What did you major in for undergrad?

[brittanyandrea]

What was your major in undergrad?

Edited March 16, 2017 by brittanyandrea

[Ingo93]

BS in Economics and a major in Political Science.

[kaseyleigh]

I was a journalism major and I have to say - I didn't love it at the time, but it was super helpful for both law school and grad school, where a huge part of my grades were dependent on essay/research paper writing.

[fallmpp2017]

Sociology!

[CakeTea]

BA Economics with Modern Languages

I wonder about non traditional majors. I met a MPP student who did BA philosophy

Edited March 16, 2017 by CakeTea

[Obecalp]

BFA in Theatre. 

Oh, what a different life I imagined for myself. 

[tinpants12]

Double majored in Physics & Religious Ethics, lol

I don't think it really matters all that much as long as you can show some basic quantitive chops. I have the impression that work experience seems much more important than the name of your major. I'm sure it helps, though, if you can weave your undergrad experience into a narrative about service and public policy! 

 

[Obecalp]

8 minutes ago, tinpants12 said:

Double majored in Physics & Religious Ethics, lol

I don't think it really matters all that much as long as you can show some basic quantitive chops. I have the impression that work experience seems much more important than the name of your major. I'm sure it helps, though, if you can weave your undergrad experience into a narrative about service and public policy! 

 

I will attest to the fact that work experience and building a narrative are far more important than the name of your major. I certainly do not attribute my admissions to committees being thrilled to have a theatre major in their ranks.

[Dreadfulbard]

Anthropology! 

[pedropabloerr]

Law

(I'm a lawyer, I guess LLB would be the similar)

[PolicyStud]

B.S. in biology.

Sorry I'm an odd-ball lol

[sleeplesswithcoffee]

Philosophy! Went down the CS minor route for a while before it got too dull + frustrating for me.

[chocolatecheesecake]

Ahem, I think this survey is somewhat flawed in design...

... but seriously, I think this reflects a common misconception that people who are interested in MPPs/ MPAs must have majored in something related to public policy in undergrad. Many people did something completely unrelated to public policy, and it was only after a few years of work experience that they became interested in grad school for this area. I met so many people in grad school who came from a different undergrad background, and we all felt like we were anomalies, until we talked to each other!

That being said, I was a sociology major.

[brittanyandrea]

5 hours ago, chocolatecheesecake said:

Ahem, I think this survey is somewhat flawed in design...

... but seriously, I think this reflects a common misconception that people who are interested in MPPs/ MPAs must have majored in something related to public policy in undergrad. Many people did something completely unrelated to public policy, and it was only after a few years of work experience that they became interested in grad school for this area. I met so many people in grad school who came from a different undergrad background, and we all felt like we were anomalies, until we talked to each other!

That being said, I was a sociology major.

I made this as a away for those who KNOW they want to get a masters and have not yet gone to undergrad. This was the case with me a few years ago and I just kinda guessed. 

Thankfully, masters programs are super flexible about undergrad so it doesn't truly matter, I just thought it would be interesting to see. 

[Student007]

Asian Studies. I'm surprised that Regional Area Studies wasn't included as a choice since the majority of Language and Area Studies do end up in IR work.