<p>So, I'm a current sophomore in high school, and as I lay out my next two years of courses I've encountered a couple of issues. The big one is that I intend to go to college for engineering, but I have more "well rounded" interests. A few people have told me that if I want to go to a good engineering school, I shouldn't "waste my time" in humanities classes; however, I really love the humanities. History is one of my favorite subjects, and I plan on spending a block of the day as a writing tutor. Is it true that taking humanities electives (to clarify, this would be in addition to demanding core classes and advanced science electives) will damage my chances of college admission? Or is this just another dumb college applications myth? Thanks in advance for your thoughts on the subject!</p>
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<p>Do you have any interest in engineering at all. Do you just want to do it for money? I have never met an engineer that interested in the humanities to be honest. Most people who do engineering love math</p>
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<p>This is not true. However, if you take calculus and physics, it will leave in a much better position.</p>
<p>If you are serious about engineering take calculus, physics or CS and learn about history with books and google</p>
<p>Haha, I do really have an interest in engineering (most likely biomedical or chemical, specifically, if that makes it make any more sense). I’m not too set on the money aspect of it, to be honest. Money’s nice, but enough to live on is just fine with me. I do love math (captain of the school’s math team), I just happen to really love pretty much any subject.</p>
<p>Thanks for your opinion on that - I do plan on taking calc and physics, and I took APCS this year (loved it!). Maybe you’re right - keep the history for my free time. My school only offers through Calculus AB, though - should I try to supplement that with online/college courses? If so, any suggestions?</p>
<p>You can look on MIT courseware. I believe they have calculus but I haven’t watched so I can’t recommend it. The calculus series will be a pre-requisite to almost all biomedical and chemical engineering classes. You will take 4-6 general education classes depending on your school. So you could minor in history and get the best of both worlds. Good luck!</p>
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<p>I ended up in engineering because Major Turbo Sr. would not pay for my first 3 passions (Psychology, Sociology, and Photography). I hate math. I have 4 engineering /CS degrees and would have 5 (EE) if it were not for math :(.</p>
<p>My job requires a lot of socio-psycho considerations, that is, how our customers interact with our products based on their culture, beliefs, etc. Lots of humanities work went in my graduate research also (computational linguistics).</p>
<p>A minor in humanities, esp. in a school with good liberal arts/humanities, should be very interesting. I regret doing a hodge podge of anthropology and sociology classes rather than a formal minor…</p>
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<p>Actually, a lot of engineers do have an interest in humanities (and social studies).</p>
<p>Would we have [Google</a> Ngram Viewer](<a href=“http://books.google.com/ngrams]Google”>Google Ngram Viewer) if there were no computer engineers interested in the evolution of written works in various languages?</p>
<p>In terms of the OP’s question, take the usual rigorous math and science offerings available to you in high school to prepare you for engineering study. You should have plenty of high school schedule space to take humanities and social studies courses as well. They will not harm your chance of getting into college as long as you do well in them.</p>
<p>When you are in college as an engineering major, you will likely have to take at least 20% to 25% of your course work in humanities and social studies.</p>
<p>Everyones given you some good advice. Heres my two cents.</p>
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<p>Some colleges may focus more on “well rounded” factor. Since you will apply to a variety of schools, you may need to get a maximum amount of well roundedness provided you can do it and hope the effort will not be totally lost at the colleges which focus on it less.</p>
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<p>During the school or free/paid tutoring after school? If its after, its part of ec, not your class portfolio, although you could use it to show what you are passionate about.</p>
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<p>Only if you are not taking courses with higher priority. Why you should be penalized for go above and beyond unless it drops your GPA much.</p>
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<p>Studying AP Calculus BC on MOOCs may not do much for college application unless it is on your transcript or a grade can be rendered formally. Taking AP Calculus BC test at the end of senior year will come too late. But it might help to portrait you in a positive light in the admission process of some colleges. Taking it at cc would be a more effective option, but usually difficult to do due to time/distance.</p>
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<p>A lot people love, not just interested in, arts, literature, music, etc., some of them must be engineers.</p>
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<p>Love to hear which math class stopped your freight train from going through all engineering majors. Id think that math in EE was not any harder than in ME or ChemE, certainly easier than in CS.</p>
<p>If you want to see how a strong science and engineering school incorporates the expectation that its students also have a strong interest in the humanities and social sciences, look at Harvey Mudd College. Students there are expected to take about one-third of their classes in hum/soc sci, more than most other tech schools. The HMC mission is to educate engineers and scientists with a strong background in the humanities and social sciences to help them better understand the impact of their work on society.</p>
<p>I have found many engineers and scientists have a strong interest in the humanities. For example, many are excellent musicians. I hope you will continue to tutor writing, because the ability to write well, communicate, and teach are very valuable skills for an engineer.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to people who tell you humanities are a waste of time. Engineering schools do not think so and incorporate humanities and arts requirements into their degree programs.
Here is an interesting blog from a MIT student -
[On</a> MIT and Humanities | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/on_mit_and_humanities]On”>On MIT and Humanities | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>I, like you, had many interestes heading into college. I attended a 3-2 program in which I earned both a liberal arts and an engineering degree. It definitely did not hinder me. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure I got my first job as an engineer right out of school because I also had the liberal arts degree. The job was very technical, but the hiring manager saw me as someone with a unique set of skills. It has only helped me along the way. Plus, I really enjoyed my classes outside of engineering. And, btw, I know many engineers who are also excellent musicians and have continued to play music on the side. </p>
<p>My kids’ school is very small and only offers Calc AB. Yes, BC would be nice, but we have sent kids off to good schools to study engineering and math.</p>
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<p>There are engineers that love math but are also interested in Humanities. You won’t find them so much at techie schools like mine (Clarkson). They tend to go to Universities or LAC/Engineering . Or if a very top student maybe Harvey Mudd or Olin.</p>