Double Major? Economics and Philosophy

<p>Hey, I was just wondering if any Yalies could tell me how good the econ and philosophy departments are at Yale. I know they must be pretty good - Yale is an excellent school, but I just wanted to hear complaints or compliments you have about those two departments and also, if double majoring is managable at Yale. Do a lot of people double major or is double majoring not encouraged. Thanks.</p>

<p>I know a few Econ and Philosophy majors. They are all very content with the program.</p>

<p>In response to the probable posts concerning: Harvard, Stanford, every other school has a better program: Yes, there are schools with higher ranked programs in those areas. Yale is still strong, and it offers an undergraduate experience from school X, Y, and Z. Not necessarily better, but better for some people.</p>

<p>Double majoring is really kind of a pain. Most people don't do it, but it is possible. Econ is actually one of the majors that people commonly use as one of their two majors, so it would be quite possible.</p>

<p>In terms of specifics, there are some very interesting and unique Philosophy courses and seminars. Lots of creative themes...take a look at this past year's course listings.</p>

<p>Entropic, is double majoring in Political Science and Sociology possible? It seems there might be some overlap. Thoughts?</p>

<p>Double majoring in most fields is possible, especially if they're non-Group IV. Well, the Groups don't apply to the Classes of 2009+, but anything other than hard science or math-based fields should not be too terribly difficult to double major in. Sociology and Political Science sounds very reasonable. </p>

<p>I don't know if I'm really in favor of double majoring, though it is certainly for some people. Just as Yale is opposed to offering minors, since it is likely that everyone would feel obliged to take one on considering the ambition of the student body, it also does not really encourage double majoring. Not that it discourages it either, but it's not as easy as at other colleges, and it limits the amount of academic exploration you can do. It's probably best not to have your mind set of any strict path...so many change majors, aims, etc., it's best to stay open.</p>

<p>Even though you may be interested in double majoring in two related subjects, Yale does not let you apply more than two courses to both majors.</p>

<p>What about if you also knew that you wanted to be able to take chinese and become somewhat fluent? Would double majoring and learning chinese on top of your two majors be way too much? Also, how many people from yale do study abroad during their junior year?</p>

<p>It's possible...though to become fluent you would need at least 3 year-long or intensive Chinese courses, which would take up a good chunk of your schedule. Why is double majoring so important? Why not enjoy your experience, major in a single topic, learn Chinese, and take the courses you want to take in the field you were considering double majoring in? Your life will be a lot less stressful, and it probably will have little affect on your post-graduate career.</p>

<p>Yale is not a school that pushes for study abroad during the year. There are lots of programs, and the recent Summer Abroad initiative makes it very possible for anyone who wishes to work/study abroad for a summer, but really, going abroad during the year isn't hugely popular. A lot of people I know decided against because they didn't want to give up on of their semesters at Yale, since they were as unique and special as any abroad experience could be. Perhaps less corny than that, but in the same vein of reasoning...</p>

<p>check out this very popular, but somewhat competetive major at yale:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.yale.edu/epe/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yale.edu/epe/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Yale does NOT allow triple-majoring, though, I thought?</p>

<p>[EDIT:] The EP&E major looks great if you want to be the master of the American government-economy :/</p>

<p>there is no triple major. EPE is a single, integrated, major.</p>

<p>Techy101: I'm currently planning on taking at least four years' worth of Chinese plus majoring in Econ and East Asian Studies. While in this particular instance Chinese would be applicable to my major (it would be six credits' worth), you can still double major and become fluent. You just wouldn't have any room to take any electives beyond those for your distributional requirements.</p>

<p>That's the thing - I figured that I could theoretically do all three but, if I did, I'd never be able to take a class outside of those three. That's definitely not what I want - I want to also be able to take a class just because it sounds interesting. So I guess that's my problem. Maybe I should just major in econ and take a lot of philosophy and chinese classes. I dont know...</p>