Easy Majors

<p>What are some of the easier majors at MIT? If any? Someone has told me that Managment is such a major. Anyone have thoughts?</p>

<p>Management, from what I've heard from past students, is the major you pick if none of the others seem to match you. And yeah, it's easier, supposedly.</p>

<p>Yes, Management is considered the easiest major, and some people double major with engineering, math, or science combined with management. I'm not sure of any others. I know that you could consider most all of the engineering, science, math majors "hard" (well, maybe not so much math, I have heard that it really isn't all that hard). I do know that course 10 (chemical engineering) is supposed to be killer, but that is all I really know.</p>

<p>Any thoughts on Political Science?</p>

<p>i was interested in double majoring with economics and one of the engineering majors (not sure which one, but probably something like aerospace/aeronautical). how rough does that get?</p>

<p>Oh goodness... aerospace/aeronautical will keep you busy enough........</p>

<p>I want to do both Computer Science and Brain and Cognitive Science, but mostly Brain and Cognitive Science, in case I can't handle dueling it</p>

<p>haha thanks pebbles, gonna be some tough decisions to be made</p>

<p>u mean dualing it? ;)</p>

<p>Yeah, pebbles is right, aero/astro, and just about any major besides management will keep you busy enough. Also, you will probably drop from a little free time with just one major two absolutely no free time if you double. Remember that many people come in thinking they are going to double major, but most of them end up dropping back to just one.
I also wonder, really why would you want to double major? Sure it is great learning about different things, but why major in the extra field instead of just taking a few classes? It really won't help you that much, unless your extra major is management or econ and/or one of your majors is math. Just curious :)</p>

<p>yeah i dunno, economics has just really got my attention this year, but i know that math and sciences are my passion. the only thing is i really have no clue what field i want to focus on within the math and science realm. Thats probably the only reason im having those double major thoughts. I am sure things will become clear after some time at MIT. haha everything seems like it would be awesome to study. any insight you could provide?</p>

<p>lol, I definitely understand what you mean when you say "everything seems like it would be awesome to study." There are so many interesting things you could learn here! I'm afraid I don't have that much insight for you, other than that I understand and that I know other people (including my roommate) are in the exact same situation as you. Don't worry about it though, once you get here you can look around, take a few intro classes in some subjects, and figure out what you would like to major in. I recommend trying to settle on just one, but if you think you can pull a double major, then the more power to ya! :)</p>

<p>haha thanks. i guess its going to depend on how well i can take the workload that everyones been talking about. i mean im used to having zero time, but im not sure if thats what i want.</p>

<p>I think people consider majors that don't contain any Calculus or Physics base to be "easy" at MIT. Management, Biology, and Political Science are some examples but remember "easy" at MIT has a different meaning than anywhere else.</p>

<p>Oh please, management isn't the easiest. Don't get me wrong - it's easier than engineering. </p>

<p>But still, the easiest majors are probably what you'd expect them to be - any of the 21 sequence: Literature, History, Foreign Language (especially if you're already fluent in the language in which you'd be concentrating), Women's Studies, etc. etc. Or how about course 11, Urban Studies and Planning? STS also isn't all that demanding.</p>

<p>What about Urban Studies?</p>

<p>I thought I named course 11 (Urban Studies and Planning).</p>

<p>Management is one of the easiest majors at MIT from what I have seen. Biology is supposed to be pretty easy too. I am doing Computer Science, which happens to be difficult. I'll tell you what, though, if you want to do Management undergrad, MIT is outstanding. You have to major in what you see fit in terms of interest, jobs and difficulty.</p>

<p>There will be "easy" majors regardless of where you go - but that "easy" is relative to the difficulty of the other available majors. </p>

<p>A lot of people say Management is an easy major at MIT. That's not necessarily true. Just because so-called "business" programs at other universities are cop-out majors does not mean that MIT's management program is an easy major. </p>

<p>For example, in terms of math courses, all Course 15ers have to take (on top of the GIRS) Linear Algebra, Probabilistic Systems Analysis, Applied Statistics, and Optimization. The prob and stats courses are more advanced requirements than Course 18 math majors have to take - read that again. Harder courses than Math majors have to take. As a matter of fact ,the probability course is run through the Course 6 (EECS) department. For a concentration in operations research, the math load is even greater. Yeah, sounds real easy. </p>

<p>Another requirement is computer programming (either 6.001 or 1.00 - classes renown for the time-commitment involved). For management. How about for Chemistry? No. Biology? No. Mathematics? No. Mech E? No. </p>

<p>And then there's the economics requirements. Now, I don't have any more faith in college rankings than any other person. However, I need some kind of basis that's at least generally valid and accepted. MIT arguably has the top economics program in the country (above Harvard, UChicago, Princeton, UPenn, etc.). If you concentrate in finance at MIT, you are one class from a minor in economics in the top economics program in the country (in the second-ranked undergrad business program in the country - Wharton's reputation continues to give it its 1st place ranking). Not something to blow smoke at. </p>

<p>The Sloan School of Management also has one of the only real-time trading rooms at a university. That's right - MIT has its own state-of-the-art trading room to run real-world simulations. Just as a sidenote, how many computer engineers got absolutely killed because of their stock options when the Nasdaq shed 60%+ of its value in 2000? How many companies went belly-up in debt? Intelligent people who worked their asses off for their money, but didn't know how to manage it properly. How many money managers, funds, and investment groups saw themselves either hedging their losses or actually making positive returns on that drop? I don't know about you, but with the exception of some investment banks, I didn't hear too much about the collapse of the US financial industry at the time. But I digress.</p>

<p>I'm not arguing that Course 15 is harder or more useful or whatever than EECS, Chemical E, etc. But it sure isn't easy. No major at MIT is. </p>

<p>I'm just trying to say that management at MIT often does not get the credit it deserves. Anywhere else, the major would be called "Industrial Engineering" or "Financial Engineering." It's that interdisciplinary, it's that quantitative, and it's that practical if you are interested in a business-related career. Would changing the major's name give it more respect in your mind? I guess the superficialities of branding have really permeated our society.</p>

<p>Pursue what you have a passion in - that's all that matters when you get to MIT. The institution's reputation alone will give you a lot of legitimacy as a graduate. And you'll definitely have to earn it while you're there, regardless of what major you choose, be it Course 21 or Course 6, Course 11 or Course 16. </p>

<p>If you're worried about the workload at MIT, don't - forget "easy" majors to "just survive" - pursue your passions. </p>

<p>The others of you out there who continue to put shreds of doubt upon the legitimacy of certain majors - in comparing management careers with engineering careers, I could go over salary comparisons, employment statistics in the tech and biotech industry, the effect of gov policy on the American biotech and nanotech industries, or globalization's effect on domestic production and employment - but what'll that accomplish other than more argument? Your major does not necessarily define the career you pursue after graduation, anyway.</p>

<p>I guess all I have to say is this: have some respect and maturity. All you're doing by putting down majors by calling them "easy" is making people embarrassed about something that they should be very proud of. I guess understanding the validity of the collective contributions of people's work to society is a part of what truly entitles a person to attendance at one of the world's top universities.</p>

<p><stands up and claps...</p>