I’m very interested in History, Political Science, Philosophy, and Economics. Is there a good way to combine them? Should I take classes in all of them and see which I like best before choosing one as a major? Should I major/ minor or double major? Or as they all seem to be Social Sciences, or at least closely related to them, might there be a program that touches each of them? Does anyone know of one like this? Lastly, when searching for a school would it be best to find one that is good in each of these, or great in a few? Sorry for all these questions, thanks in advance for any help!
Wikipedia, MOOCs. You don’t have to get graded for all your interests. For college take a broad range of first year classes and hone in on what interests you for a major. You can major/minor if you really want to. Both my D’s have a major and at least one minor. One considered a double major and decided it wasn’t worth the effort so she double minored.
what are your stats- GPA, Test scores, NMSF status, etc,etc. ??
One college that pops to mind instantly, but where admissions is VERY competitive, is U of Chicago- where you will receive a real , old school "Liberal Arts " education. Chicago ALSO has an Interdisciplinary program called “Big Problems” that explores many issues>
http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/bigproblems/
Their “Public Policies Studies” is another major that covers many areas.
https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/majors-and-minors
“Lastly, when searching for a school would it be best to find one that is good in each of these, or great in a few?”
I’d say great in all areas, if possible. Chicago is great in all those areas, as are many other top flight colleges.
My recommendation is you purchase a copy of Ruggs Recommendations, which is a guide that many private college counselors reach for when asked that question.
It rates colleges based on the strength of the programs offered.
Check out the degree requirements at a few schools for International Relations, Government, and Public Policy… all of these majors likely draw classes from all of the subjects you listed.
I’d look into places with interdisciplinary or flexible major programs.
If you want to PM me, I have very similar academic interests as you do and I did my undergrad major in one interdisciplinary program and now I’m a PhD student in a different interdisciplinary program. I’d be happy to talk to you about the benefits and drawbacks to those types of programs.
Your interests hang together well. Any “pre-law” sort of problem would include each.
PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) is a very well-known major at Oxford that counts lots of movers and shakers in the British government among its alumni. The major takes an interdisciplinary approach.
It’s also quite a popular degree course among Rhodes Scholars.
Several US universities (including Yale and Duke) now have similar programs; see the Wikipedia article on Philosophy, Politics, and Economics for a list -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy,_Politics_and_Economics
I hope this will be a useful starting point for your research.
One word of advice though … don’t just choose a school based on one programme. Make sure the school you pick has a lot to offer you if your interests change.
^^ I think it would be a good idea if we have an idea of the OP’s stats before recommending some of the most difficult colleges in the world to get into.
You will notice that the Wikipedia article lists several colleges, public and private, of varying degrees of selectivity,
I was trying to give the OP a good starting point for their research. PPE is one of the most famous interdisciplinary majors in the English speaking world, and knowing the history of the programme and what terms to type into Google could be helpful to a high school student who is just starting their research.
I’m at the very beginning of my college search. However, these are my stats as I know them thus far:
Weighted GPA (freshman year): 4.3
AP Classes I’ll Take in High school: 13 (the rest are all honors)
PSAT: 1340/ 1520
Verbal: 750/760 - One question off perfect I think on the real thing I have good shot at 760
Math: 610/ 760 - Now I know I’ll need to study for this, should be much better for real thing
Member of Model UN Team, Journalism Staff, History/ Human Rights Club
Will likely be two-time captain of Cross Country team as well as Track and Field teams in both the Winter and Spring Seasons
Served as a page in the Virginia House of Delegates in 8th Grade
Member of a very selective “center” program in my county with an area of focus on Government
In all modesty, a quite good runner, with my current level of success if I stay on track I’ll be good enough to help nudge me into most any school.
I don’t know if I should include anything else, this is what I have off of the top of my head.
OP, you are putting the cart well ahead of the horse. For selective colleges at the undergrad level, this
is really a non-issue. The differences between the offerings in these areas at the colleges you have named on other threads (Duke and Notre Dame) are much, much, much less significant than the differences between living and going to school at those places.
