<p>Not sure about the odds of finding some or any of you out there who happen to be on CC, but I'd like to hear from students or parents of the students who are or have recently been in the EP&E program. I'm particularly interested in knowing your experience in the program such as interactions with the professors, collaboration and competition between peers, grading etc., pros and cons of pursing such a degree, how it is or it is not helping you in the job market and graduate school application, and anything else about the program you feel worth mentioning. Thanks very much for your input in advance!</p>
<p>I’m not quite sure what info you’re looking for. If you haven’t done so already, go to [Introduction</a> | Program on Ethics, Politics and Economics](<a href=“http://epe.yale.edu/]Introduction”>http://epe.yale.edu/) and read the course requirements and FAQs.</p>
<p>I assume your child is already a student at Yale. If (s)he is interesting in applying, let her/him do so. Assuming (s)he is admitted, it’s not an irrevocable decision. Some kids who are admitted quit, preferring to major in one of the component parts after all.</p>
<p>The pro/con of the program is that you have to/get to take more seminars than usual. Like most Yale seminars in the social sciences, they involve a fair amount of discussion. So, IME, the people who sign up for EP&E tend to be students who enjoy taking discussion-based classes. A fair number of students are “into” the YPU, debate, mock trial, etc., although that certainly is not true of everyone. </p>
<p>Again, just IME, a lot of EP&E types are more interested in working for the government,NGOs, think tanks or going to law school or public policy programs like, e.g., the Kennedy School, rather than in “pure” academia. Again, I’m not claiming that’s universally true, just that it’s true of many EP&E types.</p>
<p>jonri, thanks very much for your insights. I did check out all that’s available about the program on the school website, but started the thread with the intention of getting some more “personal” experiences and opinions. The program is fairly small so it’s not easy to find people who have direct experience in real life or on this board. Your description of the program regarding the heavy involvement in seminars makes me think my child may enjoy being part of the program, and I like what you said about the possible career tracks for EP&E graduates too.</p>
<p>DS is an EP&E major. I’ve never really asked him specifics, such as you’ve asked, so not sure how to answer those. But I will say that he has been very happy with this major and it was the right fit for him. Jonri pretty much has his personality type pegged: he is very involved in YPU and he enjoys the discussion-based seminars. If your kid is kind of like that, he would probably enjoy majoring in EPE. He’s a rising senior, so the employment situation is still to be seen. He will likely go to either grad school or law school, but not immediately out of college. He would like to get some “real world” work experience first, perhaps on Capitol Hill. If he’s interested, he should go for it. He can always change later if it’s not his cup of tea.</p>
<p>Thanks my2sunz. DS’s major ECs at HS are debate and political activism, and he’s also very interested in economics, so it does sound like EP&E is a good fit for him. From the academic interest point of view, “ethics” may be the part he’s not that interested in, so he’s considering whether he should go for double majoring in political science and econ, or EP&E. Obviously, he would need more courses to fulfill the requirements for the double major of PLSC and Econ, but I think he can pull it off… Any insights on making the choice between these two options? </p>
<p>Also, I know EP&E is selective, but once you get in, compared with a "traditional’ one subject major, is it “harder” either in terms of workload (other than the fact that 14 instead of the regular say 12 credits are needed) or grading?</p>
<p>A lot of people at Yale double major and love it, but a lot of people also advise against it. My dean, for one, tends to argue against students double majoring unless they are overwhelmingly interested in two different subject and equally wants to pursue them both. It’s a big choice and while double majoring can be rewarding, studies done by Yale show that double majoring does not help job prospects. It also just overall limits academic exploration while at Yale, and from personal experience, I switched from wanting t double major in Econ and History, to just history because it was too restricting.</p>
<p>iqtest, I see your point, but can you elaborate how it’s “restrictive” from your experience? To me, a second major means about 10 additional semester credits (taking consideration of overlaps allowed). Since it’s a subject of your interest, I assume even if you don’t declare it as a second major, you are likely to take at least a few courses in that subject area. Then to make it a second major, we are looking at about one additional course in the second major every semester on average. That’s not too much right? Or, it could be “restrictive” in ways I am not aware of?</p>
<p>well, for one you are required to do two separate senior projects/ write two senior theses unless you can combine them in a worthwhile enough way that both departments see fit. Also, those 10 extra courses truly do limit the types of courses one can take and the breadth of subject one can take courses in. I didn’t think it would be restricting, but it leaves a really small amount of wiggle room unless a student can manage to get most of his/her distributional requirements completed within the majors. As a double major, on average 3 out of the 4 or 5 classes taken are within the major every term which does get tiring. I’m not saying to definitely not double major. I have also talked to many students at Yale who have double majored and felt that they still received the same level of academic richness from their courses. However, the majority of people take courses in both field but only complete one as a major. Because Yale does not offer minors, many faculty members advise listing an area of concentration on a resume in a similar way. For example, if someone was to take 7 biology courses, but not major in the subject, that student could still list that as a qualification.</p>
<p>Also, one more thing. sorry! Double majoring does require extensive planning early on in the academic career. I had to really think about all of my courses starting the second semester of my freshman year when I still thought about a double major.</p>
<p>Thank you, iqtest! I agree the decision needs to be made early and it feels like some good planning is in order. You’ve been very helpful indeed.</p>