I am a bit of a data nerd (understatement), and as my daughter continues to refine her list I continue to comb through common data sets because it’s what I love to do. I am intrigued by the varying academic requirements listed for social studies and history. Our high school does not delineate, it’s all considered social studies. I generally understand the subtle differences, and would classify the classes she’s taken as follows:
Global Issues (history)
US History I (history)
US History II (history)
Psychology (social studies)
Human Geography (social studies)
Given the above, you could say she’s taken 3 history and 2 social studies classes. Or, if you view social studies as the super set area of study, you can say she’s taken 5 social studies and/or 5 history classes.
My question is, do colleges view social studies and history as the same or do they differentiate, or is it different at each institution? I am sure it’s the latter, because why would it be simple.
I’ve seen schools not include any history requirements in their CDS, which I assume means they are the same. I’ve seen schools include both history and social studies requirements and they are different from each other, which I assume means they do differentiate and their aggregates further support that assumption. I’ve seen schools include both history and social studies requirements but they are identical to each other, which could mean a whole lot of things. If they are interchangeable, that would make sense given their aggregates. If they are not interchangeable, then their aggregates could be fairly challenging to meet (e.g. 4 full units each of social studies and history).
I may have my daughter email the few AOs of the schools she is most interested to get clarity, though I suppose it’s splitting atoms at that level. If nothing else, it would certainly further demonstrate her interest in doing so
It varies by university, but I would say very few distinguish. Bottom line for your kid, I highly doubt there is a single university where 3 years of history plus 2 years of social studies fails to meet their requirements or recommendations for admissions.
And I say the above with the assumption that your state does not have a gov and/or econ requirement for graduation.
Colleges view history and the other social sciences all in the same category (for the purposes of admission). In every high school I’ve ever encountered, they’ve been lumped in the same department, and in the same graduation requirement. The graduation requirement for social studies might include specific classes like US History or civics, which means the courses are not entirely interchangeable (in other words, you can’t take psych instead of civics because they both count toward social studies), but they do add up to your social studies graduation requirement, or expected years of social studies for college admissions.
If a school truly differentiates - and as @skieurope says, I cannot imagine a scenario where your daughter’s classes aren’t sufficient to meet their requirements - I expect you can find this information online.
FWIW, I might have your daughter save her emails for less atom-splitting questions.
History is a discipline within social studies, as are anthropology, archaeology, economics, civics and government, human geography, and psychology. Schools do sometimes specify which courses they expect to see, most commonly US and World History. In states requiring civics and economics for high school graduation, these half-credit courses may also be required by public universities. Otherwise, the remaining two credits are up to the student.
All “count” in the 4 unit requirement but most HS require US History and selective colleges expect 2 years of history, some course that reflects knowledge not just of US history but also the rest of the world - can be World, Global, European history or Human Geography or a combination from these; depending on the HS, European History, African American Studies, Goverment, and Economics could be senior year classes. At some HS Human Geography is the Gateway to AP class for freshmen.
Is she a junior? Are history and social studies what she finds interesting?
I personally don’t think asking an AO a question about how colleges view those requirements is going to demonstrate interest. They will know what the high school requires to graduate, they will see her transcript. They are not going to know every single state’s graduation requirements for those subjects. I think it may come across as trivial. It might be far better for her to give her personal context: “I’ve taken three history and two social science classes at my high school. I think I’d like to major in one of those disciplines. Are you possibly able to recommend a professor who might answer a few questions for me?” Or if she has specific questions about those majors at the college, she can ask that.
I also do not recommend your daughter reaching out right now. She should wait until after May 1. AO’s are swamped at the moment and taking enquiries from accepted students, or students they are hoping to admit. Past experience is that she might not get a reply right now, barring something quite pressing.
Navigating the differences between social studies and history requirements on CDS is quite the maze. It seems each school has its own approach—some see them as interchangeable, others make distinctions.
In my experience, my high school treated history and social studies as a single category. When I was applying to colleges, I found that each school had its own way of categorizing these courses. Some schools had specific requirements, while others were more flexible. Reaching out to admissions offices helped clarify how they viewed my coursework. For anyone dealing with this confusion, I recommend looking at this website with social media essay examples. They cover various aspects of social media within social sciences, which might help you understand how to categorize your own courses.
