<p>So, I was wondering how possible it would be to do a triple major at UChicago? (Ideally, for me, it would be Classics-Fundamentals-Anthropology.) Is this at all common? Or would you simply short-circuit?</p>
<p>You could in theory triple major, although the only person who I’ve heard of who has done this did chem-biochem-bio, which seems a lot more crossover-y than what you’re looking at. Remember, minors are also possible, and majors like Fundamentals are flexible enough that you can take a lot of the courses you’d want from classics or anthro without majoring in those subjects. Likely, to triple major in three things that are not perfectly similar, you’d wind up needing to take summer courses and probably never taking any electives. As a fourth year, I started as a bio and German major, switched to psych, and am now a psych major German minor with a ton of bio classes and a ton of classes in the History and Philosophy of Science-- classes that don’t apply to a major I’ve declared, but still show up on my transcript, and classes that I wouldn’t have been able to take had I stuck with the dissimilar double major (and, frankly, I’m happier having taken the interesting electives rather than German classes I wasn’t particularly excited about just to get the “major” label fulfilled). </p>
<p>So, yes, you might short circuit, and, yes, your options will be really restricted outside of those fields if you really decide to pursue this. If you’re really serious, talk to your adviser when you get here-- but what’s the motive behind it? Only one major will show up on your degree, and you’ll have the ability to take classes in these departments even if you’re not a declared major in them. Think more about a double-major only, or a major and a minor–these are really more reasonable options.</p>
<p>gracello, could you please elaborate on the HIPS and bio classes since you took many of those? Anyone else out there who is actually a HIPS major? What’s your opinion of the program?</p>
<p>The HIPS program is really interesting-- I took my first HIPS class my 3rd year, hadn’t thought I would be interested in it before then, and loved it. By the time I had taken the class it was too late for me to switch my major (and I do enjoy the major I am in), but had I considered HIPS before then I think I would have majored in it.</p>
<p>People do HIPS from all sides-- there are those who are more interested in history, those more interested in philosophy, and those more interested in looking at science/medicine in a new way. The course offerings are very interdisciplinary, and you do also have to take science courses for the major. The classes are small and mainly seminar-style. To get a sense for it, I’d suggest taking a look at the HIPS course offerings and program description at timeschedules.uchicago.edu.</p>
<p>Thank you for your feedback gracello!</p>