At the end Spring term members of the Class of 1998 had to declare their majors, and the results of the most popular major contest are in.
In the words of Teresa Rodimon, assistant to the Registrar, the current juniors have "bucked the trend." The most popular choices for the '98's are economics, government, and history -- in descending order.
The most popular majors for the college as a whole are government, economics, and history, Rodimon said.
The change in interest between government and economics is somewhat of a surprise, at least to the Registrar's office, she said.
"Government has been number one forever," Rodimon said, stating that the department has been the most popular for at least the past five years.
But she said differences in enrollment between the two departments have always been slight, and while the shift toward economics was interesting, she feels it not is indicative of any larger trend.
"The social sciences always lead the way," Rodimon said, regardless of which department is currently most popular.
Biology would be one of the most popular majors on campus if it were not for the fact that the four concentrations are counted separately in the registrar's records, Rodimon said.
Dartmouth offers four types of biology majors: biology, biochemistry and molecular biology, genetics, cell, and developmental biology and environmental and evolutionary biology.
Being number one
Economics Department Chair Nancy Marion said she is more concerned with the effect the increased enrollment will have on the department, rather than being "number one."
"This could just be a one year blip," she said, "Or it could be a trend towards more economics majors."
The economics department plans to do a study on how to accommodate the increased number of students without affecting the quality of the department, she said.
Government Department Chair Lynn Mather said large enrollments can be problematic for a department.
Popular majors "create a difficulty" for students and professors, Mather said.
Competition for enrolling in classes becomes fierce when more students are interested in the department, she said, which means some students are not able to take certain classes until their senior year.
Mather said this situation causes severe scheduling headaches, and problems completing major requirements.
History Department Chair Michael Ermath said "there is a constant battle between quantity and quality" as class size balloons in popular departments.
The department is constantly being faced with the task of denying students entrance into popular courses, such as a diplomatic history course and a course on the Renaissance, in order to maintain quality in the classroom, he said.
Quality and practicality
Teaching quality and practicality are two reasons for the popularity of certain majors, according to students and faculty.
Mather said "high quality teaching, and high quality courses" make government classes popular, but admits many people are drawn to them for reasons other than love of the subject matter.
"It is perceived as the appropriate pre-law major," she said, "but this is not necessarily true."
Mather said she feels students should choose departments based on their love of the subject matter, not pre-professional urges.
Ermath said there is the viewpoint people choose history because it is "the course of least resistance", an idea which distresses him. History is actually "the course of widest applicability," he said.
Rachel Levy '97, an economics major, said she feels her major is the most pertinent to human life.
"Underneath it all, everything we do is economically based" Levy said. "Life is based on supply and demand."
Paige Kambas '97's definition of her economics major is similar to one that most Dartmouth students seem to have, regardless of their major. "It's really interesting and applicable," she said.
