So here’s the thing, I have a big passion for art history and the likes of, but I feel as though I’m talented at math and I don’t want to give it up (math also interests me, just not as much so as the study of art). Not only am I undecided about this, I’m also undecided on where I want to go to school. Right now it’s between Columbia University and ASU (state flagship). I’ve got a LOT of questions that would be awesome if anyone could answer.
First of all, money for undergrad isn’t a problem.
Second, I plan to go to school as long as I can. Aiming for a PhD.
Lastly, I’d like to ideally go into academia for a career.
So here goes:
I’m interested in math, but the thing is, I don’t know how good at it I would be at the upper levels. I’m a senior in AP Calc BC and it’s a breeze, and I’m genuinely interested in what I’m learning, but I’ve heard college level math is much different. At a place like Columbia, where people are actually geniuses at math, I think that I would struggle maintaining both interests and grades. This is why I was considering ASU, where I could be a bit more on top of things. Then I wouldn’t get the world-class education though. But the question still stands: am I going to struggle in math if I haven’t been particularly outstanding in high school? I haven’t done any math competitions for the most part (Academic Decathlon is the only thing that comes close), I haven’t taken higher level math courses in high school like most kids who are math majors do, and from what I’ve seen the people who do math at places like Columbia are pretty much geniuses already. These are basically my concerns for math.
So for Art History, of course Columbia is ideal for this. Again the problem with this is that I feel like I’d be giving up something I love and something I’m pretty good at. But I also know a TON about art history and I’m very interested in this field. I guess my question here is how can I reconcile BOTH interests? The problem with Columbia is that it’s difficult to major or minor in two divergent things, but at ASU I can’t imagine it would be a problem. Then again, Columbia is renown for its art history program, and being in NYC is a huge plus for this field.
Sorry for the lengthy post, I have like 3 weeks to decide a HUGE part of my life and obviously I’m stuck between a ton of decisions.
If anyone could give me insight on college life for math majors or art history majors? Has anyone else had two extremely different interests? If so, how did you come to terms with them?
@whenhen There’s much more to it than money. I’ve got my family, my friends, more freedom to dabble in majors and other interests, familiarity with my state (only been to the east coast once, and it was last summer for two days to tour Columbia), and a bit more monetary freedom (when I say money isn’t a factor I mean for the college itself; my parents are willing to pay the extra price for Columbia but if I stayed in state then they’ve obviously saved a lot of money, and would allow me much more spending money), etc.
@Zinhead I thought about that too, but the problem is that it seems like double majoring in two very different subjects is discouraged at Columbia due to the already demanding extra workload of the core curriculum. I mean, I could do it, it would just make it so I couldn’t really get involved with a lot of other things that NYC and Columbia has to offer.
AP calculus BC as a high school senior is advanced in math.
At many schools, you should be able to take a major in math or art history while having enough schedule space to take many courses, possibly up to a second major, in the other subject. However, if you actually want both majors, you need to take care in course selection, since you won’t have too many unrestricted free electives – you may need to make every course count for one of your majors or a general education requirement.
However, if you want to go on to PhD study, put your primary focus on the subject you want to do your PhD in while making the other subject one that you take lots of electives from. If you are unsure of which you want to make your primary subject, you need not decide immediately.
Note that some topics in math (and science) and art history relate to each other. For example, consider Leonardo da Vinci and Stonehenge.
ASU is a much bigger pond than Columbia (about six times as big). But most of the fish in the ASU pond are small ones, so the number of big (Columbia-size) fish at ASU is probably similar to the number of fish at Columbia.
@ucbalumnus Yeah, I’m really not sure which I’d like to get a PhD in at this moment.
@Vctory I mean I’m still very scared about the kids in my classes as a math major no matter where I go.
Is there any place or website I could checkout that can give me an idea of the next level of math I would be taking if I were a math major? What class would it be?
@albert69 My parents have agreed to cover the full cost of each college for undergrad, but we haven’t discussed it as far as grad school. I’m sure they’d at least help out.
AP calculus BC approximates frosh single variable calculus. If you do well on the AP exam, and verify your knowledge by trying your college’s old frosh single variable calculus final exams, then you can take sophomore level courses like multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. There is also often a proof techniques course, or proof techniques may be included in a discrete math course or honors versions of the usual sophomore level courses. Junior and senior level math courses like abstract algebra and real analysis will mostly emphasize proofs.
For the cost of graduate school, PhD programs worth attending should be funded (tuition waiver plus a living expense stipend, usually for being a teaching assistant or research assistant).