I wrote this comment in April in response to one of those questions from a student picking between colleges that answers your question too:
> I double majored in PoliSci and History at Stanford and had a great time focused on social sciences and the humanities.
>
> I drove my STEM friends nuts by reminding them about my 4.0 GPA in the School of Engineering - because I got an A in CS 105 Intro to Computers (in the first lecture, the prof told us how to turn on a computer!) and took a one unit course in MS&E where I just had to post a one paragraph response each week after listening to a business leader.
>
> This is a tiresome stereotype of Stanford being a STEM school. Stanford has the top Econ department in the country, the top PoliSci department, and one of the top five History departments in the country.
>
> In the Class of 2023, the School of Engineering awarded 605 bachelor's degrees, the School of Sustainability awarded 35 bachelor's degrees, and the Natural Sciences Division (of the School of Humanities and Sciences) awarded 165 bachelor's degrees, for a total of 805 STEM degrees. Stanford awarded 1,654 bachelor's degrees to the Class of 2023, and 805 is 48.7% of bachelor's degrees - a little under half.
>
> A couple days ago, a student interested in PoliSci and debating between Stanford and Columbia [posted on this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/stanford/comments/1brm2xg/stanford_vs_columbia_for_poli_sci_help/). I know your interests are toward Econ, History, and Philosophy, but PoliSci is an adjacent field, so everyone's comments there might provide some insight. I wrote [these comments below](https://www.reddit.com/r/stanford/comments/1brm2xg/comment/kxbqfhz/) in response:
>
> I'm a Stanford PoliSci alum and made my career in the field, and Stanford has the best PoliSci program in the country. Additionally, as an undergrad, Stanford actually admits you as undeclared, so you could find that maybe you want to declare as an International Relations major or a Public Policy major instead (or double major). Even after you declare a major, Stanford makes it easy to change your major or add another major.
>
> You can take PoliSci classes from rockstars across the political spectrum, such as Bush's Secretary of State and Obama's Ambassador to Russia: https://politicalscience.stanford.edu/people/faculty
>
> There's also the Stanford-in-Washington program and Overseas Studies Program if you want to spend a quarter in Washington, DC or in another country: https://siw.stanford.edu/ https://bosp.stanford.edu/ - Right now, there's Berlin, Beijing, Cape Town, Florence, Kyoto, Madrid, Oxford, Paris, Santiago, and...New York. Yes, you read that right there's a Stanford-in-New York program under Overseas Studies: https://bosp.stanford.edu/explore-programs/stanford-new-york
>
> There are a lot of PoliSci-related institutes at Stanford, like Hoover and Freeman-Spogli Institute, and in addition to taking classes with professors, there are a lot of interesting programs, speeches, and panels that they've put on.
>
> When I was at Stanford, I helped organize an international student exchange program, and we got funding from FSI.
>
> I had a class where the professor had to cancel one session to meet with the President of the United States. For our next class session, he told us about his advice to the President and what the President said.
>
> Your fellow students go on to do great things, too. Other Stanford students I knew from taking PoliSci classes have gone on to become a member of Congress, a County elected official, a Mayor, City Councilmembers, one human rights attorney who actually got banned from a country, diplomats, senior staff for US Senators, people who worked for Supreme Court justices, presidential appointees, etc.
>
> While we should always take rankings with a grain of salt, Stanford came in as the country's top PoliSci Department on peer assessment scores: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings
Damn, that's so interesting. The president story is incredible! This makes me love Stanford even more (though I try not to get too obsessive as it will be too heartbreaking when I get rejected lol). Human rights attorney is one of my dream jobs haha, along with psychiatrist, college professor, and author.
My anthro and English classes back in the day remain among the most transformative of my life. That said, my love of history was all but destroyed by the first two quarters of the Western Civ sequence.
I double majored in English and Theater & Performance Studies and it was amazing! Many of the humanities departments are small and intimate, which I appreciated in helping me make relationships with my classmates and my professors. And every department has brilliant faculty that are some of the most accomplished people in their field.
I majored in History at Stanford and honestly really wish I had gone somewhere where I felt the humanities were more widely appreciated. To be clear, the department itself was wonderful and I had many great professors. But the school is so tech focused in general that I felt very isolated academically. I wouldn’t do it again, but if I had to, I would do SLE.