Numerous posters (on this and other threads of yours) have tried to tell you that virtually all of the academically competitive colleges and universities have strong offerings in the fields that you are interested in, and that you will get farther, faster on narrowing your list by choosing on major characteristics of the school than on the major.
Start by eliminating what you can’t afford (unless your parents have said directly to you “money is no object”). Figure out what your options are likely to be (what level of selectivity your stats and financial requirements suggest). If money is an issue, remember that you get more money by being a star- that is, having stats that are the high end of accepted students- and focus on colleges where that is likely to be the case for you.
As many others suggested, visit some nearby universities and colleges- even if you have 0 interest in them, it will give you more information about what you like and what you don’t like. Take the tour, go to the info sessions, sit in on classes. It’s part of learning about that world, and will help you to translate guide book speak.
@collegemom3717 Thanks again. I know that is very valid advice, I started this thread only before I had been counseled that most are near equivalent.
Choose schools based on size, location, academics and most importantly perhaps “vibe.” You really don’t have to worry about this right now. You can enter as an undeclared major, explore a little, and choose later, usually at the end of sophomore year. You can certainly look at curricula for majors at each school, and course descriptions, and keep an eye out for interdisciplinary or independent work opportunities. But you don’t need to worry about it now.
" History, Political Science, Philosophy, and Economics" - These overlap. You can do major(s) / minor(s) combo. My D. had Zoology major / Neuroscience minor / Music Composition minor. The first two of hers overlap a lot. You do not have to graduated with all major(s) / minor(s). D. had to drop her Neuroscience minor being 2 classes short of completion. She graduated with Zoology major / Music Composition minor, which are completely unrelated. So, it is very possible. Do not have to be at any Ivy / Elite for that either. D. and many of her friends who also had combo of major(s) / minor(s), graduated from in-state public. The big advantage of going to in-state public is full tuition (or close) Merit award. Then you do not need to “eliminate what you can’t afford” as you can afford whatever you wish. One of D’s friends graduated with triple major. All of them graduated in 4 years.
Some schools allow you to create your own inter-disciplinary major. That might be an option for you.
Any well-ranked college or university should have depth in all of those subjects. I recommend that you take classes in all of these disciplines in your freshman year and see what you like best. Different disciplines have different approaches to the material (quantitative vs. qualitative, specific research methods, ways of framing questions). As you take coursework, you will probably gravitate towards a particular discipline or two. If you genuinely like them all, pick a major and take courses widely in the rest. You shouldn’t feel compelled to double or triple major or complete double minors if that’s not where your interests take you.
Thank you all for your advice I greatly appreciate it.
You can’t.
You can take some courses in all of them but the whole idea of college is to major in one or two subjects. You will need to choose among them for the courses you take in depth for your degree. College is obtaining expertise in one or two areas, not being a “jack of all trades”.
Your interests are in one general area. Sometime you should look at the requirements for the different majors to see which one seems to have the most areas of interest to you within it. Once you are in college you will be able to determine better which major to focus on. Many/most entering college freshmen will change majors so your decision is not set in stone. You will also need to take a number of courses outside your interests to meet breadth requirements at any school. For you this would include some sciences.
When you look at the requirements for each possible major of those you listed you likely will rule one in/out. Economics is the most mathematical and usually requires some calculus today. You may end up taking a couple of courses instead of meeting all of the degree requirements if math is not appealing to you.
For now you will be choosing colleges that seem to have good departments in your areas of interest (and are most affordable). There will be many other nonacademic factors to determine which schools you can see yourself at for four years. You can worry about your specific major once you are in college and know more about how things work.
I was thinking a little more about this, and wondered: would a liberal arts college allow me to take more classes in the different areas rather than choosing a couple? I know the education there is supposed to be more broad.
^ No.
you should review which classes[ credits] are required for graduation in various majors, and go from there.
No college is going to allow you to take only the classes you want to take for 4 years…
But colleges that offer Interdisciplinary Majors my offer more flexibility .