Do extracurriculars have to align with your intended major?Answered
Hi! I’m currently a high school junior (first-gen Nigerian, female) and I’m interested in applying to some competitive colleges (35 ACT/4.0 UW GPA). My extracurriculars that I’m most passionate about are strongly related to student government.For example, I’ve been on my school’s student council executive board since freshman year, I’ve served on my state’s association of student councils board for the past two years, was elected state president this year, and I have a website for sharing student council ideas. I plan on majoring in economics, but my activities seem more like I’d be majoring in Government. I know these fields are related, so should I keep my intended major as economics despite this disconnect? Thanks!
Earn karma by helping others:
2 answers
Hi there! Congratulations on your excellent scores and overall success so far! This is quite a common question, and even though I'm a freshman, I definitely have wondered about this as well. To answer your question, I think colleges want to see that you were a leader or successful in your activities versus that the activities are what you want to major in. And it sounds like you have been very successful in governmental extracurriculars, so definitely keep pursuing those if you are interested in them.
I definitely think that you should keep your intended major as economics if that is what interests you. As I stated earlier, colleges take into account your achievements in your extracurriculars, not as much if they are focused on one target topic. I will confess though that I've been kind of freaking out lately about my extracurriculars, as they aren't focused AT ALL on my desired career path. But it definitely sounds like you've achieved highly in your activities, and you definitely have the stats to back you up!
Good luck with everything!!
Hi! Private colleges don't typically consider major, unless you are applying for a highly competitive major or school (e.g. Penn Wharton). Since you have the ability to decide your major at most privates until the end of your sophomore year, they don't typically take this into account.
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!
Thank you so much!