<p>Same as legal studies/pre-law and political science. The problem with legal studies is that law schools tend to want to teach you from a clean slate and not have to spend time deconstructing the false pretenses you've developed in your mind. Rhetoric is somewhat similar to this, and somewhat like pre-law, it isn't really taken seriously as a major, it doesn't have the tradition and academia behind it that other majors do. It's best to stick to the canonical majors, although I think BDM somewhat exaggerated the detrimental effects of majoring in rhetoric (it may hold you back slightly, but nowhere close to the way pre-law would). I do agree with your implications however, it seems silly that you can major in political science but not its subdivision in legal studies, or in English but not its subdivision in rhetoric.</p>
<p>Exercise Physiology is a subdivision of Biology. Finance is a subdivision of Economics. Social Work is a subset of Psychology (or could be construed as such, anyway). Exercise Physiology, Finance, and Social Work are all bad choices. Biology, Economics, and Psychology are all good ones. Etc.</p>
<p>^ Exactly, stick to the canonical majors. If you have an itch for one of those obscure subdivisions you can still take a class or two on it, just don't major in it.</p>
<p>hey im a finance major...</p>
<p>economics is about theory...
finance is about the application of that theory...</p>
<p>finance is good to major in since everybody is an economics major...</p>
<p>Exercise Physiology is a subdivision of Biology. Finance is a subdivision of Economics. Social Work is a subset of Psychology (or could be construed as such, anyway). Exercise Physiology, Finance, and Social Work are all bad choices. Biology, Economics, and Psychology are all good ones. Etc.</p>
<p>Same as legal studies/pre-law and political science. The problem with legal studies is that law schools tend to want to teach you from a clean slate and not have to spend time deconstructing the false pretenses you've developed in your mind. Rhetoric is somewhat similar to this, and somewhat like pre-law, it isn't really taken seriously as a major, it doesn't have the tradition and academia behind it that other majors do. It's best to stick to the canonical majors, although I think BDM somewhat exaggerated the detrimental effects of majoring in rhetoric (it may hold you back slightly, but nowhere close to the way pre-law would). I do agree with your implications however, it seems silly that you can major in political science but not its subdivision in legal studies, or in English but not its subdivision in rhetoric.</p>
<p>I noticed that the subsets you listed just happened to be what many considered "soft majors". Specifically EP being notoriously flooded with low-IQ jocks. Social work to a degree seems to attract less academically gifted (not to be offensive). Legal studies/pre law has a stigma of actually being detrimental to future success in law school, but I fail to see such with Rhetoric, as the specific department I'm looking at (CAL's Rhet) appears to be on the opposite end of the spectrum, scaring off traditional humanities majors who where shocked to see their analytic skills were not up-to-par for an introductory course. And it's interesting that tradition and academia where brought up, since some of the greatest writers, academics, and politicians of history have had a solid education in formal rhetoric (Shakespeare for one owes much for his verse-virtuosity).</p>
<p>I would think that adcoms would (or should) base their decisions on the worth of individual departments and programs. Being "canonical" shouldn't determine whether the degree is of worth or not. I understand that especially for law school a very solid undergraduate education is emphasized, but this shouldn't preclude people from pursuing subjects of interest just because they're deemed "non-canonical".</p>