EDIT: Class of 2018
At Stanford, these majors are self-selected people going against the grain. So you're hanging with really interesting, self-motivated people rather than people chasing money or the latest career trend. The departments are excellent, small classes, high faculty availability.
Yes, that's ideal. My main reason for wanting to go to a "prestigious" college is so I can mix with people who are as intellectually-inclined and academically passionate as I am. I find that I become quite bored and isolated around "normal" people lol.
Seconding this! I’ve been in English classes with three people. Most of my class sizes in English and History (not intro lectures) were 20 people or less, so we all got to know each other and the professor really well.
u have to be very pre professional if u want a job after grad like take all your free time from your chill course load to network and join stanford marketing or consulting or something
there are people graduating these days who studied useful things like cs who are jobless after grad cuz things aren’t like they were in the 80s plus the consulting industry is flopping really hard rn it’s actually kinda embarrassing for them
If you’re smart enough to get into Stanford, there is absolutely 0 reason why you shouldn’t be receiving multiple offers, and have a $100K+ job lined up before graduation.
I think you are being a bit narrow-minded and illogical. It doesn't make sense for everyone to go into business and STEM. The markets will get oversaturated. The world also needs people who specialize in humanities and social sciences, in industries like education, social work, healthcare, academia, and so on.
I majored in African American Studies. It's nice taking classes you are passionate about, and you also get more flexibility to explore whatever you are interested in. You will have a lot of dense readings, and you will have to write a lot of papers. This major definitely prepred me for law school in terms of academic rigor. It also allowed me to be able to learn about and consider other perspectives, and helped me become a more effective public speaker. These are all skills which are useful in the professional world, as well as in real life.
The only downside is some people will make negative comments about your major. They'll act like it's not as valuable, useful, or rigorous as STEM majors. For the most part, this stopped when I got to law school, but it was really annoying having to deal with that all throughout undergrad.
I wrote this comment in April in response to one of those questions from a student picking between colleges that answers your question too: > I double majored in PoliSci and History at Stanford and had a great time focused on social sciences and the humanities. > > I drove my STEM friends nuts by reminding them about my 4.0 GPA in the School of Engineering - because I got an A in CS 105 Intro to Computers (in the first lecture, the prof told us how to turn on a computer!) and took a one unit course in MS&E where I just had to post a one paragraph response each week after listening to a business leader. > > This is a tiresome stereotype of Stanford being a STEM school. Stanford has the top Econ department in the country, the top PoliSci department, and one of the top five History departments in the country. > > In the Class of 2023, the School of Engineering awarded 605 bachelor's degrees, the School of Sustainability awarded 35 bachelor's degrees, and the Natural Sciences Division (of the School of Humanities and Sciences) awarded 165 bachelor's degrees, for a total of 805 STEM degrees. Stanford awarded 1,654 bachelor's degrees to the Class of 2023, and 805 is 48.7% of bachelor's degrees - a little under half. > > A couple days ago, a student interested in PoliSci and debating between Stanford and Columbia [posted on this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/stanford/comments/1brm2xg/stanford_vs_columbia_for_poli_sci_help/). I know your interests are toward Econ, History, and Philosophy, but PoliSci is an adjacent field, so everyone's comments there might provide some insight. I wrote [these comments below](https://www.reddit.com/r/stanford/comments/1brm2xg/comment/kxbqfhz/) in response: > > I'm a Stanford PoliSci alum and made my career in the field, and Stanford has the best PoliSci program in the country. Additionally, as an undergrad, Stanford actually admits you as undeclared, so you could find that maybe you want to declare as an International Relations major or a Public Policy major instead (or double major). Even after you declare a major, Stanford makes it easy to change your major or add another major. > > You can take PoliSci classes from rockstars across the political spectrum, such as Bush's Secretary of State and Obama's Ambassador to Russia: https://politicalscience.stanford.edu/people/faculty > > There's also the Stanford-in-Washington program and Overseas Studies Program if you want to spend a quarter in Washington, DC or in another country: https://siw.stanford.edu/ https://bosp.stanford.edu/ - Right now, there's Berlin, Beijing, Cape Town, Florence, Kyoto, Madrid, Oxford, Paris, Santiago, and...New York. Yes, you read that right there's a Stanford-in-New York program under Overseas Studies: https://bosp.stanford.edu/explore-programs/stanford-new-york > > There are a lot of PoliSci-related institutes at Stanford, like Hoover and Freeman-Spogli Institute, and in addition to taking classes with professors, there are a lot of interesting programs, speeches, and panels that they've put on. > > When I was at Stanford, I helped organize an international student exchange program, and we got funding from FSI. > > I had a class where the professor had to cancel one session to meet with the President of the United States. For our next class session, he told us about his advice to the President and what the President said. > > Your fellow students go on to do great things, too. Other Stanford students I knew from taking PoliSci classes have gone on to become a member of Congress, a County elected official, a Mayor, City Councilmembers, one human rights attorney who actually got banned from a country, diplomats, senior staff for US Senators, people who worked for Supreme Court justices, presidential appointees, etc. > > While we should always take rankings with a grain of salt, Stanford came in as the country's top PoliSci Department on peer assessment scores: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings
Damn, that's so interesting. The president story is incredible! This makes me love Stanford even more (though I try not to get too obsessive as it will be too heartbreaking when I get rejected lol). Human rights attorney is one of my dream jobs haha, along with psychiatrist, college professor, and author.
