“Hi, I go to the Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences!” is probably NOT the way an H&SS student introduces his or herself in casual conversation. H&SS, or more recently named, “Dietrich” (Thank you, Bill!), is the liberal arts college at Carnegie Mellon that harvests the minds of many inspired, hard-working, and tired-as-all-HELL students that quite often get the short end of the stick as far as respect for Carnegie Mellon programs go.
Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about.
Prior to our recent name change, “H&SS” has had a couple of cute little nicknames to describe its students such as “Hot, Sexy and Stupid,” or “H-and-less-stress.” We are typically the students that got accepted into Carnegie Mellon not for the programs it’s actually known for, like Computer Science or Engineering— we were the “undeclared” majors that decided we weren’t super intense about science and technology, but not quite artsy enough to attend a Fine Arts program full time either. But hey—many of us probably thought, “Carnegie Mellon is known as a pretty great school, I should just go there anyway and it’ll be like whatever…”
True, Carnegie Mellon is great no matter what you choose to major in. But our purpose and presence on campus as humanities students are anything but “whatever.” The unique aspect that H&SS brings to the table at Carnegie Mellon is a whole world of interdisciplinary studies that marry logic with creativity in a harmonious, innovative relationship. We may not be a trade school, but we possess the proper mindset and skills to be successful in the professional world no matter what we choose to do.
I could very well argue the general value of a liberal arts school before H&SS develops ten more fun nicknames… but for the time being, here’s a quick checklist of the benefits of being a humanities student.
1. We get to choose our own schedules.
Yeah, waitlists are also a bummer, but considering many conservatory programs have students’ entire class schedule mapped out for them all throughout college, I’d personally much rather be in charge of choosing what courses I’m investing my time in. This also gives students the opportunity to explore around and take courses outside of their major(s). Electives allow students to take classes from different colleges if they choose to do so.
2. Our schedules allow us to get involved in more extra-curricular activities.
“H-and-less-stress” comes from the idea that our courses don’t require a lot of time and effort to complete and that we have all the time in the world to goof around (FALSE, btw). Just because I’m not dedicating hours upon hours on a coding project doesn’t mean I’m not devoting any extra time I have to something productive and worthwhile.
The college experience does not revolve solely around the courses you take, it also depends on how you get involved and participate outside of the classroom. No matter what your major is or which college you attend, I highly recommend getting involved in an organization on campus—not only to give you leadership opportunities, but also to find a group of friends that share similar interests or ambitions.
3. Did I mention we’re SUPER interdisciplinary…?
One of the best parts of being an H&SS student is that our programs allow us, and even encourage us, to pick up double/dual majors and minors. It’s not even slightly uncommon to find Psychology and Decision Science double major with a Physics minor or a Creative Writing and International Relations dual major with a Film and Media minor. We are complex individuals and we are proud.
4. We can wait to determine our majors, change them, and still graduate on time.
It’s difficult always knowing exactly what you want to do after college before even starting. H&SS doesn’t require its students to declare until the end of sophomore year and still has wiggle room for them to change their minds later on if necessary.
While we may not be able to bullet-point “well-rounded” on our resumes, H&SS students graduate well prepared with a wide range of knowledge and skills that give us a broader perspective of the way the world works. If you’re still not convinced, maybe you should start referring to us as “Dietrich,” after the man that donated a record-breaking gift of $265 million to CMU last semester. He thought we were pretty great. ;)