<p>I'm facing a quandry of sorts in terms of not only deciding what schools to apply to next year (I'm a confused junior), but also in terms of what career path I'll follow. I'm very interested in the sciences/math, and a large amount of my activities (I'd rather not list everything/brag) fall under this category. On the other hand, politics and debate are another passion. I'm a fairly successful, nationally ranked debater, and I'm on my state Youth in Government leadership board. I'm even part of our yearly delegation to the national conference. I also loving studying and learning about Politics, Current Events, Economics, etc. I love both 'fields', and really don't know if I want to pursue engineering/medicine, or law.</p>
<p>Which sorts of colleges would allow me to pursue an education in both of these fields (BME and Poli. Sci. double majors, atm) ? My top choice is currently Yale, based on what I've researched and heard from friends. Stanford is also under consideration. What are some more match and reach schools that would allow me to major in both, with strong grad. school placement (preferably) ?</p>
<p>Objective Stats for reference:
SAT: 2350 projected
PSAT: 231
APs/IBs: 4 5s after sophomore year, 12 total. 6 IB tests to be taken this year and next.
Class Rank: 4/230</p>
<p>The Political Science and Engineering double major is generally possible at most universities, including:</p>
<p>Duke University
Johns Hopkins University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Rice University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
Washington University-St Louis</p>
<p>you’ll have more success if you consider an engineering major and poli-sci minor. For that matter, even if you can’t get an official “minor” you can still take plenty of poli-sci classes at many schools outside of your required engineering classes. If you feel the need for a credential such as a major (or minor) your choices are going to be much more limited than if you’d be satisfied taking poli sci classes and getting the experience if not the credential.</p>
Not a good idea unless you enjoy the thought of spending time in college. As a math major, its still going to take you 2 (maybe 3) years in grad school to get thru the undergrad engineering courses you missed taking as a math major. 2-3 extra years of college is expensive, then you’ll be there another 1-2 years for your MS.</p>
<p>If you want to be an engineer, you need to major in it as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great suggestions! I want to keep my options REALLY open, so I was thinking:</p>
<p>Bio-medical engineering (Engineering or Med school) and then Poli. Sci. (Law), which allows each career path to stay open. But I think I would be pretty satisfied doing what you suggested, mikemac, in just taking a few courses for interest purposes.</p>
<p>Another concern I had was with what a friend at MIT told me. He said that engineering majors end up not doing well in terms of Med school placement and have to work much harder than Pre-Med kids in terms of keeping their GPAs up. I personally don’t see a point in Pre-Med, just b/c it’s impossible to get a job or anything like that with just a ‘Pre-med degree’. Is that true? I wouldn’t mind the work and whatnot, but I don’t want to hurt my chances at grad. school just based on a major.</p>
<p>Is there a particular reason behind why guys advise sticking with a single major? I figure that if I’m putting in the work, I may as well get both majors, if that makes sense.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in engineering, I would pursue that as an undergrad and look at poli sci or econ as a minor or double degree program. If you decide you don’t like engineering, it is easier to switch out of it than it is to switch into it. As far as law school is concerned, it doesn’t matter what your undergraduate degree is in and the engineering background is good if your interest is in patents. Medical school is similar but you will need to have certain math and science prerequisites which are often overlapping with engineering requirements. You also pick up math as part of the engineering curriculum.</p>
<p>The schools mentioned by Alexandre are all excellent choices. I would classify all of them as reach or match schools depending on how your junior year goes. If you add a safety to the list, you could go on from there.</p>
<p>Another possibility is to look at a 3/2 program with a LAC and an engineering program. This would allow you to study poli sci, econ and math before engine school but would take an extra year.</p>