Hello. I am a high school senior with a large number of intellectual pursuits, but I have no clear outline of what “job” I would like to have. My primary passions are Economics, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Political Science, Astronomy, and Philosophy. I know this covers a wide array of fields which is why I need help condensing what I want to do. I want to be an innovator, but I also want to study the universe, and effect the political landscape of the world. If I could be anyone it would be a combination of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Christopher Hitchens. Thanks!
If you are a high school senior, have you already applied to schools?
Many schools allow you to start as undecided. With your advisor’s guidance, you take a variety of classes that reflect your interests and also fulfill distribution requirements.
Schools vary on distribution requirements. For the schools you’ve already applied to, look at the course offerings, and see how much flexibility you have. Some schools allow you to create your own major. You can double-major, add minors.
A friend’s son double-majored in college in English (creative writing) and also took lots of math/science courses. He’s currently working on an MS in Computer Science, focusing on software development. He’s brilliant in many areas.
As a HS senior you don’t need to have it all figured out, but focus on schools that will allow you to explore many academic interests while allowing you to earn a degree in 4 years.
For additional support, you should post the colleges to which you have submitted applications.
I applied to almost every college in the top 10 list
Which top ten list (USNWR?)
I’m a bit confused on what advice you want. Most deadlines for applications passed, so you should probably see where you get in and consider your options then. Unless you’re looking for places with later deadlines to apply to.
As stated above, you can go without a declared major, which you should do. Take different classes and make your decision once you’ve been in college for a while.
I have a similar situation. I’m a senior and already applied to colleges. I want to study lots of subjects in college, including cognitive science, political science, environmental science, economics, and physics (maybe literature and math too…). Because of this, I was attracted to liberal arts colleges. In general, liberal arts schools seem more focused on a broad education. I also applied to schools without a core curriculum so that I can explore many subjects unhindered by requirements.
Even if USNWR may be the indirectly referenced source, they don’t publish a single comprehensive top ten list. All of their rankings are arranged by category.
I agree that liberal arts colleges with flexible curricula and wide-ranging fields of study could be great options for you. However, you would be well beyond this stage of selection at this time.
You could potentially be an innovator in any of those fields. It depends on what kind of innovation(s) you’d like to be deeply involved in. Cognitive science and computer science are probably the two places where you can contribute the most to technology and devices that are used by the public, but Hitchens (and many other innovators) was famous for his work in the more political science/philosophy realm, and people like John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, and Alan Greenspan are renowned for their work in economics. There are always influential and innovative astronomers, philosophers, and politicians/political scientists as well.
It really just depends on your interests. So I agree that the step here is to take some classes and see what clicks with you when you go to college. Any top college is going to have strengths in all of these areas.