Why Study Philosophy?
Philosophy and the GRE
Philosophy majors:
· Have the highest average verbal reasoning score of students in any major.
· Have the highest average quantitative reasoning score of students in any humanities major.
· Have a higher average quantitative reasoning score than students in any social science major.
· Are the only humanities majors with an average quantitative reasoning score that is above average.
· Have the highest average analytic writing score of students in any major.
Students declaring an intention to go to graduate school in Philosophy:
· Have the highest average overall score of students in any major in the arts, humanities, social sciences, life sciences, education and business.
· Have the highest average verbal reasoning score of students in any major.
· Have a higher average quantitative reasoning score than students in any social science major except economics.
· Have the highest average analytic writing score of students in any major.
Philosophy and the LSAT
Philosophy majors:
· Have the highest average score of students in any humanities major.
· Have a higher average score than students in any social science or natural science major, except mathematics and economics.
· Have a higher average score than students in other popular pre-law majors like political science, communications, and public administration.
Philosophy and the GMAT
Philosophy majors:
· Score 15% higher than any type of business major (e.g., accounting, finance, management)
· Have a higher average score than students in any major, except mathematics.
Why Do Philosophy Students Do So Well on These Tests?
The reason usually given for their performance on these exams is that philosophy majors develop problem solving skills
at a level of abstraction that cannot be achieved through the case-study or profession-specific approach favored in
disciplines geared towards occupational training. People with strong abstract reasoning skills do better in applied
fields, on average, than people who lack the ability to abstract from particular problem-situations.
Sources:
Guide to the Graduate Record Examination Program 1996-1997, Educational Testing Service.
2005-2006 Guide to the Use of Scores, Educational Testing Service www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/pdf/994994.pdf
The Chronicle of Higher Education www.chronicle.com
LSAT Data, 1996-1997
Skills Acquired By Studying Philosophy
Critical Thinking Skills:
· The ability to think logically
· The ability to identify the key issues in a discussion
· The ability to assess the pros and cons of proposed solutions
· The ability to ask the right questions
· The ability to see beyond superficial categorizations (i.e., “to think outside the box”)
· The ability to draw accurate conclusions from confusing data
· The ability to clarify purposes, principles, and general objectives
· The ability to differentiate fact from value
Problem-Solving Skills:
· The ability to find creative solutions to hard problems
· The ability to define the parameters of a problem
· The ability to look at a problem from different angles and to identify alternative courses of action
· The ability to identify useful resource materials for solving a problem
· The ability to factor complex problems into solvable pieces
Argument Skills:
· The ability to use argumentation techniques to persuade others
· The ability to assess the implications of a proposal
Communication Skills:
· The ability to express and to explain difficult ideas clearly and straightforwardly
· The ability to express one’s point of view while respecting the views of others
· The ability to use a variety of tools and strategies to convey information
Information Management:
· The ability to sort, compile and rank data
· The ability to evaluate information and to use it to solve problems
· The ability to locate information in many electronic and paper media
· The ability to use creative insight to guide information searches
· The ability to abstract concepts in order to summarize information
· The ability to focus on the big picture, to see the forest and the trees
· The ability to discern what is valuable from what is irrelevant
Highly Recommended Philosophy Courses
For Students in Any Major
PHI 101: Introduction to Philosophy PHI 107: Ethics
PHI 115: Critical Thinking PHI 117: Professional Ethics
PHI 162: Law, Morality, Authority PHI 212: Philosophy of Religion
PHI 215: Introduction to Deductive Logic PHI 221: Intro. to the Philosophy of Science
PHI 236: Business Ethics PHI 238: Philosophy of Law
