<p>So for a while now, I've been set on double majoring in International Relations and Economics. I'm excited by the idea of working with people while influencing policy decisions on both a national and international scale. As an anxious frosh, I've allowed a lot of hearsay regarding Economics to clout my plans and as a 'fuzzy,' I'm not sure if it's right for me. I would prefer not to get my feet any wetter in calc courses besides satisfying the math requirement and I've heard that Economics courses weigh down heavily on GPAs. I'm not necessarily projecting my future with my GPA or anything, it's just that I don't like the thought of having to take Math 51 to fulfill a requirement for an Economics major. Therefore, I've decided to drop Econ altogether. </p>
<p>I was recently told that I would have to take Math 51 regardless if I were to major in International Relations because of its Economics facet (I'm oblivious as to whether or not that's true ... is it?). So now, I'm in a dillemma as to what to do. I know that I want to double major and I wanted to take Chinese (with no prior experience... now reconsidering because of the potential amount of time it may take, as well as the infamous rigor). Ideally, I would like to be somewhere within the IR/Poli Sci/PR/Public Policy spectrum (career speaking). Recently, I've been taking a look into Communications and Poli Sci with a concentration in International Relations as a potential double major. Would that combination serve me well when it comes time to apply to grad school or getting a job within my field? I know that my career prospectives are incredibly broad, as I'm not exactly sure as to what I want to do. But I'd like to have a range of options to choose from so I figured Poli Sci and Communications would offer that opportunity. Are there any suggestions as to what other double major combinations would open up a wide array of career opportunities within my field?</p>
<p>if you are interested in IR, personally i think IR major and IR concentration are quite different. you take several similar courses, but the IR program is excellent and very unique. there are a lot of people who double major in IR/Econ, and i think it is a good combination for what you seem to want.</p>
<p>also, if you want to take chinese as your language to test for proficiency, it is apparently one of the most difficult languages at stanford, and proficiency in chinese would take longer than most european languages. but with that said, the program is very highly regarded by people i have spoken to, and they say it is well worth the extra effort</p>
<p>you think so? I’m really terrified about calc though (bad experience). I guess I’ll throw myself in it and see what happens. Hopefully, my GPA won’t die.</p>
<p>justadream, I wouldn’t let a worry about one required course have that much impact on your major/career plans. There will be tutors available to assist with calculus (and many other courses), and if you put in the effort, you’ll conquer it. Then you won’t find your academic options constrained. In the meantime, maybe try to put the prior bad experience with the material behind you, and prepare to start fresh. : ) If you want to do a little preparation with the concepts before school starts, have a look at the calc lessons here: [Khan</a> Academy](<a href=“http://www.khanacademy.org/]Khan”>http://www.khanacademy.org/)</p>
<p>^My pleasure. You’ll see on that website that there’s also a full range of precalc topics, if you want to review those first. (Almost always, struggling with calc is the result of a shaky foundation in the precalc topics.) In particular, you might want to make sure you have a good grasp of the concept of a limit, which is introduced in the precalc section, before you view the calc videos. Good luck! You can do it! : )</p>
<p>I agree w/ the above post; it’s great advice. Don’t let one intro class derail your dreams! You’ll probably have to take a couple classes you don’t enjoy for any major so you’ll just have to suck it up. I’d suggest taking 51 winter quarter (just definitely not fall) if you struggle with math though, and take advantage of the SUMO and other tutoring as well as office hours. Also, assuming you just have to take 51 and not the Math 20/40/rest of 50 series, you may or may not be happy to know that the calculus in 51 is not THAT bad (imo). The class is heavily linear algebra based so it barely even matters how good at calc you are. It’s mostly new material. One class won’t kill your gpa. It’ll probably be hard but I think you’ll be fine!</p>
<p>Thanks for your input guys! I got a 3 on Calc AB (yeah, not too hawt) so I was wondering if you would recommend the 40 series or the 20, considering my feelings towards math in general. As of now, I’m taking the Beyond Survival IHUM, a language (debating between Spanish-pretty good at and Chinese-beginner) and an intro-sem (hopefully). I feel like I should add on math but I’m not sure which series. Also, which series would you recommend for someone who has taken pre-calc and performed well with the course in high school? In other words, is it possible for someone from pre-calc to go straight into the 40 series?</p>
<p>Precalc->40s is very doable if you put in time. BUT if you really don’t like math and have the time, take the 20 series. Although if I were you, I’d go straight to 40s since you’ve already taken AP calc, even if you didn’t so amazingly on the test. But I’m not averse to math so I don’t know- you have to decide how comfortable you are with calc. I recommend shopping both classes the first 3 wks of school. [I think the 20s–>51 would be fine though.] With that, you’re looking at ~15-17 units which is okay to quite a lot for fall freshman year but I think it’s doable. Math 19 shouldn’t be too bad. The math 41 professor for this fall though is amazing (imo). Ihum is ihum, and I’ve hear beyond survival is good. Spanish will probably be easy but Chinese will be hard. And intro sems are amazing (and usually pretty easy) so I’d definitely take one if possible. So you’re looking at: moderate & time consuming (math), easy not time consuming (introsem), ihum (what you’re willing to put in), easy/hard & time consuming (language). Imo, that sounds okay.</p>
<p>You most certainly do not need to take 51 for an IR major. You don’t have to do any math besides stats 60 (super super super super easy) unless you so choose.</p>
<p>Wow, that’s great news haha. I thought there was no escaping it because someone told me they had to take it as a requirement for IR, but I’m siding with you veggie. Thanks for letting me know and thank you earthwise!</p>
<p>First off, don’t focus on the double major. Stanford is very big on letting people do minors (almost all are limited to 6 classes each for a reason). Double majors are rarely worth it, and you spend too much time knocking out requirements.</p>
<p>I’m technically a polisci major with a concentration in IR, but if I put all my classes down for IR, I’d be done with the IR major. You end up taking a lot of the similar classes. Doing IR or polisci is frankly semantics. The classes you take in IR can all count for polisci with an IR concentration. The difference is IR’s mandatory low level econ/language/study abroad requirements. But many people in polisci concentrating in IR end up doing all those things.</p>
<p>And when you say “your field” I wouldn’t worry about that yet. You may think polisci is “your field”, but you haven’t taken any of the classes yet, and you will only be getting an academic exposure to what is broadly “political science”. So just sit back, make some good contacts in polisci and IR (they share many of the same professors), and worry about all this majoring business later.</p>