Group III means a bright future

Group III majors are the movers and shakers of Yale. They're the success stories that the Yale Alumni Magazine brags about. What group do the future eminent lawyers, governors, psychologists, humanitarians, labor organizers, and social scientists indulge in? Why, Group III, of course. Psychology, sociology, and political science are a few of the popular and practical majors included in this group, along with economics and linguistics.

DANICA NOVGORODOFF/YH

Group III majors can expect to write an adventurous senior paper. History majors routinely mock poli sci majors for the shorter required length of their papers—ignore these Group II floozies. After all, courses in departments in Group III are generally smaller than courses in large departments such as English and history, and students thus receive more individual attention.

The wonderful thing about Group III is that its majors combine the realm of the theoretical with that of the practical. Group III majors learn how to think, analyze, write, and dream without relinquishing the real-world skills and exposure that will one day guarantee that they don't starve.

It is no coincidence that the social sciences are positioned between the first two groups and Group IV. Group III teaches us to believe in the idea of a liberal education without getting carried away like the folks in Groups I and II. And, hey, we're not as boring as those Group IV majors trekking up Science Hill.

These areas of study provide a valuable opportunity to explore what really matters: the way people behave. From the social to the individual, the political to the economic, human behavior is reduced to comprehensible and modifiable mechanics. Group III students are on the road to saving humanity, and they are starting their work as undergrads. While everyone else busily studies what is already known, we choose to focus on ever-changing theories and studies.

Group III is one of the strongest and most interesting groups at Yale. Classes offered in the past include Intelligence and Covert Operations, as well as International Drug Trafficking. Constitutional expert and political science Professor David Mayhew's book Electoral Connection is one of the most influential works on Congressional theory in the modern era. And psychology Professor Robert Sternberg's, BK '72, theory of love and intimacy continues to play an important role in social psychology.

So whether you dabble in political theory or biological psychology, remember that taking an occasional class in American studies or history of medicine is okay. But when it comes time to choose your major, go with Group III.

—Jay Munir

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