I plan on becoming a historian, possibly an archivist or working in a think tank if I can’t get a research job. Well, there’s a college in Maryland I like. The all mighty college calculators say that I have a realistic chance to get in. Well, there’s a problem… The school doesn’t offer a program in ancient history. I have two ideas, though I’m partial to the second one. I either want to major, or I want to major in philosophy. I feel like I could do more with the philosophy major, because it, IN A WAY, gets into a person’s way of thinking. I feel like that’s an important part of history, and that it’s something people don’t take into account. I’m sorry if I sounded crazy.
My question is; Does my philosophy idea at least sound like an okay idea?
Yes, it sounds like a reasonable alternative. Please note that you are likely to need a graduate degree to work in any of those field. So you can always obtain your graduate degree in history. Working as an archivists is a completely different thing than being a historian. Other options that might get you to the same place might be a degree in the classics, museum studies, historic preservation, international studies, plain old history, archeology, anthropology.
How much can your parents pay per year without borrowing? Public schools don’t generally offer a lot of aid to OOS students. Do any West Virginia schools offer the major you want. Run the Net Price Calculator for each school you’re interested in to see if it’s affordable.
Please don’t go to a school if it doesn’t have the major you want to do. The school can be important, and if you really do want to major in philosophy that’s great, but if you were set in majoring in history or ancient history and they don’t have that option then don’t go there.
^^^ While true, there are many schools that have similar majors or topics like anthropology or archaeology that could also fit OP’s interests. More specific majors often come in concentrations at the more graduate school level.
If you want to be a historian, then you need to major in history in undergrad - because you’ll need a PhD in history, and in order to do that you need basically the equivalent of a bachelor’s in history as a foundation. A philosophy major won’t help you get there. It’s a different approach and theoretical framework.
However, if you are interested in ancient history, you don’t have to major in ancient history in college. A regular history major is fine. You specialize in graduate school; in undergrad, you just need a well-rounded foundation in the field. So if they have a history major, you can absolutely go there and major in history.
Would you mind sharing what college in Maryland it is?