<p>So physics and philosophy are my two most deepest interests in this world (and others). I was wondering if I could double major it? In practice I want to be a physicist, so I know I'm headed for the PhD route with that. But I also want to major in philosophy because I'm just as interested in that as I am physics. It's just that there's not much I can professionally do with a PhD in philosophy aside from teaching. But I want to have the knowledge and experience, and if I ever do choose to teach a few philosophy courses on the side, I could!</p>
<p>Thoughts, opinions?
Thanks for giving me the time of day.</p>
<p>It depends on which school you choose. LAC’s are friendlier toward disparate double majors than most state universities are, and some LAC’s are more amenable than others. My daughter is a physics/theater double major at a CTCL school.</p>
<p>For your school or prospective school, count courses or credits for:</p>
<ul>
<li>the physics major</li>
<li>the philosophy major</li>
<li>breadth or general education requirements</li>
<li>minus any overlapping courses</li>
<li>minus any courses fulfilled by AP credit</li>
</ul>
<p>and see if the total fits into the number of courses or credits you expect to take while at your school.</p>
<p>You sound like a perfect student for Allegheny College (perhaps the CTCL school the earlier poster referred to?). Their tag line is “unusual combinations”. Everyone MUST take at least a minor in a different area of study , ie humanities, natural science or social science. It seems as though many students double major although I don’t know the stats on that. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thank you for the replies everyone. After considering your posts and doing my own research, I found that a LAC would be a perfect choice for me. I have even more interests than only physics and philosophy, granted those two are my favorite, but I was always afraid, and therefore accepted the fact, that I wouldn’t be able to take many courses in other subjects instead of what my career needed.</p>
<p>I didn’t know such a type of thing as a LAC existed, and I’m very happy to know that they do now. Wish I knew earlier, it’s a bit too late to transfer now, but I’ll do that next semester. It leaves the question now of which college to choose to transfer to. CTCL schools seems to be just my fit. I’ll start my research there.</p>
<p>Thank you much everyone, and if anyone has any suggestions for schools for me, please do post them!</p>
<p>But choose carefully. Since LACs are generally smaller schools, they may have particular areas of emphasis, while being limited in other areas. Make sure that the LACs (or other schools) that you are looking at have strong departments in both physics and philosophy.</p>
<p>Some bigger universities, like Rutgers and Arizona, have good reputations in both subjects.</p>
<p>Be sure to count requirements as described in post #3.</p>
<p>Philosophy + Physics is a good pairing. Some schools, e.g., Yale offer a joint major in these two fields. There probably are others.
You might consider a focus on the history and philosophy of science. Some schools with departments/programs in the history and/or philosophy of science include Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Johns Hopkins, Williams, Pittsburgh, Penn, and others.</p>