How does a high school student with minimal access to the formal study of philosophy decide to study it in college? Well, we’re guessing that you already have an answer to this as you are reading this post, but let’s break down some common routes to philosophy anyway.
Some students enter philosophy through a fascination with the Greeks, or through more recent philosophical writing like Roland Barthes, Bertrand Russell, or Hannah Arendt. Students may have a deep interest in the study of ethics, and a passion for the humanities not simply as an academic arena, but as a practice. Or maybe you’re vexed by existential questions of meaning. You may have a sense of wanting to understand human behavior, not from a chemical perspective but through the study of thoughts and actions. And, of course, there tends to be a love of writing.
Every top liberal arts school has a strong philosophy program. A big reason why this is the case is that a primary route post-graduation for philosophy majors is academia, following the path from an undergraduate degree to a masters, to a doctorate, and to professorship, scholarship, and tenure. There are also many less competitive, but still very strong, schools that have a hyper-focused philosophy niche. The Hannah Arendt Center at Bard, for example, offers students specifically interested in the study of the 20th-century humanist thinker a particular path, with courses like “What Makes Us Think? Critical Judgement and Moments of Crisis.” Academia, for the record, isn’t the only path that students of philosophy can take, but it is the most popular.
In this post, we’re going to break down what you need to be doing as a sophomore to stand out as a philosophy-focused college applicant when you are a senior. This is especially important as philosophy offers some particular challenges. It is a study that is often solitary, but while reading alone in a nook in a library can be great for your academic development it is sort of a downer on your college applications. It is also a course that often offers few direct extracurricular paths in high school. Instead, you need to knit together different avenues and opportunities to make your ideal trajectory clear while also emphasizing the teamwork, collaboration, and care for your community that colleges want to see.
In this post, we break down what you need to be doing as a sophomore interested in philosophy to set you up for the strongest possible college applications. The great news is that you have time to explore and try new things. There is room to expand your mind, and your network. Let’s dig in.
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You may be at a high school with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to extracurricular options, and be overwhelmed and unsure of what paths to pursue. Or you may be at a school with almost no clubs or student organizations, a few systems for creating new ones. Most students fall somewhere in the middle. There are a good number of student organizations and clubs, but probably not everything we list below. This is where being a sophomore is such an asset. You don’t just have time to show enthusiasm, you have time to start something. If something on our list sparks your interest, but there isn’t a program you can plug yourself into — start it. Showing initiative and taking leadership will go a long way in strengthening your applications, and it’s just fun to build a club or organization from scratch.
PHILOSOPHY CLUB
If your school has a philosophy club, you must be an active member. This is a non-negotiable, as is working towards a leadership position by junior or senior year. But if your school doesn’t have a philosophy club, now is the moment to start one. The great thing about starting a club is that you get to be the head from day one. You also get to shape it to what you are most interested in and passionate about. Whether it’s reading philosophical works, themed by geography, time period, or belief system, running a debate forum, or bringing in speakers, you can build the club that you want to engage with and lead intellectually, welcoming other students into the subject that you are so passionate about.
RESEARCH
On the other side of the social engagement spectrum, we want to see our sophomores interested in philosophy engaging in independent research and scholarship. If this sounds intimidating, we get it. You have a lot going on in school, and the idea of adding additional research and academic work on — let along self-directed — can be a lot. There are programs like Lumiere that support students in research through mentorship, and publications like The Concord Review that are dedicated to publishing humanities scholarship by high school students. You could also work with a tutor, a local graduate student, or even a teacher you love to further and guide your work towards the ultimate goal: sharing it. Students pursuing research need to keep two potential end goals in mind, presentation, or publication. In order for your research to support your college applications, it needs to turn into something. There needs to be an end product that you can point to and say, “I did that.”
SCHOOL LITERARY JOURNAL
You should also be supporting your peers in sharing their work and writing through a school literary journal. If your school has a literary journal, get involved. Join the journal, and begin working towards an editorial and leadership role. Maybe it’s editing a section before you take the helm of the entire publication. Or perhaps it’s leading the charge to increase the number of submissions, opening the literary journal up to a broader community.
If your school doesn’t have a literary journal, the same things we said about a philosophy club all apply. Now is the time to start one, and you are the person to do it. Speak to your favorite literature, English, or history teacher, and ask if they will support you in this endeavor!
SUMMER PROGRAMS
As a sophomore, you are at the perfect point in your high school career to do an academic summer program that broadens your awareness of the breadth of the philosophical field while also introducing you to a whole community of students who share your passions and interests. Look for programs that are more than a glorified summer camp. We like programs that are not just hosted at well-respected schools, but run by them. The instructors should be talented and proven teachers of philosophy, and while campfires are fun that shouldn’t be the primary selling point of the program.
As a student passionate about philosophy, you need to take the time now to differentiate yourself from the other students applying for humanities slots at prestigious schools. This is a critical time that will unlock future opportunities, so make the most of it.
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