Should I Change Majors? Seeking Advice.

College Majors
1

Hi all. I’m just now getting all set to get back into the swing of things with school, going into my second year at a Canadian University (Laurier). I did pretty well my first year, where I majored in criminology (honours) and earned a 3.9 GPA. Criminology was fascinating, and I continue to enjoy it, but the main reason I opted to major in it was because I believed that it would be relevant to law school, should I choose to pursue a career in law come graduation. Of course I discovered recently that law school is quite literally a numbers game, and that one’s major really has no bearing on acceptances.

As it stands, I am currently on route to graduate in 3 years time with a double major in criminology and general history. History has always been a passion of mine, and so I took it up as a sort of muse in first year. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and have come to think that I would, somewhere down the road, like to pursue a graduate degree in anthropology. The study of culture has always fascinated me, in both modern and historical contexts, and I guess you could say that my ‘dream’ career would be that of an anthropology professor. That being said, law is still a viable (and entirely more feasible/realistic) option.

My question to you is as follows; should I change my current major situation to something like: general history in combination with culture and society? I figure if my major has no bearing on law school, I could actively prepare myself for a graduate degree in anthropology while not crippling myself at all in regards to law. Sort of a two birds one stone sort of deal. Does this make sense? Or would I be able to enter a master’s program in anthropology with my current setup, and subsequently need not go through the hassle of rescheduling my classes? I’m just trying to simultaneously accommodate both career options, and keep all doors open, so to speak. If anyone has any experience pertaining to the matter, or could offer insight, it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, and I’ll be sure to check back here frequently.

2

Anthropology graduate programs - the really good ones - are quite competitive, and top preference will be given to students with an undergraduate major in anthropology or close to it. So if you want to keep the door open to a graduate degree in anthropology after college without taking significant coursework post-college, the best option is to change your major to anthropology. If you’re only going into your second year, changing your classes shouldn’t be that much of a hassle.

However, that doesn’t mean you have to do that. If you are willing to get an MA in anthro before moving onto a PhD, you’ll have better chances. You should still take some undergrad coursework in anthropology, but fitting in some electives might be enough. Or you might minor in anthropology. Again, the optimal position to apply from is as a major, but with some coursework you might be successful as well.

Also, I feel compelled to let you know that both the law market and the academic market in anthropology are terrible!

3

I’m well aware of the terrible market for both jobs, it’s a bit better up here in Canada as far as I know (for law anyways), but nonetheless the outlook isn’t promising. Unfortunately my interests are only really applicable to such jobs found in either academia or law/politics, and I figure I have to at least be good at what I do. And I figured that majoring in anthropology would likely prove to be the best bet itself, but my current university offers no anthropology program (I’m at Laurier Brantford, it’s quite small). Due to my financial situation, I am unable to switch universities (I’m able to attend while living at home for free at Laurier Brantford).

I’m more than willing to take a Master’s before pursuing a PhD, and should I go down this road it’s likely the path I’ll choose. I guess I just need to know whether or not my current situation, assuming my grades get higher in the coming years, make me a viable candidate for at least a reputable MA program. Would it be worth dropping criminology for something more relevant, or would it be negligible in the long run? Also, thanks for the timely reply.

4

Well, one way to answer the question is to take a look at the requirements for a few top programs in anthropology.

McGill’s MA in sociocultural anthropology:

Admission to the MA program is open competitively to students holding an Honours or Major BA in Anthropology, although special provisions are made in the MA program in Medical Anthropology for students with a joint expertise in Health Sciences and Anthropology. Outstanding candidates with Bachelor’s degrees in other disciplines but with substantial background related to Anthropology are sometimes admitted on the condition that they complete a specified number of additional courses in Anthropology.

University of Toronto:

Applicants to the MA and MSc programs are expected to hold an appropriate Bachelor’s degree, with a final year average of at least B+ or its equivalent from a recognized university. Normally, students must have at least five full-year Anthropology courses (or equivalent) with a minimum average of B+ to allow them to specialize in their proposed areas of study. However, the department also welcomes applications from students with competence in related fields, in line with our interest in innovative cross-field and cross-disciplinary work. Students who have done coursework in related fields which they would like the admissions committee to consider should attach a separate sheet as a last page to the research statement, listing these courses and explaining the relevance to the proposed program of study in anthropology.

University of British Columbia:

Applicants must hold a four-year bachelor’s degree with a major, honours or concentration in anthropology or the equivalent…In addition, applicants to the MA program must have completed at least 12 credits in senior anthropology courses with a minimum average of A -…Outstanding candidates with undergraduate degrees in other disciplines but with substantial background related to anthropology, or who are missing one or more of our admission requirements, are occasionally admitted on the condition that they complete a number of additional courses in anthropology.

