<p>I've been considering PPE as a potential path. I know that it's changed a lot to become a more legitimate major and not just a "triple" minor. I was wondering if anyone on here is part of the new PPE system, or atleast knows someone who is, and has any thoughts to share. Anything would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Wow, I guess PPE isn’t that popular…</p>
<p>I was going to do the PPE major until I realized that PSCI is a much better fit for me. PPE is an extremely popular major, but it is much more popular among freshmen than among upper classmen. Before you can declare the major, you need to take a “rigorous reasoning” pre-requirement, which could be a calculus course, statistics course, logic course or a few other options. There are seven “common foundations” which all majors are required to take. It is basically two courses in each of the three disciplines included in PPE as well as a psychology course (PSYC153). Though you have some flexibility, you MUST take PHIL008 (The Social Contract), ECON001 and ECON002 (Intro Micro and Macro Economics). You are then required to take four PPE Core courses, which are PPE201 (Strategic Reasoning), PPE202 (Public Policy Process), PPE203 (Behavioral Economics and Psychology) and PPE204 (Philosophy of Social Science). All majors also have to take four courses toward a thematic concentration (there are several options), and finally all majors must take a capstone seminar senior year. </p>
<p>The major is 16 courses and is one of the more difficult majors to complete, since it requires proficiency in four separate disciplines (Political Science, Philosophy, Psychology and Economics). These changes actually made a lot of people shy away from PPE, since it is very much its own major and has more intense requirements than most other programs at Penn.</p>
<p>If you find that you are going to do the PPE major, it is common to also pursue a minor in one of the three disciplines (you can double count four courses if you are pursuing a minor in a PPE discipline).</p>
<p>I can tell you from personal experience that the intro courses are all very interesting. For example, PHIL002, which is a foundations course, was probably my second favorite course at Penn; plus, anyone studying the social sciences should take ECON001 and ECON002 since economics plays a role in everything! If you are willing to put in the effort over the course of four years, I’d say go for it, but if you find yourself drawn toward courses in one of the disciplines and away from courses in the other two, I would highly highly suggest pursuing a major in that particular discipline; you will enjoy yourself more in college, and you will get more out of your education if you enjoy your courses!</p>
<p>Wow thanks Chris. I heard it’s very much a Pre-law major. Is that true? Because personally I don’t intend to go into law.</p>
<p>And if i have Econ 1 and 2 waivers due to AP’s, then do I have to take other Econ courses?</p>
<p>Also, while you said it’s a major that is difficult, are the intro classes difficult? While a silly reason, I want to try to apply for an internal transfer to get a dual degree with Wharton. Would I be hardpressed to have a 3.8 GPA after Frosh year as a PPE major?</p>
<p>My sister who goes to Penn told me that she knows someone in PPE who rarely studies and has around a 4.0. She seemed to think that PPE was just as easy as most other social sciences/humanities majors are grade-wise.</p>
<p>Now or a couple years ago? Because I know PPE used to be a joke but it seems to have changed as of late.</p>
<p>^That was last year.</p>
<p>Oh interesting. Thanks. Anyone else?</p>
<p>Anyone else?</p>
<p>I was on track to do the PPE major entering sophomore year after taking PHIL002, ECON001, ECON002, PSCI110 and MATH114. My GPA in the first four of those classes was reasonable, but the other courses that I took freshman year really kinda screwed the GPA (made it a 3.0ish).</p>
<p>Intro courses for PPE generally coincide with the intro courses for every social sciences major, so they are no more difficult than the courses of anyone else who has similar interests.</p>
<p>With regard to AP Econ, I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. Intuitively I would think that you would be able to skip the two intro Econ courses at Penn, but you would need to take two other Econ courses in order to fulfill the requirements of that discipline within PPE, but I just don’t know!</p>
