<p>I am a high school senior going through the old fill out apps and the like process. I have always been particularly strong in math, and therefore I have always assumed I would major in engineering (chem/elec). The problem is that despite my strength in calculus and my serviceable physics skills, I struggle with chemistry. Of course I mean struggle relatively though, as in the difference between an A(95/98) and a B/b+(83/90). The concepts just don't click for me as I would like. That said, I have recently been thinking about my favorite high school courses and realized that my Ap english composition class was by far my favorite. I also really felt passionate about my ap us history class. I was very excited about writing the argument essays and analyzing motivations. I was very excited about piecing together the history of the country and why things happened as they did. These classes came far more naturally to me than chemistry. That being said I HATED the literature portion of English. Has anyone else had this sort of conflict wherein they felt torn between engineering, partly because of math prowess and partly because of future job security and financial stability, and a liberal arts path, due to passion for politics and passion for arguments. I can't build anything or put anything together, yet poetry baffles me. I have considered applying to some of the 3/2 LAC/ Engineering programs, but I don't know if I should. I can't really afford to pussyfoot around in college since my saved money won't go very far. So are 3/2 programs viable financially? If so, then what programs would you suggest for a 2180 top 6% 3.95gpa nmcommended kind of an applicant?Also, are there any degrees which might combine my love for the argument, history and calculus?</p>
<p>If chemistry is a struggle, then you probably want some area of engineering other than chemical or biomedical.</p>
<p>Engineering students do have some humanities and social studies breadth requirements in which you can take history, philosophy, rhetoric, etc. courses.</p>
<p>An alternative is to major in math, which has decent job and career prospects (mainly in finance; supplement with some economics, finance, statistics, and/or computer science courses), which may leave more room for additional history, philosophy, rhetoric, etc. courses (math major programs often are not that heavy in requirements, and math courses generally do not have time consuming labs).</p>
<p>What about combining a degree in computer science with another topic like history or a social science? The opportunities that are constantly evolving in most fields for those who are computer savvy. </p>
<p>By the way, don’t judge a subject based on the way it was taught in your high school. You may discover that something you thought you disliked, or didn’t ‘get,’ is actually very interesting when taught well at the college level.</p>
<p>If finances are an issue, I’d stick with a 4 year program. Why add an additional year of expenses? What schools are you onsidering?</p>
<p>It might be difficult to combine an engineering major with a liberal arts major simply due to the limited number of nontechnical courses the engineering requirements would permit. You could more easily combine a math or applied math major (or, computer science or statistics major) with a liberal arts major or minor. </p>
<p>Some other fields to consider for a major or minor with a STEM field:
History of Science & Technology. Often, such programs offer courses in the political and social aspects of science and technology, too. See a list of such programs in my post in this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/other-college-majors/1016821-sts-major-science-technology-society.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/other-college-majors/1016821-sts-major-science-technology-society.html</a></p>
<p>Technical Writing, e.g., [Department</a> of Writing Studies : University of Minnesota](<a href=“Writing Studies | College of Liberal Arts”>http://writingstudies.umn.edu/) or [UW</a> HCDE - Technical Writing and Editing Certificate | <a href=“http://www.hcde.washington.edu%5B/url%5D”>www.hcde.washington.edu](<a href=“http://www.hcde.washington.edu/twe]UW”>Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human Centered Design & Engineering)</a>.</p>
<p>Math would be a great complement for economics, which is heavily math oriented. Economics also would be relevant for your interests in politics. Both fields offer relatively better job prospects than other liberal arts fields. Many schools offer joint econ-math majors. </p>
<p>Many IR programs offer thematic options. One of these that some schools offer is focused on international aspects of science/technology/environment.</p>
<p>Also see this link about the many career options for math majors: [Careers</a> in Mathematics](<a href=“http://www.toroidalsnark.net/mathcareers.html]Careers”>Careers in Mathematics)</p>
<p>I am not sure if this would help but have you considered an LAC that offers Engineering? There are some outstanding options such as Bucknell, Lafayette, and Union that have strong traditional liberal art programs plus engineering. There are a few other smaller private colleges like Lehigh, University of Rochester and Case Western which also have strong liberal art majors and engineering.</p>
