Questions regarding college admission and major from a international student.
MosT
USA. I'm totally new to this newsgroup and collge stuffs, so here are
my questions. I'm sorry in advance if my questions sound silly :(
1) What major do most good students there choose? In my country, all
(almost) best students apply to medical school. I heard that in USA
Law School is as competitive as medical school. Is that right?
2) If I plan to study JD, what should I study while I'm in
undergraduate? I'm a highly science,mathematics-oriented person. It is
inappropriate in my country for science students to study law. What
about in USA?
Thank you.
out west
Most students major in what they are interested in and that could be
anything from philosophy to studio art to chemistry/physics, etc. Excellent,
gifted students are found in every major...not just in MD or JD programs.
Remember that the US has a full range of universities...from extremely
selective to very unselective. The differences in the students will be more
in where they attend college rather then what their major is in. For
example, Stanford has a terrific music program. A top university will have
top students in every major. A low level university will have average
students (even in pre-med programs). Get it? It's a different system here.
People here are encouraged to pursue what interests them and not what might
'get a job'.
This newsgroup mainly caters to people interested in the top
colleges...whether those be liberal arts schools or universities. whether
their major is history or business or something else.
The idea that you are interested in math/science and think you need to
major in pre-law or pre-medicine is ludicrous in this country. If you were
to choose you'd fit better in medicine...but maybe you want to be a
mathematician, not a doctor? Byer
"MosT" <adi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3b31796b.03031...@posting.google.com...
CAStinneford
adi...@hotmail.com (MosT) writes:
>Hi all. I'm a highschool student planning to study undergraduate at
>USA. I'm totally new to this newsgroup and collge stuffs, so here are
>my questions. I'm sorry in advance if my questions sound silly :(
>
>1) What major do most good students there choose? In my country, all
>(almost) best students apply to medical school. I heard that in USA
>Law School is as competitive as medical school. Is that right?
You're approaching this from the wrong angle. It isn't a question of what most
good students pick for their major, it should be a question of what are you
interested in. Do you want to be a doctor or a lawyer? Or do you want to do
something else. If you want to be a doctor, then pre-med would be good for you.
If you want to be a lawyer, you can major in anything you want. There's no
pre-law major but the most important thing would be to learn to think
critically and write well. If you don't know what you want to do, then major in
whatever you find most interesting. Most of the colleges we've looked at don't
expect you to decide on a major until the end of your sophomore year.
>2) If I plan to study JD, what should I study while I'm in
>undergraduate? I'm a highly science,mathematics-oriented person. It is
>inappropriate in my country for science students to study law. What
>about in USA?>
Certainly not inappropriate here for a science/math major to go on to law
school but don't forget the critical thinking and writing skills.
What it comes down to is deciding what you want to do after college and if you
aren't ready to make that decision now...and most high schooler are not
ready....then find the college that will give you the most options and help in
making that decision while you are there.
Good luck....
KSG
What outwest says is largely true in theory, but not always the case
in the real world.
Many students go into "lucrative" fields in this country (the USA)
despite having interests in other fields. We have tons of lawyers in
this country, and do you honestly think that many people actually read
up on law if they weren't getting paid?
Also in the US getting into med school is much more competitive than
law school. Getting into Yale Law vs Harvard Med -- both tough
(although Harvard Med is probably more difficult), but the difference
is in that there are relatively few med programs in the US.
Lastly, I'm not convinced that you spend your undergrad studying
something you love. The issue here is that you would have often spent
time studying it in your freetime anyways.
KSG
Alcibiades
> Hi all. I'm a highschool student planning to study undergraduate at
> USA. I'm totally new to this newsgroup and collge stuffs, so here are
> my questions. I'm sorry in advance if my questions sound silly :(
>
> 1) What major do most good students there choose? In my country, all
> (almost) best students apply to medical school. I heard that in USA
> Law School is as competitive as medical school. Is that right?
Students at different levels are separated by what college they
choose, not what major they study. There are thousands of American
colleges, and they are all not equal. Looking at the best colleges
with the best students, such as Stanford, the Ivy Leagues, and top
liberal arts colleges, the "best" students major in things as widely
varying as economics, biology, chemistry, political science, English,
engineering, music, art history, history, etc.
Law school is indeed as competitive as medical school, but smart
people don't necessarily have to go to either. Some go to other
graduate programs (liberal arts, engineering, government, business)
while highly intelligent students don't go to any graduate school.
Then again, there are some very average students that go to graduate
school.
In general, looking at the top 20 or so colleges, the most popular
majors for the "best" students are economics, history, biology,
political science, and English/literature.
