Triple major or graduate early?

Student Lounge College Life
1

Bear with me - there are a lot of questions. I’m a freshman at NYU, and after having a conversation with my advisor, discovered that I could either triple major and graduate on time, or graduate a full year early with a double major and an honors thesis. I’m also planning on going to law school, so take that into account; I really need advice on which path to choose.
Multiple options for each path:

On time graduation:
-Triple major in Philosophy, Politics, and History, with an honors thesis in Philosophy - no minors.
-Double major in Philosophy and Politics, with an honors thesis in Philosophy, and a minor in Physics.
-Double Major in Philosophy and History, with an honors thesis in Philosophy and a double minor in Physics and Politics.

Early (1 year) graduation:
-Double major in Philosophy and History, with an honors thesis in Philosophy - no minors.
-Single major in any of the three with an honors thesis + a minor in Physics.

I don’t have to take any extra classes outside the normal 4 class/semester for every option listed - in other words, my courseload is normal.
* Cumulative GPA will probably be slightly (by a max of 0.1) higher if I graduate on time.
***I breathe philosophy, politics is less my jam but still pretty interesting, and history is just an “eh.” Physics is somewhere between philosophy and politics in terms of passion, but starting a major in Physics isn’t feasible this late.

As is well known, NYU is very expensive, and in my situation, costs about 65k a year (which may or may not decrease by a small amount if my applications to school scholarships are successful). However, my mother can afford all options without taking out any loans (she had funds saved for college + high annual income), and has told me that she’s willing to do either track. In every case, I graduate debt-free, and if I get into a T14 law school, she will pay 1/3 of the cost. I would really like to save her money, but I don’t know if I’ll regret not considering all options in the future.

Given all this info (sorry ab the overload), any advice is welcome and appreciated!

2

Graduate early.

3

Graduate early, you will be saving. yourself a ton of money and Law Schools don’t care about how many majors you have or even what your major is. The only thing that matters is your GPA and LSAT score. My son had the exact same situation. He chose to graduate a year early and is finishing up his first year of law school. He is so glad he chose to graduate early as none of his majors or his intended 3rd major would have been of benefit in LS. Instead of spending the money on an extra year of undergrad, use that money for a great LSAT prep class next summer. Find a pre-law adviser at your school to help you navigate LS applications and LSAT prep.

4

Thanks for the commentary! It was really helpful and was in concurrence with what most of my friends and family told me to do. I discussed this with quite a few other people, and I’ve decided to graduate early. Only one question remains: should I double major in History or minor in Physics? Both don’t require any extra enrollment. I love physics, and am neutral about history, but history might give me a GPA boost.

5

Which major is more helpful to you in thinking through issues and problem solving. Are you analytical? Can you forests and trees? These kind of cognitive skills could be very helpful in law school and practice, especially a lawyer engaged in evaluating the quality of research and evaluation of findings.

History is always interesting and informative and provides a long view of current events. There are enough books, articles, and varying opinions of historical events to keep your mind active and entertained. You can read history continually, exhautively, thoroughly, and still have much to read.

If your love is philosophy then do philosophy as your major. It also gives you lots of opportunity to think. As a minor, physics permits you to assess data and make an educated decisions about whether conclusions are supported by data. You will never read everything in history in your lifetime. History is fundamental and embedded in law.

So, major in philosophy, minor in physics and enjoy history as a personal pursuit that relates to law. You won’t be able to beat off history with a stick.

Nice assortment of interests! Best wishes.

6

Graduate early and go to law school. Use that $66K for law school.

My DD had many credits from IB Diploma + some summer courses and graduated a year and half early and then got her Master’s in Secondary math educaton from Columbia Teacher’s college.

7

Agree…I’d save the money. You may want to also consider working for a year or two as a paralegal before applying to law school.

8

There is a big different in philosophy/politics and physics. Have fun with that. I’d narrow it down and get out early - save you a ton of money that can put towards law school.

9

Graduate early and buy yourself a new Mercedes with the money you will save.

10

Physics and philosophy are supposed to be the perfect combination.

11

You don’t have to add any additional majors or minors…you can explore your interests by just taking some classes in those areas. Not formally declaring leaves you some open space to take classes in any.

If you love physics, you can take some classes pass/fail so they won’t affect your GPA. Usually if you are minoring in something you have to take the classes for a grade to get the credit, but if you are just taking them for “fun” you can choose to do them pass/fail!

Then you could also take some classes in history and kind of just curate a list yourself without having to adhere to minor requirements. (Although if you are just ‘neutral’ about history, I see no reason to do that - you can spend the time taking physics classes, or more philosophy or politics classes, or maybe some classes in writing or reasoning that will help you in law school.)

12

I get the part about saving $$, but really, what’s the rush? College, imo, is a short, blissful time to explore and grow, not the express train out of town.

There’s lots you can explore with an open mind, not just forging a set path, this triple major or that double with a minor. And the social growing to go with it. Internships or other challenging and/or valuable experiences. Life’s tough, try to enjoy the ride.