<p>University of Iowa has a major called Informatics that combines computer science with an in depth study of a cognate area. Typical cognates include Econ, geography, psychology, biology, etc. They will allow you to create your own cognate area. A senior project integrates the two together.</p>
<p>Indiana has a similar program.</p>
<p>[Department</a> of Computer Science - The University of Iowa](<a href=“http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/Informatics/InformaticsRequirements.html]Department”>http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/Informatics/InformaticsRequirements.html)</p>
<p>Tufts, Columbia, Rice, Princeton all have engineering as well within a “LAC feel” school</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd offers an engineering degree (general engineering, but your electives can allow you to specialize in a specific area). </p>
<p>Don’t base your high school experience as to what you might want to do. I was terrible at math in high school, but in college, I’ve loved it.</p>
<p>Clearly, math and history don’t go together…though, if engineering or chem isn’t your passion, avoid it. You won’t be happy. I’d say go for a computer science, or a math degree. You will have way more electives than an engineering degree, and can fill those out with what you want.</p>
<p>LOL, of course HM offers an engineering degree. Its known primarily as an engineering school! Well, yes, officially its a LAC with focus on math, science and engineering. Its a great school, with the opportunity to take classes at the other Claremont colleges.</p>
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<p>However, at some schools, these majors have sufficiently few required courses, that it is possible to do a double major quite easily, especially since they may fulfill part of each other’s breadth requirements.</p>
<p>Indeed, it may even be possible that a history of math course in the math department may be used for both majors (though it may still be possible to do this double major without using such a course).</p>
<p>I would look at Lafayette College. It’s small with a liberal focus but also has a great engineering college. If you went there, you could take a mix of classes and then decide on a major then. </p>
<p>Sent from my iPhone using CC</p>
<p>Arguments + history makes me think political science, though it’s not too math related, although does involve statistics. Economics also comes to mind. My son has a lot of the same interests, and is a political science and economics double major, planning to go to law school. </p>
<p>Patent law as comes to mind as a possible career for those interests. The career path for patent law is to first get an engineering or science undergrad degree, and then go to law school. There is a whole thread on the law school forum about patent law.</p>
<p>3/2 engineering programs are not generally a great solution, and very few students who initially consider them actually follow through with them. </p>
<p>Electrical engineering doesn’t require much chemistry. Check for the requirements for the schools you are interested in, but when I studied EE 25 years ago, we only took one chem class, and it was a chemistry for engineers majors, not a chemistry for bio/chem/pre-med majors. </p>
<p>As someone mentioned upthread, it would be good to look at LACs or small Us that offer engineering. Bucknell, Lafayette, and Union are all LACs with engineering. Tufts, U. Rochester, and Rice are small Us with engineering but liberal arts focus. </p>
<p>It is generally easier to transfer from engineering to a liberal arts major than vice versa, because it is difficult to graduate in engineering in 4 years if you don’t start on the chains of prerequisites immediately. So if you are interested in engineering but undecided, it is probably better to start out as an engineering major.</p>
<p>Go to a college that’s strong in both and dabble around during your freshman year. You’ll get a better idea of what you like when you’re taking college level courses.</p>
<p>I suggest double-majoring in math and philosophy 
No, wait, I’m serious.</p>
<p>Mathematics and Philosophy is actually an established course at some UK universities, e.g. Oxford, because of the connection between the two fields. Sounds like what you really like is logic, not literature or engineering, and you’re torn between two possible approaches to the study thereof. Studying math and philosophy at the same time would give you as thorough an understanding of logic & argumentation as it is possible to get, I feel.</p>
<p>This is what Oxford’s website has to say on the subject:</p>
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<p>[Mathematics</a> and Philosophy - University of Oxford](<a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/mathematics_and_philosophy/mathematics_and_4.html]Mathematics”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/mathematics_and_philosophy/mathematics_and_4.html)</p>
<p>If this sounds like something you might be interested in, I urge you to consider double majoring; it doesn’t have to be in philosophy and math, of course–sounds like so far you’ve enjoyed poli sci a lot, so why not poli sci? Just don’t assume you have to pick one or the other at this point, because the whole humanities vs sciences/math thing is a false dichotomy. And, most importantly, don’t pick something you don’t really like, like chemical engineering, because you think you’re supposed to. You’re not.</p>