With over 100 majors, minors, research institutions, think tanks, and programs at Stanford, you might be having a hard time narrowing down what you’re interested in. Sure, you could apply to study something broad like engineering or political science, but does that really capture what you’re passionate about? If you’re thinking about applying to Stanford, there are a million pieces of advice we could give you. Maybe even more than a million. But the biggest thing in your application to Stanford needs to be specificity. Thankfully, Stanford offers a ton of unique programs and majors that can help you dive deep into your interests, prove you did your research and could introduce you to things you didn’t even know you could study.
1. The Bill Lane Center for the American West
If you’re interested in how arts, politics, environmental policy, history, and energy come together to tell the story of the Western United States, then boy do we have the center for you. While not a distinct major, there are a ton of opportunities within this center to help you research and better understand specific issues that face the American West. Incoming sophomores can take a 3-week intensive course, while undergrads can intern and serve as student ambassadors for the program as well. If you’re interested in classes pertaining to the West, BLC offers a variety of classes about the West and curates a catalog of interdisciplinary classes that also discuss it.
2. Environmental Engineering Systems
In the School of Engineering, Environmental Engineering Systems goes in depth to teach students how to incorporate environmentally sustainable design into infrastructure and natural structures. Unlike the Environmental and Water Studies concentration within the Civil Engineering degree, this major goes much more in-depth.
3. Digital Humanities Minor
A generally new field, Digital Humanities seeks to marry a whole bunch of disciplines together in some sort of incredibly complex polyamorous ceremony. Not really, but the descriptions on their website sure make it seem that way. Apparently, it’s “an avant-garde discipline bridging sciences, humanities & the arts” and also it “embraces computer science, sociology, literature, history, geography, engineering, political science, economics, anthropology, media studies, studio art & more.” So, it’s basically… everything?
4. Media and Personality Lab
The Media and Personality Lab at Stanford is interested in researching the connection between psychology and how we present ourselves and interpret information on the digital plane. Current research areas include things like computer-mediated social interactions, mobile sensing in the physical world, and digital environments.
5. Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity
This major challenges you to not focus on a singular ethnic group, but instead on themes that cut across cultural boundaries. Within this major, you can focus on 5 different areas of study: Asian American Studies, Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies, Comparative Studies, Jewish Studies, and Native American Studies. Like a lot of the programs here, it’s also extremely interdisciplinary, with affiliated professors and classes in everything from Art and Art History to Psychology. If you’re interested in broader liberal arts concepts like History or Political Science and want to apply them to a variety of cultural, racial, or ethnic identities, this major was literally designed for that.
6. Democracy, Development, and Rule of Law
This is one of Stanford’s many interdisciplinary honors programs. The program is “for eligible seniors focusing on democracy, economic development, and rule of law subjects in any university department to earn honors in democracy, development, and rule of law (DDRL).” They take seniors from different majors and have them write a thesis that applies an interdisciplinary approach to global concepts.
7. Earth Systems
Stanford is known for its School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, and this program exemplifies this department. Another interdisciplinary major (shocker!!), Earth Systems synthesizes policy, science, and economics to address and explain the human impact on environmental change. The major includes specific work in one of these six subfields: biosphere, energy, environmental economics and policy, land systems, sustainable food and agriculture, or oceanography.
8. Translation Studies
This minor is pretty self-explanatory. Are you taking a language? Do you want to learn how to produce and analyze translations? Then bingo, you found a cool minor.
9. Center for the Study of the Novel
Do you like to read novels? Did you absolutely love English class in high school? You should check out the Center for the Study of the Novel, which also hosts tons of guest speakers, working group events, and even a podcast.
This list just scratches the surface of interesting majors, minors, and programs you can be a part of as an undergrad at Stanford. They have research opportunities for everything you could possibly imagine, but we think these are some of the most interesting and unique programs Stanford has to offer. Make sure to do your research on these opportunities and Stanford, see if it’s the right fit for you, and take notes. We have a feeling they’ll come in handy come supplement szn.
If you’re thinking about applying to Stanford and need help with homing in on a major, writing the supplemental essays, or even the Common App essay itself, we’re available to help.
Reach out today if you want to get connected with one of our counselors.