<p>Hello there! So, here is my "dilemma." I know that ultimately I am going to end up majoring in one or two of the following (computer science, economics, public policy, or psychology). My goal is to explore all these fields in my first year of college by taking classes in each of these subjects until I discover what I want to pursue in college.</p>
<p>Thus, I want to apply to schools that are very good in all of these fields. I have good stats and scores (I believe good enough for some of the top schools in the country). </p>
<p>What schools do you believe are good fits for me where I could receive a great undergraduate education in any of these majors?</p>
<p>For example, Duke seems to fit the bill in economics and public policy but not in psychology and computer science. Or maybe I am mistaken and all of these are amazing at duke? :)</p>
<p>One other school that comes to mind is UC Berkeley (I would be out of state), but I heard that it's only beneficial to go there if you know exactly what you want to do going in. Is that true? What schools would allow me to explore these interests freely (besides a liberal arts school)?</p>
<p>Thanks you so much in advance for your help!</p>
<p>Duke would allow you to pursue these interests most freely since its curriculum is extremely flexible and you can change majors almost on a whim even as a junior. You can definitely take a healthy smattering of courses in all of these departments and all of these subjects are areas where Duke excels in.</p>
<p>Berkeley is probably the best school in the world in terms of departmental strength so its excellent in all of these areas but public schools tend to be far more inflexible towards changing majors, have larger class sizes, worse advising, and worse financial aid at the undergraduate level. You will be treated as a mere number amongst the thousands of Berkeley student body instead of a recognizable figure at Duke where they pour all their attention into undergraduate education.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of anyone outside the state of California selecting UC Berkeley over Duke at the undergraduate level. Just putting that out there…</p>
<p>OP: if you have time (ie you are still in high school) and you have a little cash, it may be worth it to take a few courses at your local state university or community college. Most of them offer at least the intro courses during vacation sessions (summer/winter) and the lower level intro courses are usually open to HS students (you’ll probably sign up as a continuing education student). You probably don’t even need to pay all that much if you sign up to just audit the course (a lot less pressure too). I know I took a very good compsci course summer after soph year of HS at my local uni and it was pretty fun. </p>
<p>This way you can explore your potential interests before you get to college and have a better idea where you want to go as well when decision time comes.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice guys! What have you heard about UPenn? Have you heard that it is cut-throat? Also, what other schools with good prestige like Duke and Penn would you recommend because they are good in these areas?</p>
<p>I can’t think of any besides Duke that offer Public Policy at the undergraduate level without restrictions that are also good in the other three areas you listed to be honest.</p>
<p>Perhaps University of Chicago? You’d just have to put up with their stringent core. But I know their econ department is among the best of the best and the poli sci, CS, pub pol departments are up there as well.</p>