<p>Someone told me...</p>
<p>"the best way to get a well-rounded college education that includes enough science is arguably to go to a place like MIT and major in the humanities."</p>
<p>i like political science. and also chemistry and biology and science.
and i am fairly good at math.</p>
<p>would you agree with this person's advice?</p>
<p>In terms of the question being asked, yes, going to MIT and majoring in one of the humanities, arts, and social sciences subjects would give one a well-rounded education with a lot of math and science.</p>
<p>Of course, the issue is whether that path is right for any given person. Someone who wants to come to MIT to major in the humanities has to be aware that he or she will have to complete the General Institute Requirements in classes with people who do not just “like” science and engineering. They also have to be pretty comfortable being the odd duck in a culture that lives and breathes science and engineering. People who come to MIT to major in the humanities are generally perfectly comfortable with the above conditions.</p>
<p>I think that probably the best way to get a well-rounded education that includes enough science is to go to a school that fits your personality, major in whatever you want, and take a bunch of science classes on the side. It takes more personal initiative, I guess, but that’s a small price to pay for being somewhere you’re happy for four years.</p>
<p>Somebody that majors in the humanities at MIT, should ask for his money back…</p>
<p>Why do you want to get a “well rounded education” ? Are you going to The Well Rounded Graduate School, school of the well rounded students who will shape the tomorrow? </p>
<p>I say you should go for what you really like, history, calculus, or maybe managent, and go to a school that can help your interests, unless somehow you like this “wellroundedness” above anything else.</p>
<p>oh and by humanities I mean english, history, stuff like that. not economics, linguistics, etc..</p>
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There are students every year who come to MIT intending to major in one of the HASS subjects, and other students who decide science and engineering aren’t for them and switch to a HASS subject. It’s not the path for everyone, but these students are still getting a superb education – being a humanities major at MIT entails a huge amount of personal attention from faculty, since there are so few other students in the departments.</p>
<p>Why do I want a well-rounded education?</p>
<p>Because I am not yet at the place in my life where I am preprofessional. Rather, I love learning and many things interest me. Thus, I do not want to exclude any area of my life just yet. That said, several sciences, and political science, seem to stand out as particularly interesting.</p>
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<p>Well, the OP asked about poli sci. I’m not sure where you’re sticking that in your weird humanities classification, but MIT has one of the nation’s best poli sci departments, especially in security studies. I know several people who have been in the program (and it was my humanities concentration) and you can get a seriously kickass education and opportunities.</p>
<p>Furthermore, you’re still wrong. Majoring in something like writing at MIT (there is no “English” department at MIT, but there’s writing and literature) can get you a great job as a tech writer or a science journalist. The Comparative Media Studies program is one of the tops in that area, with some of the field’s leading lights, and if you’re not academia-inclined, it’s probably one of the best hooks into the lucrative video/computer gaming industry that you can find anywhere, especially if you take a CS class or two with it.</p>
<p>Yes - the poli sci program at MIT is at the top of national universities, and like what the previous poster said, in foreign policy/security…etc. I’ve seen a lot of course 17 majors here - definitely not everyone is a science major here.</p>
<p>Economics is also a very strong department at MIT. </p>
<p>The President of Tufts and the CEO of Beth Israel Hospital (one of Harvard Medical School’s 3 major teaching hospitals) are both non-science graduates of MIT (I think they majored in urban studies and planning). Both say that they got a great education in how to think and solve problems at MIT. Both are superb at what they do and have had very different kinds of jobs.</p>
<p>MIT social sciences might be a terrific major for kids who are bright and mathematical but find the massive amounts of reading and writing that are typical at many high-end schools to be oppressive. It is on the list for my bright but dyslexic son.</p>
<p>This should not suggest that the HASS subjects at MIT do not involve significant amounts of reading and writing.</p>
<p>I know a lot of MIT HASS graduates. They are all doing very well, but it isn’t just HASS. MIT has a top architecture school (we usually rank in the top 10, though I believe last year we slipped to 14). Every one of the architecture graduates have the same General Institute Requirements. It’s all about what you want to do, and what you will be happy doing.</p>
<p>mikalye, thanks for clarifying. I wasn’t suggesting that a humanities course at MIT would necessarily not involve reading but was instead thinking about the overall mix of courses someone majoring in social science at MIT might have relative to someone at another top school. My guess is that the General Institute Requirements are more skewed towards courses with mathematical content than heavy reading than most high-end schools. My speculation could be wrong. Is it?</p>
<p>Nope, you’re right, unlike some other universities which graduate students who honestly haven’t taken math or science since junior year of high school, the general institute requirements here do require a certain minimum degree of well-roundedness in all of its graduates. Yes, this means you’ll be taking a good slew of science/math classes along w/ all of your humanities.</p>