<p>I've heard tons of great things about MIT, but what appeals to me the most is its personality. It really does seem fantastically quirky and a ton of fun, and I like the location and everything. </p>
<p>The thing is though, honestly, I'm not much of a science person. Not to say that I'm bad at or dislike science/math/engineering, but it's not something I see myself doing, at least right now. I know MIT has a great economics department and that is a field I'm interested in. Generally I'm not even looking at engineering schools, but I would possibly make an exception for MIT. It has nothing to do with prestige; I definitely wouldn't apply to CalTech, for example. I really just do like MIT's feel, spirit, and student body. But for a generally undecided humanities kid, is there even a point in applying? Is MIT really a viable option? </p>
<p>Laughing… humanities… No… I don’t think so… When I lived in Cambridge I had a lot of MIT friends who were wonderful people but the fun game was to ask them any current event that happened during the years they were in school. They had no idea because they were soooooo involved in-depth studies.</p>
<p>There are a lot of MIT students who are deeply interested in the humanities, although most are also interested in a science or engineering field. And economics is a popular non-science/engineering major -- this year the economics department graduated 35 students (numbers for all majors here</a>). Coming to MIT to do a degree in economics makes more sense to most MIT students than coming to MIT to do, say, a degree in literature.</p>
<p>One thing to consider is that every MIT student is required to complete the General Institute Requirements, which currently include 2 semesters of calculus, 2 semesters of physics, a semester of chemistry, a semester of biology, and two restricted electives in science and technology. Even if you are not in love with science and engineering, you'll be required to take MIT-level courses in them. If that's not something you can live with, you shouldn't apply.</p>
<p>I am exactly in the same situtation except I do enjoy maths. Not a sciency person as such but but I really love the political science/economics which are both prestigious at MIT I'm guessing? I know about the economics, not sure about the political science.</p>
<p>If my memory serves me right, approximately 3% are humanities majors (I actually don't think economics is considered humanities - it's math-oriented). It's unusual, but it's certainly done. </p>
<p>Like Mollie said, you'll have to get through the requirements, and it's nice to have an interest in them (even if it's not an OMG BURNING PASSION - example, physics interests me, but no way will I take more than the required 2 semesters). And again like Mollie said, there are plenty of people who like humanities a lot at MIT - plenty of people double majoring, or minoring, in humanities courses. </p>
<p>I myself am taking 2 humanities classes this summer (at another school) even though they won't transfer - I'm taking them because I enjoy them. I also plan to minor in music.</p>
<p>So yes, there is a place at MIT for a humanities kid - given this kid is interested in science enough to get through the requirements. That said, not ALL humanities kids should go to MIT - but you said that what drew you to it is the personality of the school, which makes me think you could probably be happy here =).</p>
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I actually don't think economics is considered humanities - it's math-oriented
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<p>Wrong, it's a HASS (don't forget the "social sciences" part of "HASS"). Your 3% figure is right though (I just looked up the numbers for 2007-2008 on the Registrar's site). The three largest HASS departments by number of undergrads majoring in them are Economics (68 undergrads), Political Science (20 undergrads), and Comparative Media Studies (11 undergrads), which makes sense, as MIT is famously good at all of those.</p>
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So yes, there is a place at MIT for a humanities kid - given this kid is interested in science enough to get through the requirements.
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<p>This sums it up very well. I've known plenty of humanities majors who loved MIT - my housemate, for instance, is an undergrad in CMS who is a UROP for the New Media Literacies project.</p>
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I know about the economics, not sure about the political science.
