If a major at a college are filled to capacity, with more students wanting to get into the major, what is preferable for the college to do?
Common examples of such majors are nursing, engineering (usually at popular state flagships), computer science, and business, but could also include other majors (including some popular liberal arts majors).
A. Have frosh/transfer applicants apply specifically to the major, with higher admission standards than the school overall. What space that becomes available due to subsequent attrition can be offered to major-changers through a competitive secondary admission process. (Some schools offer applicants rejected from the major admission in a second choice major or undeclared, while others reject entirely if not admitted from the major.)
B. Have frosh/transfer applicants apply to general admission or pre-major status, admitting more interested students than the major can hold, but weed some of them out of the major by requiring a high college GPA or competitive secondary admission process later.
C. Combination of A and B, where some space in the major are filled by admission to the major, but other space (beyond the space that becomes available by attrition) are available for students admitted to general admission or pre-major status to compete for.
(Some schools may use different methods for frosh versus transfer applicants.)
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