<p>I'm exiting my freshman year from UCLA and need help! I'm not sure which course of action to take!</p>
<p>I am in quite a dilemma. I enjoy all the social sciences; history, economics, polysci, and psychology.</p>
<p>History: I love learning about past civilizations.</p>
<p>Economics: I think it will be good preparation for a job out of college and allow me to get into graduate schools with broad options. Though it will probably be more difficult. Also, I like how it involves human behavior.</p>
<p>PolySci: I'm not obsessed with politics, but I liked my polysci class in highschool and find it interesting as well.</p>
<p>Psychology: I like learning about the psychology behind people. I think I would enjoy this and use it to help someone.</p>
<p>One last thing, I'm in a broadcasting club and HIGHLY enjoy announcing, although I am not at that level yet. Will any of these open me up to broadcasting? Or will I have to double my studies with the journalism or communications program?</p>
<p>Note: I am very creative, especially in writing, but stay away from English because I'm not a book worm.</p>
<p>You didn’t mention Anthropology. That field could include aspects of all the other social sciences you mentioned.</p>
<p>You also could consider an interdisciplinary major in International Studies/Area Studies. This would include all the social sciences, except psychology. For that, you could just take psychology electives in the topics that might interest you (though upper-level psych courses primarily might be filled with psych majors). If you did an area studies major, that would assume that there is a particular world region that interests you.</p>
<p>I agree that an economics major would improve job prospects. Perhaps you can combine it with another major. International Studies is the obvious one to pair with economics. </p>
<p>None of these majors specifically opens you up to broadcasting. If you wanted to go into it, along with your broadcasting club experience, they could provide an appropriate background for news broadcasting. Many people who work in broadcasting come with a degree in that area, but many do not and do just fine. In fact, having a background in something besides broadcasting is a plus, imo. You’d always have the option of doing a graduate degree in broadcasting if you thought that would add value to your credentials, but that’s not a guaranteed gain.</p>
<p>Thanks! This definitely helps me out.</p>
<p>You didn’t mention Sociology either. I think Econ. would be the best, but thes just me. You could always double major.</p>
<p>You could also look into Geography, which is also an interdisciplinary field that would encompass almost all of those subjects :)</p>
<p>Whichever you choose as a major, make sure you have a strong background in both qualitative and quantitative skills. You’d be best served by combining something like history/philosophy with psychology/political science/economics, but make sure you have some knowledge of every discipline. Economics is often considered a good major specifically because it entails a strong quantitative background, while the other majors do not necessarily require it. So, if you do choose one of the others, make sure you supplement your studies because quantitative skills are very valuable on the job market and differentiate you most significantly from other candidates.</p>
<p>If you don’t take journalism classes, be sure to grab an internship. That’s often more important than having a journalism major itself.</p>
<p>Econ would be the most marketable, but I think Anthropology and Sociology would be the most interesting because of the courses offered. Check out the course catalog for each department, if not the course offerings per quarter.</p>