NO. We do not use your intended major (or lack thereof) in the decision about admission to the University. Please keep reading ...
We always recommend that freshman applicants list an intended major on the application. It helps us connect applicants with information, events, and people in their intended major. Three more points to keep in mind:
- When do I choose a major? At the UW, students are not required to select a major until the junior year. That means time and flexibility, although some majors take more preparation than others. Relax -- you'll hear lots more about this at Advising and Orientation in the summer before school begins.
- But what about business and engineering?It's called Freshman Direct. A handful of majors -- business, computer science, a couple of engineering departments -- accept a small number of students as freshmen. These departments make their decisions after the Office of Admissions has admitted freshmen to the University. That's why Freshman Direct applicants are often notified later than other applicants -- and then mistakenly conclude that their choice of major affected their admission to the UW. Not so: it only held up the notification process.
- Second chances. Departments with Freshman Direct admission programs provide a second application cycle, usually takes place at the end of the sophomore year, when they accept most of their students.
