Choosing a BA thesis topic

College Life
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<p>I'm an English student junior in a thesis research program at the University of Texas. I'm having trouble picking a topic. At first, I planned on writing my thesis over Fyodor Dostoevsky's critique of western atheism, but then I learned from a graduate adviser that English graduate schools are looking for people who wish to specialize in British or American Literature. He told me that if I was wishing to go to graduate school for philosophy, that writing my paper over Dostoevsky would be of more help. </p>

<p>So I have a couple questions:</p>

<p>Should I change my major to philosophy? I like English and am mostly interested in existential literature, especially Dostoevsky. I wouldn't mind earning my bachelors degree in English, but will this hurt my chances of getting into a philosophy graduate program? If I major in English, I will minor in philosophy, but I don't know if this will be enough. Another option would be to continue on the track of English major and write my thesis on Henry David Thoreau instead. The only problem here is that I'd like to focus on existential literature in graduate school rather than American literature. </p>

<p>Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, I had trouble choosing an appropriate location.</p>

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<p>If Dostoevsky is your passion - and what you want to study in grad school - then you would do yourself a disservice to spend all those hours on something else. Your professor no doubt means well, but you need to be true to your own intellectual development - and who knows? Grad schools may be relieved to find an applicant with the courage and interest to buck the trend.</p>