<p>With regard to pre-law, yes, PPE is a great major if you are thinking of law school, but it is also a great major if you want to go into business. You would likely have the background for finance, consulting, management and marketing positions in the business world. PPE gives you an academic introduction to the economy and business practices/principles; you develop an understanding of game theory through higher level ECON courses; you will understand how government interacts with business through your PSCI courses, and you will develop an analytical mind through your PHIL courses. Consulting is one of the more popular career paths of PPE majors, and with good reason.</p>
<p>Thank you so much Chris. This really seems perfect for me. I can’t wait to see how everything plays out.</p>
<p>Were those classes you listed the required classes for a Freshman considering PPE? Because I was intending to take MATH114 as a Sophomore (assuming I get a 5 on Calc BC) and taking an easier set of courses Freshman year to ease my way in. Would that be a bad idea?</p>
<p>No classes are required for freshmen considering PPE. You only need to complete the rigorous reasoning prerequirement by the time you declare the major. From there, it is highly advised to complete the 7 common foundations courses by the end of sophomore year, but it isn’t REQUIRED. </p>
<p>Your idea isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but that depends on how you like math. Personally, I would not wait until sophomore year to do MATH114. Getting MATH114 out of the way freshman year (whichever semester) frees you to take higher level ECON courses, which could be a determining factor for whether you want to declare PPE or another major sophomore year. </p>
<p>As for other freshman courses, I’d really suggest just taking some random assortment of courses first semester (perhaps MATH114, a language course, if necessary, a writing seminar and one random course). Depending on what you liked, choose your courses for second semester. For example, if you liked your random course, take another in that department; definitely take a course in one of the PPE disciplines.</p>
<p>If you are curious, my courses the first two years were as follows:</p>
<p>Fall, 2007
PHIL002 (Ethics) – Political Theory Concentration of PSCI Major
ECON001 (Intro to Micro) – Society Sector
LATN101 (Intro to Latin… don’t ask… I was a stupid freshman)
ENGL009 (Writing seminar) – Writing requirement</p>
<p>Spring, 2008
GRMN102 (Elementary German II)
MATH114 (Calculus II) – Formal Reasoning
ECON002 (Intro to Macro) – PSCI major
PSCI110 (Comparative Politics) – PSCI major core
ASTR001 (Survey of the Universe) – Physical World Sector AND Quantitative Data Analysis</p>
<p>Fall, 2008
GRMN103 (Intermediate German I)
PSCI183 (American Political Thought) – Political Theory Concentration AND History & Tradition Sector
PSCI198 (Analysis of Presidential Elections) – PSCI Major
LGST210 (Business Ethics) – Elective
RELS125 (Intro to the Bible) – Cross Cultural Analysis AND Arts & Letters Sector</p>
<p>Spring, 2009
GRMN104 (Intermediate German II) – Foreign Language requirement
PSCI181 (Modern Political Thought) – Political Theory concentration
PSCI298 (Conservative Regimes) – Political Theory concentration
PSCI201 (Politics, Society and Social Science) – PSCI Major
LGST101 (Intro to Law and Legal Process) – elective
LGST820 (International Business Ethics) – elective</p>
<p>Feel free to cross reference these courses with what is on the PPE website</p>
<p>Wow thanks so much. Incredibly helpful! Final question I promise 
Since you mentioned the language requirement, if I don’t take an SATII test for a language, can I still take one of Penn’s own placement tests to exempt me? And if so, are they known to be harder or on par with SAT II’s? Basically, I’m wondering if it’s worth it for me to take the Hebrew SAT II now (which I’d hate to do. I promised myself no more SATs). And if I do get an exemption, is that a total exemption from the language requirement, or just for a semester?</p>
<p>Each department has its own criteria, but basically the goal is that every student will have foreign language proficiency before he/she graduates. That means that the SATII is rated on a scale; if you score in a certain range, you get placed into a class based on your score; while you are permitted to enroll in a higher or lower level class, it is advised that you take the class you are placed into. If you score above a certain level, you can test out of the language requirement altogether, and if you get a 5 on a language AP test, you will fulfill the language requirement AND get a credit applied to your transcript as an elective; you will not get this credit using the SAT if I am not mistaken.</p>
<p>As for how hard of a test it is, that is irrelevant. If you are proficient in Hebrew, you are proficient in Hebrew; your level will manifest itself via whatever method you decide to use.</p>
<p>I guess so, though I heard the Hebrew SAT II was particularly easy. So I’ll just take a language proficiency test when I get to Penn then. Thanks!</p>