Columbia’s MA in sociocultural anthropology:

  • We prefer to admit students who have some background in anthropology, but an undergraduate degree in anthropology is not required.*

Hunter College:

Applicants thus often come from unusually cosmopolitan backgrounds, and our admissions policy is adjusted to a high degree of variability in level of training and prior background in anthropology. Our admissions system-- administered by the College’s Graduate Admissions Office-- is two-tiered: highly qualified applicants with strong backgrounds may be accepted system directly into the Master’s Program as “matriculated” students. Highly motivated applicants who have little previous background in anthropology are occasionally admitted with “non-matriculated” status. After completing one to three courses with grades of “B” or higher, non-matriculated students may apply to the Master’s Program. Admission with non-matriculated status is in no way a guarantee of admission to the Master’s Program.

It’s much harder to find these kinds of statements on American universities’ websites, for some reason - I checked out a couple of other big anthropology departments that offer MAs (Stanford, Berkeley) and they had no such information. A lot of anthropology departments in the U.S. also don’t offer a terminal MA.

So it appears that it is not negligible in the long run: if you want an MA and later a PhD in anthropology, your best bet is to change your major to an anthro-related major.

However, I’m checking out LB’s classes in the society, culture, and environment major and they don’t look directly comparable to a major in anthropology. There are a lot of classes with interesting titles, but no classes on physical anthropology, ethnography, research methods, or anthropological theory. Those are the classes that these programs expect you to take in an anthropology major (UBC says it explicitly on their website).

So staying in your criminology major won’t hurt you if your only other option is the SCE major. If you had the option of an anthropology major, I’d say change to that, but since you don’t, it probably doesn’t matter in the long run. Do see if you can take some of the culture-related classes, though, particularly if they are taught by anthropologists and maybe include some theory.

5

Alright, then that looks to be my course of action. Thanks again for your input, it’s proven to be very valuable, and I appreciate it. I’ll see about taking what few culture related classes we have here at LB, and hopefully fashion myself into a moderately competitive candidate. I also have one more related question for you, if it’s not too much trouble. Laurier’s main campus offers an MA in ‘Cultural Analysis and Social Theory’, which incorporates both anthropological and sociological teachings. Perusing the requirements, I would be at no disadvantage with my current setup should I opt to apply to the program in 3 years time. Would this MA not be able to make me eligible for an anthropology doctorate program? Given its somewhat interdisciplinary nature, I simply couldn’t be sure, but it seems entirely relevant in my opinion. Any input?

6

I don’t know if adding a comment here will suffice as a ‘bump’ or not, but that’s the intention. I’d just like to know whether or not I’m misguided in believing that the MA in Cultural Analysis and Social Theory from Laurier would sufficiently prepare me for (and make me competitive in regards to) a PhD in Anthropology. Apologies if I’m breaching any forum stipulations in posting this.

7

So there’s a difference between “eligible” and “competitive.”

Many PhD programs, particularly in the United States, don’t require applicants to have an MA at all. Even the ones that do (including the Canadian ones) will usually have some clause on the website about preferring anthropology MAs but being open to people who MAs in closely-related fields with the appropriate preparation. So if you did this MA, you’d still be eligible, most likely to apply for PhD programs in anthropology.

However, I don’t think you’d be as competitive for anthropology programs. Here’s why: anthropology is a discipline. Thus, graduate programs in anthropology usually have a certain expected set of knowledge they expect incoming students to come in with: anthropological theories, a breadth in different anthropological disciplines (like physical and sociocultural), research methods in anthropology like ethnography, perhaps a bit of depth in one particular area, usually reading knowledge of at least one foreign language with beginning work on the second. MA programs in straight anthropology will provide you with all of that stuff; this MA in cultural and social analysis seems to be quite interdisciplinary and might not hit all the high points.

For example, just a quick glance at the MA program doesn’t reveal a class in ethnographic methods. I believe the undergraduate major you’re pursuing doesn’t have one either. So that would mean in a BA + MA, you wouldn’t have encountered an ethnographic methods class; many PhD programs in anthro would consider that a deal breaker. And even if it wasn’t a deal breaker per se, you’d still be competing with the other hundreds of applicants who did have ethnographic methods. If I were a professor and I were selecting a new doctoral student to join my research group and help me be a more productive scholar by publishing papers together, and I wanted to choose a student who I believed would hit the ground running and finish the program in a timely manner - and I had the choice between a student with a basic psychological research methods class and one without - I would certainly choose the one with the research methods class, unless the other student was truly outstanding AND had somehow (through work experience or otherwise) made up for that lack. That’s because I can be sure that the student with the research methods class has a basic foundational knowledge in the way that we, as psychologists, do research. I can’t be sure about the other one.

The other, less tangible part of this is research. It appears that Laurier Brantford’s professors do some research; however, branch campus professors rarely do research at the same level as professors at main campuses. Really strong research experience at the MA level is going to make you infinitely more competitive for a PhD program, particularly since you don’t have the undergrad major.

With the undergrad major, you kind of have no choice - Laurier Brantford is the school you can attend, and you’re picking the closest thing they offer. My guess is that professors will be more forgiving about that, particularly if you seek out opportunities to try to enhance your education and bring it more in line with a traditional anthropology major. But with the MA, you absolutely do have a choice to go to another school - another school with 1) a disciplinary anthropology program and 2) stronger research resources than Laurier Brantford.