<p>A lot of history, politics, and psychology -- how does that help an engineer?</p>
<p>I'm not arguing that writing isn't important for an engineer. Expository writing skills are great for engineers, and for pretty much any job. However, a lot of this literature and philosophy, which Zninjazero was talking about, seems useless for the real world.</p>
<p>Someone noted that,"Liberal arts majors get better jobs." I would like to see statistics on this because,from what I have experienced, this is NOT true. In fact, engineering majors, science majors, computer science and accounting majors get the highest paid starting jobs based on MSN statistics that I have seen. However, folks that lack strong liberal arts skills such as writing and oral skills, won't usually get promoted from those jobs, in my opinion, unless they are extraordinary in their skills.</p>
<p>Well, first off, I'm sorry I forgot to put the "a" in the end of relevant. I must suck at life because I made a typo. </p>
<p>Anyways, the general vibe I'm getting from this is that I'll probably have to do a lot of writing, but I can get around having to read a lot of literature? That's basically the point I wanted to get at. I don't like being graded on a paper where I'm forced to analyze something I don't believe exists in a fiction book I don't like. </p>
<p>History and economics and the like I've found writing papers a lot easier and less strenuous.</p>
<p>Zninjazero, (Taxguy sighs): It's not whether you know how to analyze an book from an English professor's point of view that is important,but it is the skill set that accompanies that analysis. Being able to critically read well, being able to write very well with clarity and having few grammatical mistakes, is what you should strive for. Also, it is vital to develop strong oral communcation skills because of the necessity in every business to make oral presentations.</p>
<p>without the ability to analyze literature, you can't really learn how to analyze anything- it's an important skill for any job</p>
<p>You can always choose a school without core curriculum requirements. But I'd encourage you to dabble a bit in the liberal arts-- ask around for the incredible calsses/profs and take a few outside your comfort zone. i was the reverse of you but I took a few economics, science, etc. just for balance.</p>
<p>LIBERAL ARTS DOES NOT CONSIST OF READING FICTION (for the most part).</p>
<p>While you'll have to take English classes, liberal arts just means a rounded education, in disciplines like history and philosophy--no fiction there.</p>
<p>The only problem with choosing a school without core requirements is that many of them are, in fact, liberal arts schools. </p>
<p>I've heard U of Rochester has basically no core and is pretty science-oriented, so you could check that out.</p>
<p>Even if schools do have cores, they're usually in a large area, like humanities, and you can avoid taking lit courses if you want. </p>
<p>I'm not even going to get into whether or not literature is important. I know science is important, yet I think when I go to college I may never take lab science again. It's our lives.</p>
<p>I think a good first step would be to actually research what a liberal arts education means.</p>
<p>For example, science and math courses are a key part of a liberal arts education. In fact, most schools offering a liberal arts curriculum require science/math courses to graduate.</p>
<p>Don't make assumptions about what a liberal arts curriculum is just because you recognize two words "liberal" and "arts" in other contexts.</p>
<p>Essentially, a liberal arts curriculum is one that teaches a broad survey of courses from math/hard science, social science, and humanities. The distinction is that a "liberal arts education" is very different from a vocational training school.</p>
<p>The Op is clueless, don't bother</p>
<p><em>Dies laughing</em> </p>
<p>Have you ever tried to carry on a conversation with a business/engineer/applied math type who couldn't talk about anything BUT business/engineering/applied math? I have, and it ain't pretty.</p>
<p>it's like talking to the people at my school in band- it's all they can talk about and nothing else, like their own secret band langauge</p>
<p>rofl...secret band language!</p>
<p>Yes lilybloom I have. Thanks for asking. I know several liberal arts majors and several science/business majors and I would say I would rather talk about a newly developed medicine rather than Wagner or Kant. But that's just me.</p>
<p>But the point is that liberal arts majors can talk about ANYTHING. Including science or maths (as many LAs are forced to take).</p>
<p>Okay, the reality is that people who go into Liberal Arts majors quite often have no idea what they want to do with their lives; they might even be classified as LOSERS. </p>
<p>Which is why they're cool. People who decided what they wanted to do when they were EIGHT are not interesting.</p>
<p>And you're welcome, UC_BENZ. I live to serve.</p>
<p>"The truth is even at MIT you will not be able to avoid taking liberal arts classes"</p>
<p>That's true...but at least MIT is good at the things that really count. The arts schools emphasize poetry and womens-lib classes waaaay too much.</p>
<p>It's incredible how narrow-minded some engineering types are.</p>