> 2) If I plan to study JD, what should I study while I'm in
> undergraduate? I'm a highly science,mathematics-oriented person. It is
> inappropriate in my country for science students to study law. What
> about in USA?
If you plan on studying JD, you can major in anything you want, but
you should take at least one English course and maybe a political
science course.
However, you probably don't understand how the American system works.
Law and medical schools require you to take a few courses in
preparation for their admissions programs, not any specific major. You
can major in political science, music, or art and go to medical school
(provided you take a set of classes required for medical school
outside your major); you can major in mathematics, engineering, and
chemistry and go to law school (provided you take one course in
English). The same works for most professional schools (business,
schools of government and international relations, etc.) The only
graduate programs that require a specific major are those that lead to
a Ph.D.
The American college program of study generally consists of 3 parts: a
distribution requirement, a major requirement, and electives. Each
part takes up about a third of your coursework. The distribution
requirement is a set of courses that must be spread across broad
areas, such as language, literature, social sciences, history,
mathematics, and natural sciences. The major requirement is the
specialization of your choice. Electives are whatever you want.
Therefore, you do about 2/3 of your coursework outside of your major
in an American system. This gives people the flexibility to major in
what they want without limiting their graduate school opportunities.
> Thank you.
Darccity
>majors for the "best" students are economics, history, biology,
>political science, and English/literature.
As opposed to the mediocre schools, where business, psych, criminal justice,
communications, and education dominate.
Notice that in neither list is anything vital to our future (i.e., science and
engineering) on the list.
alin
> Notice that in neither list is anything vital to our future (i.e., science
and
> engineering) on the list.
As long as we can keep up the inflow of science/engineering graduate
students from abroad, we will be alright.
KSG
I did a search for a set of top tier schools and a set of non-top tier
schools. You see little engineering (Cornell). Only Stanford had CS.
Bio is popular across the board.
Really the main difference I see is that at the top tier they have
more people that study Poli Sci. This makes sense, as I'm not sure
what you'd do with the degree from Freson State, but at Harvard it
seems obvious that you'd have political aspirations. The non top-tier
tends to study business. This makes a bit less sense. My only guess
is that there is more hope to make money through business (?).
With that said, programs like Wharton and Haas tend to be quite
competitive at competitive schools.
To summarize, your major doesn't really matter.
KSG
---
Harvard:
Economics, General
Political Science and Government, General
Psychology, General
Stanford:
Biology/Biological Sciences, General
Computer Science
Economics, General
Duke:
Biology/Biological Sciences, General
Economics, General
Psychology, General
Princeton:
English Language and Literature, General
History, General
Political Science and Government, General
Amherst:
Economics, General
English Language and Literature, General
Political Science and Government, General
Swarthmore:
Biology/Biological Sciences, General
Economics, General
Political Science and Government, General
Berkeley:
Computer Engineering, General
English Language and Literature, General
Political Science and Government, General
Cornell:
Biology/Biological Sciences, General
Engineering, General
History, General
Brown:
Biology/Biological Sciences, General
History, General
International Relations and Affairs
Fresno:
Business/Commerce, General
Health Services/Allied Health, General
Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
Morris Brown:
Biology/Biological Sciences, General
Business Administration/Management
Mass Communications/Media Studies
Oregon St:
Business Administration/Management
Engineering, General
Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
LSU:
General Studies
Management Information Systems and Services, Other
Marketing/Marketing Management, General
RI:
Communications Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric
Pharmacy (PharmD, BS/BPharm)
Psychology, General
Darccity
>tends to study business. This makes a bit less sense. My only guess
>is that there is more hope to make money through business (?).
That's because most top schools don't allow you to study business as
undergrads. As we say in academia, if you study business, you'll have a career
in business, whereas if you don't study business, you'll still wind up in
business. Reason: that's what working is in a market economy. Since starting
salaries for those with business degrees are the same as those in liberal arts,
why not major in liberal arts? Then you can learn something, discover who you
are, and be worth something to your future employer.
P.S.: If the liberal arts college you are considering offers a business major
(I call this a hybrid LA college or "LA+"), check the credentials of those
faculty. Chances are they are NOT qualified! Do NOT study business from
"profs" with MBAs. The MBA is not an academic or teaching degree, and business
programs whose faculty mostly lack a business PhD will not be accredited! By
selling out on the cheap, those LA+ colleges are attempting to meet demand of
parents (why are we paying big bucks?) while hiring cheaper instructors.
Business PhDs are very costly (because they can make big bucks outside of
academia) -- too expensive for LA colleges to hire. Also, PhD business faculty
aren't going to "settle" for teaching where there aren't many consulting
opportuniites (such as the small towns where LA+ colleges are located) and
where LA faculty shun them (for their higher salaries and professional bent).