Why should I take Philosophy courses?
Studying philosophy fosters adept reasoning, effective communication and problem-solving skills that are of immense value in a wide variety of fields and careers. It enhances a student's capacity to grasp and evaluate new ideas and information; to think creatively; to innovate; and to communicate clearly and persuasively.
- On the General Management Admissions Test (GMAT), over the 2005-2009 period, philosophy majors scored a 578. This performance is significantly exceeded only by majors in physics (603), math (595), and engineering (589), and effectively ties majors in computer science (579). The performance of philosophy majors exceeds that of majors in economics (572), and the performance of aggregated majors in the sciences (559), the social sciences (554), the humanities (538), and management (510).
- On the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), in 2014, majors in ‘philosophy/theology’ scored a 159. This performance is exceeded only by majors in ‘physics/math’ (160), and ties the performance of majors in economics; it exceeds the performance of majors in engineering (156.2), computer science (154), political science (153.1), and all other fields of science, social science, humanities, and management. This performance reflects a long-standing pattern of law-school admission rates by major.
- On the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), over the 2013-16 period, philosophy majors scored on average 160 in verbal (the highest of any major), 4.3 analytical writing, 154 in quantitative.
- The performance on the verbal and analytical portions are the highest across all fields; only English Literature comes close.
- The quantitative performance is exceeded by majors in most fields in the physical sciences (namely chemistry, math, and physics) and all fields of engineering.
- While detailed data on philosophy and the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) is unavailable, it seems that humanities majors in general tend to do well.
- Finally, mid-career salary data suggests that philosophy majors are in demand in today’s economic environment: by this measure, the performance of majors in philosophy is exceeded only by that of majors in fields that are either highly technical (engineering: chemical, computer, electrical, aerospace, CS, industrial, mechanical, civil, construction, management information systems; physical science: physics, math) or money-focused (economics, finance); as well as by physicians’ assistants.
Why Study Philosophy?