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<p>The poli sci is top notch, and has a heavy focus on international relations and security studies.</p>
<p>molliebatmit's post almost exactly like the one above was what finally deterred me from applying about a year ago! haha</p>
<p>At any rate, if you think you can get by with those requirements, and more importantly, if you think you demonstrate enough interest in math/science in your application, go for it. Even if you think you can swallow the requirements, you have to question whether you'd even be considered competitive for admission.</p>
<p>(I nearly applied, mainly for MIT's strong linguistics program, but couldn't get past those two barriers--if you can, more power to you, being that you're a humanities person! ;))</p>
<p>I feel like I can answer your question well as I came to MIT in the exact same situation. I just graduated, having majored in economics. I came to MIT knowing full-well that I did not want to do engineering. I had always done well in math and science courses in high school, but they did not interest me enough to study them in depth. I came in from the start knowing that I would probably do economics, and MIT is certainly a place where you can excel at and enjoy that decision. </p>
<p>MIT's economics department is very highly regarded, consistently #1 in the country and has many amazing professors. Whereas the intro classes, which are taken by hundreds, may not be too enthralling, once you get into the department more, you find that the majority of the professors are not only exceptionally knowledgeable in their field but also incredibly willing to talk more about their work with a student and get to know the students. This has a lot to do with the small size of the classes as well (a plus). You have enough large classes with the GIRs. Yes, officially there were 35 graduates this year, but many of these are double degree recipients and I believe about 20 people had economics as their first degree. This is a small number, but it allows for classes to be more interactive and thought-provoking.</p>
<p>So to sum up what I am trying to say is that MIT is definitely a school where you can come in wanting to do economics (or other humanities) and get a lot out of it. Yes, you will still have to make it through the freshmen science classes, but these are actually really good with getting you to know other freshmen who are all in them together and working together. </p>
<p>Just to set the record straight, the social sciences (eg economics, poli sci, sociology, anthropology) are very different from the humanities (eg history, performing arts, literature, philosophy, religion, etc). The social sciences use the scientific method of evaluating and updating theory by reference to empirical data, whereas the humanities make no reference to theory or empirical data. </p>
<p>That being said, the economics department at MIT emphasizes the quantitative analysis of social and economic phenomena. Other social sciences generally have less quantitative rigor; for example, anthropologists typically use a set of qualitative investigatory techniques called ethnography. Unlike the humanities, you would use calculus and linear algebra regularly in your courses (economic theory and econometrics), then use those skills as a lens to investigate particular topics, such as economic development, labor markets, or financial markets. So if you enjoy math and learning about the world, then keep an open mind about economics!</p>
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Just to set the record straight, the social sciences (eg economics, poli sci, sociology, anthropology) are very different from the humanities (eg history, performing arts, literature, philosophy, religion, etc). The social sciences use the scientific method of evaluating and updating theory by reference to empirical data, whereas the humanities make no reference to theory or empirical data.
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<p>Yes, but they're in the same school at MIT (SHASS), and undergrads tend to refer to them all as "humanities" (or "HASS", which is more technically accurate). And a lot of prefrosh who want to know if there's a place for a "humanities kid", in my experience, are including the social sciences under that blanket label, incorrect though it is.</p>
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are very different from the humanities (eg history, performing arts, literature, philosophy, religion, etc
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<p>Is history a humanity or a social science? I still don't know for sure. </p>
<p>There is much debate over history's classification of academe, for instance in the United States the National Endowment for the Humanities includes history in its definition of a Humanities (as it does for applied Linguistics). However the National Research Council classifies History as a Social science.</p>
<p>"Is history a humanity or a social science?"</p>
<p>Both. As a historian, I've published both in social-science journals (i.e., Social Science History) and in more traditional journals (i.e., Journal of the Early Republic). Based on the UROPs offered in history, in my opinion MIT's department has a social-science perspective. In any case, students can find history UROPs that involve both qualitative and quantitative analysis of primary sources. I think MIT would be a great place to study the history of science or any area of history, particularly in conjunction with a scientific field, political science or economics.</p>
<p>Even though there were only 35 undergrads for Econ, there were 103 undergrads for Management Science in the Sloan School of Management. Have you considered majoring in Management Science? which I think would be more real-world based business .</p>
<p>I was a humanities kid. When I went to visit MIT, I did not bother to sit in on any of the sciences courses, I presumed that they would be excellent. I did sit in on literature, writing, and film studies courses to verify that MIT would be a good place for theses things, and surprise, these courses were excellent too.</p>
<p>Indeed, my roommate ended up one of the very, very few English Literature majors, and was struck by how much personal attention, and department resources he had access to. He found it an excellent place to study, based purely on the individualised attention he got compared to one of the hundreds of Electrical Engineering majors.</p>
<p>I always enjoyed drama. I joined the MIT Shakespeare ensemble and spent a few IAP's on tour with them. I learned a tremendous amount about theatre, and eventually got my equity card after graduation. I actually majored in computing, rather than theatre, and I can assure you that as a struggling actor, computer consulting pays a heck of a lot better as a part time job than being a bus boy. Had I gone to Yale, or Northwestern, or schools with much more renowned drama programs, they would have had much better facilities to which I, as a non-major, would never been able to access.</p>
<p>MIT is a superb place to get an education for those who are a mix of humanities and science students. For those who are pure humanities students, the MIT core may be a huge stumbling block. That decision is ultimately yours, but MIT's HASS programs are all fairly good, and a few of them (Econ, Poli Sci, Linguistics) are superb. MIT also has a world ranking school of Architecture, which is also in a separate school.</p>