yes	Yes
Texas Christian University	No	Yes (students not admitted into their desired major may be admitted as "undecided")
The College of New Jersey	Yes	Yes
The College of Wooster	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art	No	No	Yes
Ohio State University-Main Campus	No	If not admitted into major, considered for Exploration Program	Yes
The University of Texas at Austin	Yes	Yes (but only in rare cases)	Yes
Trinity College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Trinity University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Tufts University	Yes	Admitted into school (within university), not major
Tulane University of Louisiana	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Union College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
SUNY at Albany	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
University at Buffalo	Yes	Yes
The University of Alabama	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
University of Alabama at Birmingham	No	No
University of Arizona	No	Yes
University of Arkansas	No	No
University of California-Berkeley	No	No	Yes
University of California-Davis	Yes	Yes (but only in rare cases)	Yes
University of California-Irvine	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of California-Los Angeles	Yes	Yes (but only in rare cases)	Yes
University of California-Riverside	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of California-San Diego	Yes	Yes (but only in rare cases)	Yes
University of California-Santa Barbara	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of California-Santa Cruz	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of Central Florida	No	No	Yes
University of Chicago	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	Yes	Yes (if they indicate an alternate major on their app)	Yes
University of Colorado Boulder	No	Yes (for admission into Exploratory Studies)	Yes
University of Connecticut	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of Delaware	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of Denver	No	No	Yes
University of Florida	No	No	Yes
University of Georgia	No	No
University of Houston	Yes	Yes
University of Illinois at Chicago	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of Iowa	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of Kansas	No	Yes	Yes
University of Kentucky	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of Maryland-Baltimore County	Yes	Admitted to university rather than major
University of Maryland-College Park	Yes	Yes (for admission into Letters & Science)	Yes
University of Massachusetts-Amherst	Yes	Yes (if alternate major indicated on application)	Yes
University of Miami	Yes	Yes (if alternate major indicated on application)	Yes
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	No	No	Yes
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	Yes	Yes (if alternate major indicated on application)	Yes
University of Mississippi	No	Yes (for admission into Freshman Studies)
University of Missouri-Columbia	No	Admitted to university, not major
University of New Hampshire-Main Campus	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of North Carolina at Asheville	No	Admitted to university, not major
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Yes	Admitted to university, not major
University of Notre Dame	Mendoza only	Yes (Mendoza only)	Yes
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
University of Oregon	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
University of Pennsylvania	No	No	Yes
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus	No	No (If not admitted, applicant can ask to be reconsidered for different major.)	Yes
University of Rhode Island	No	Yes
University of Richmond	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
University of Rochester	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
University of San Diego	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
University of San Francisco	Yes (only Engineering and Nursing)	Yes (for students not admitted into Engineering or Nursing)
University of South Carolina-Columbia	Yes	Yes (if they indicate an alternate major on their app)	Yes
University of South Florida-Main Campus	No	Yes	Yes
University of Southern California	Yes	Yes	Yes
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	Yes	Yes	Yes
University of Utah	No	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
University of Vermont	Yes	No	Yes
University of Virginia-Main Campus	Yes (within their selected school)	Yes (within their selected school)	Yes
University of Washington-Seattle Campus	Yes	Yes (for second choice or admission into a pre-major)	Yes
University of Wisconsin-Madison	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vanderbilt University	Only for Blair (music) applicants	Only for Blair (music) applicants	Yes
Vassar College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Villanova University	No	No
Virginia Commonwealth University	No	Yes	Yes
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	No	No	Yes
Wake Forest University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Washington and Lee University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Washington State University	Yes	Admitted into university rather than a particular major
Washington University in St Louis	Yes (within chosen school)	Yes (only within chosen school)	Yes
Wellesley College	Yes	Admited to college, not major
Wesleyan University	Yes	Admited to college, not major
Whitman College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Willamette University	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Williams College	Yes	Admitted into college rather than a particular major
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	No	Admitted into institute, not major
Yale University	Yale	Admitted into university rather than a particular major

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