| While the majors can range in difficulty, undergrads here aren't going to judge you based on your major. Some of the most brilliant people I know are in "easier" majors like CS and Biology. These people tend to take a lot more than the minimum requirements in their major. Basically, some of the majors have easier minimum requirements but they can all be made arbitrarily hard.
Outside of Tech, the prestige of the majors doesn't correlate with how difficult they are here. For example, Caltech very well offers the most prestigious Geophysics degree in the country even though that is one of the easiest technical majors here. On the other hand, Electrical Engineering is fairly difficult but Caltech's program is "merely" top-5 or so.
Ranking the majors based on difficulty is pretty hard since it varies so much on the person. Most Math majors would probably find Math to be the easiest major, while a lot of the rest of us might find it difficult despite the small number of requirements. It is safe to say, though, that picking a major based off of how difficult it purportedly is or how much respect it will garner you amongst other undergrads is a recipe for misery. If you really love Chemical Engineering, don't give it up just because it has a lot of requirements before you've even gotten to take many classes at Tech. On the other hand, don't feel shame because you want to be a Geobiology major and it's an "easy" major. If you're at Tech, no one is going to think you're dumb. Showing off with your major is pointless.
And, yes, Caltech offers BS degrees in English, History, Philosophy, etc. A large percentage of undergrads double major with one of these. |