Limited Majors? (I'm interested in public policy, devt and innovation) + Amherst vs Williams?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Amherst College
1

Hey guys,

I am an admitted international student. I love the location, love the faculty and people, love the Five College Consortium, and Amherst has been so truly kind to me that they even named me a Schupf Scholar, which grants me $25,000 on top of need-based fin aid for research and independent study projects.

However, I get this sense (not sure if accurately) that my interests don’t fit very well with the majors available. As mentioned in the title, I’m interested in the fields of public policy (perhaps focusing on the environment and education), international development, and social innovation and entrepreneurship. It seems Amherst is more inclined towards the humanities and classics? The closest majors that align to my goals seem to be environmental studies and economics --which I do enjoy, but I was also accepted into Williams. Williams has a Political Economy major and concentrations in environmental policy, public health, leadership studies, as well as classes with Masters students in development economics and established special programs such as Williams in Africa. Williams also seems to have more support for entrepreneurial initiatives with a Entrepreneurs@Williams program. Thus, William does appear more suited for me academically.

Yet, I’m so grateful for the Schupf Scholars Program (!!) and it definitely feels empowering and liberating to not only have so much funding at my fingertips to carve my academic journey, but also caring and inspiring faculty mentors to guide me. Emotionally I love Amherst as well. But I cannot shake the feeling that Williams has more RELEVANT and exciting offerings for me? At the same time though I’m a 100% financial need student so I don’t even know how accessible these opportunities are to me.

One main issue is I’ve been basing my judgements almost solely on the respective websites. Williams’ seems a lot more organised and clear in terms of publicising its internship and study away opportunities and special programs, so I believe this does contribute to my preference for Williams’ offerings. I would really appreciate any insights and advice on my dilemma from you experienced people :slight_smile:

Thank you and have a lovely day!

2

If you have been named a Schupf Scholar, then you have already been assigned a mentor at Amherst. You should contact your mentor and discuss your situation - your mentor’s interest should be similar to your own so they should be able to speak to your concerns. (The Dean of admissions at Amherst can put you in touch with your mentor if they haven’t already). The Dean of admissions at Amherst will also put you in touch with other Schupf Scholars who can talk about their experience with the program.

Then contact the Dean of Admissions at Williams and ask them to put you in touch with professors and/or students in the political economy major. You should be able to get more personal information from them about the major that might help you decide.

Those are both great choices so either way I’m sure you will be fine.

3

You’re right, I will do that! :slight_smile: I guess I was just concerned about wasting my mentor’s time but yes it’s better to discuss these doubts with him. Thank you!

4

I believe that you’ll likely need graduate school of some kind to get a decent public policy job (e.g. Administrator). In this case, your undergraduate major will not matter much insofar as taking a political economy major.

However, as you are interested clearly in development/public policy, Williams’s economics program is filled with development-oriented classes at both the undergrad and master’s level so you may find the most interesting courses at Williams. At the same time though, having $25,000 available to do anything you want is extremely valuable. For example, you can use it to fund unpaid government work in Africa, etc which is probably much more relevant to acquiring a public policy phd than your undergrad major