<p>Yo, I don't watch Cspan every second, but I am interested in this major. I get good grades in government, econ etc. but I don't have a real political background. Would it be too challenging for me to have this subject as my major if I am only walking into it with pure curiosity?</p>
<p>answer me!</p>
<p>YOU ARE MY COMRADES, COME TO ME!!!!</p>
<p>No--</p>
<p>PPS is one of the most popular majors at Duke, and the majority of the people pursuing it don't have real political backgrounds (initially, at least). It's really interdisciplinary, and people major in PPS for a whole slew of (sometimes very different) reasons-- many not having ANY political aspirations at all. It's a major that you really need to be curious and at, at the bare minimum, well versed in what's going on in the nation/world. You have to be prepared to see how the policies are applied-- and therefore take statistics, and macroµ econ. It's not just theoretical, which is more in the political science department</p>
<p>Ok then. Thanks.</p>
<p>One more thing: why do you have to be well versed in what is going on? DOn't they reiterate this material in the classroom? I know a layout of what's happening, but I don't exactly know the wage of a North Korean infantry soldier, you know? lol</p>
<p>you will be alongside people who intern for campaigns, volunteer with non-profit organizations, and those of us who are interested in the political process, problem solving, and/or international affairs. Keeping up to date on current news and such just helps provide a framework to learn the material in....and also helps lessen the total amount material you have to learn. and as a heads up, unless they opened a new section of 55D, I'm not sure you'll be able to take any core pps classes. If you're dead set on PPS, look to start taking econ 51/55, or just 55 if you have AP credit. That or Stat 101. Those are the non PPS required courses.</p>
<p>Yeah-- to add onto that, from the looks of it, all classes listed in the PPS department are full already, soooo... if you're interested in PPS, start taking econ or stat, or just wait until spring.</p>
<p>Bluestar7 or Lex: This semester I will be doing the Visions of Freedom FOCUS program. As I am sure you know, I have to select 1 non-FOCUS elective. I am currently deciding between taking Econ Principles or a Foreign Language.</p>
<p>How difficult is Economics Principles? Due to the intensity of the FOCUS program, should I wait until spring to take it and just start a foreign language? Or is it suitable to take Econ Principles now--so that I can take Intermediate Economics I the following semester--and start a Foreign Language in spring.</p>
<p>Both are actually VERY common choices for people in focus.
Part of me thinks that it would be beneficial to take Econ1 in the fall (you'll have the option of Econ 1 or Econ 51 which are the same course, only Econ 1 is intended for freshmen and it's only offered in the fall). Econ 1 won't be so bad: you have to read the Wall St Journal for test extra credit questions, there'll be homework, but I think like two tests a semester with an optional final. It's two lectures and a discussion section (and you're very lucky that for my year, Econ 1 in the fall and 51 in the spring were at 8:45am on west and in the fall now it's in the afternoon).Of course, some people will find it hard and struggle through it, but other people find Econ 1 very managable and easy. At least with my focus last year, the people who took Econ 1 were not overwhelmed by their course work. I took Feaver's IR class and I had more work than they did.... and that's probably even less than the people who did Focus and general chemistry.</p>
<p>Thanks bluestar7. I think I will take Econ 1 in the Fall. Based off what you have said, I would prefer to take a class intended for freshmen, rather than 51, which is more for everyone. Correct? Anyway, Professor Kelly is teaching Econ 1 in the Fall. He seems to get better reviews than Professor Neil De Marchi who will be teaching 51.</p>
<p>I suppose I will just start a Foreign Language in the Fall. Thanks for your help. Also, I was thinking about self-studying for Econ this summer in order to have a more concrete background than what was taught at my high school.</p>
<p>Where are you getting the reviews abotu professors? Is there a site because I have the same issue.</p>
<p>On ACES when you look up courses you can see like numerical rankings of professors.
Neil De Marchi is supposed to not be a great professor, and even looking at the syllabi for the two classes, his course looks worse than 1. (There's no final for 51, but each test increases by 10% in value, which kind of sucks, and there's a research paper).
You can also look on ratemyprofessors.com -- if I had known about that site last semester, I wouldn't have taken a class.
If you guys have any questions about professors, I might know about them.</p>
<p>AH k. By the way, bluestar, how woul u describe economics in general. Is it a harder major than pubpolicy in general? Is it less interesting?</p>
<p>i never really considered econ as a major-- and i only am taking econ because i need to for pps. my boyfriend who is a pps major as well initially thought he'd be an economics major, but (we were randomly just talking about this too) he thinks that the economics major isn't very interesting and that it's a little too structured for his tastes. i mean-- the general economics classes i don't find tremendously interesting, but i find the electives interesting, and to complete a major, you need to take them. (for instance, my best friend is taking an urban economics class in the fall... it entails a 35pg research paper, but i'd LOVE to take that class once i take econ 55 b/c i'm interested in urban development/planning). i wouldn't necessarily think an econ BA is much harder than a pps degree, but an econ BS degree is a lot harder because of the levels of math it requires,</p>