MMSS as a transfer student

1d51jklad1
Mon, 29 May 2017 21:39:18 +0000

I know a couple kids who transferred into MMSS, and half of each MMSS class start as sophomores, so finishing the program won’t take you a fifth year.

I wouldn’t recommend deciding on an MMSS+CS double major until you’ve taken your first MMSS courses. The math 285 sequence is a big step up from the normal 230/234/240 Calc/LinAlg route, and everyone in your class will be an exceptional math student. If you’ve taken a vector calc class, you’ll have a leg up in 285-2/3, but it’ll still probably be tough, and very different math classes you’ve taken in the past. Furthermore, a CS major won’t help you much in most of the goals MMSS kids aim for (banking/consulting jobs, econ PhDs, etc).

The MMSS social science courses are markedly tougher than similar courses offered through the econ and polisci departments. You will run into midterm and final questions that require complete conceptual understanding (and significant ability to extrapolate on the information given in class), and the rote memorization (or imperfect conceptual understanding) that’ll get you by in econ courses won’t work. Classes are curved to B/B+ (versus B-/B for regular econ), but most of the kids taking MMSS courses would score in the top ~10% of non-MMSS econ classes.

You get a bunch of perks, including great networking and job opportunities, easier access to clubs and consulting groups on campus (if you can interview well), some nice dinners and social events, and a really nice lounge area, but it’s one of the harder academic routes you can take.