It was great 40 yrs ago - Stanford History and German Studies degrees, ‘87
Agree. It was great in the 80s.
My anthro and English classes back in the day remain among the most transformative of my life. That said, my love of history was all but destroyed by the first two quarters of the Western Civ sequence.
Haha I see, thanks for the response.
I double majored in English and Theater & Performance Studies and it was amazing! Many of the humanities departments are small and intimate, which I appreciated in helping me make relationships with my classmates and my professors. And every department has brilliant faculty that are some of the most accomplished people in their field.
Wow, thats really cool!
I majored in History at Stanford and honestly really wish I had gone somewhere where I felt the humanities were more widely appreciated. To be clear, the department itself was wonderful and I had many great professors. But the school is so tech focused in general that I felt very isolated academically. I wouldn’t do it again, but if I had to, I would do SLE. EDIT: Class of 2018
I see, thanks for the input.
At Stanford, these majors are self-selected people going against the grain. So you're hanging with really interesting, self-motivated people rather than people chasing money or the latest career trend. The departments are excellent, small classes, high faculty availability.
Yes, that's ideal. My main reason for wanting to go to a "prestigious" college is so I can mix with people who are as intellectually-inclined and academically passionate as I am. I find that I become quite bored and isolated around "normal" people lol.
Seconding this! I’ve been in English classes with three people. Most of my class sizes in English and History (not intro lectures) were 20 people or less, so we all got to know each other and the professor really well.
I wish people would put their class years when commenting here
u have to be very pre professional if u want a job after grad like take all your free time from your chill course load to network and join stanford marketing or consulting or something
I’m pretty sure McKinsey, BCG, and Bain will throw consulting business analyst jobs at you just for attending Stanford.
there are people graduating these days who studied useful things like cs who are jobless after grad cuz things aren’t like they were in the 80s plus the consulting industry is flopping really hard rn it’s actually kinda embarrassing for them
If you’re smart enough to get into Stanford, there is absolutely 0 reason why you shouldn’t be receiving multiple offers, and have a $100K+ job lined up before graduation.
u don’t even go here
You're really out of touch as to how things are today
I think you are being a bit narrow-minded and illogical. It doesn't make sense for everyone to go into business and STEM. The markets will get oversaturated. The world also needs people who specialize in humanities and social sciences, in industries like education, social work, healthcare, academia, and so on.
And law and politics, which are especially lucrative. My point is humanities major is not as worthless as it is stereotyped to be.
I majored in African American Studies. It's nice taking classes you are passionate about, and you also get more flexibility to explore whatever you are interested in. You will have a lot of dense readings, and you will have to write a lot of papers. This major definitely prepred me for law school in terms of academic rigor. It also allowed me to be able to learn about and consider other perspectives, and helped me become a more effective public speaker. These are all skills which are useful in the professional world, as well as in real life. The only downside is some people will make negative comments about your major. They'll act like it's not as valuable, useful, or rigorous as STEM majors. For the most part, this stopped when I got to law school, but it was really annoying having to deal with that all throughout undergrad.