Hey everyone! I'm Cooper from Wayne, Pennsylvania, which is right outside of Philadelphia. I am a '28 here at Dartmouth, and plan on studying Quantitative Social Science and Psychology. In my free time, I love getting food with friends, playing pickleball, watching sitcoms (personal favorite is Modern Family), and going on walks. I am super excited to be here and cannot wait to take you along my journey at Dartmouth!
I took this class with Professor Binkoski, and I absolutely loved it! We explored numerous theories regarding time travel and the existence of time, and it just completely blew my mind. Professor Binkoski is such an engaging lecturer and explains everything so thoroughly, which makes the class so incredible! After taking this class, I have become more interested in philosophy and cannot wait to take more classes in this department.
I took this class with Professor Horiuchi and learned more than I could have possibly imagined! This course is incredibly challenging and has a good amount of work, but I learned so much about the programing language R as well as how to wrangle and visualize data. By taking this class, I have confirmed that I want to major in QSS because of how interesting the material was. If you want to enhance your skills in R, this is the class to take!
In order to fulfill my language requirement, I took Spanish 9 with Professor Rieumont. This class was simply incredible. Not only was the content interesting and engaging, but my actual class itself (both the professor and fellow students) made this class so memorable. We learned so much about Spanish-speaking cultures all while having so much fun doing it, and I am so grateful that I took this class with such an amazing group!
SummerWayne, PA
I was home for the summer! I was able to catch up with family and friends, work at a local ice-cream shop, and relax for a few months. It was amazing to be back in my hometown!!
I took this class with Professor Emily Finn, and I absolutely adored it! Because it is an introductory class, you learn about various topics within the neuroscience field, but mainly at the surface level. It was incredibly interesting, and it is a perfect introduction to the major overall!
I took this class with Professor Pulju (who I also took LING 1 with), and I was blown away. Not only is the content in this class just so incredibly interesting, but Professor Pulju teaches it in such a way that makes studying for any assignment actually enjoyable. If you like puzzles and deductive sciences, this class is perfect for you!
I took this with Professor Wray, and I was in awe of how much I learned in this class. Although the name sounds a bit confusing, this is essentially an introductory statistics class with a focus on psychological research. We learned how to form hypotheses, run statistical tests, and reach conclusions, and I know that this will be incredibly useful for future courses in both Psychology and Quantitative Social Science!
Welcome back! For this week's blog, I will be explaining what the Quantitative Social Science major, or QSS, is here at Dartmouth. As you all know, I am majoring in QSS, and I have taken many classes dedicated towards this field, so now is the perfect time to talk all about it!
QSS is a very interdisciplinary major. The prerequisite classes include taking math classes, statistics classes, social science classes, and computing classes. I have takenCOSC 1 (for computing), PSYC 10 (for intro statistics), QSS 30.04 (for math), and LING 1 (for social science). I still have one more class to take, but I want to emphasize that each requirement for the prerequisites has many options, so you can choose which one sounds best for you.
In addition to prerequisites, the QSS major has two core classes that every student must take: QSS 17 (Data Visualization) and QSS 20 (Modern Statistical Computing). Both of these classes give you a quite in-depth understanding of applied statistics, which is a great preview for what you will be doing in this major for the rest of your time at Dartmouth. I found QSS 17 to be one of the hardest yet rewarding classes I have taken here, and it really solidified my interest in the major. I am currently taking QSS 20, and we are learning all different types of programming, which is super helpful for understanding the industry of data science.
Visualizations from QSS 17!
Beyond the prerequisites and core classes, you have to complete a math requirement and a methods-oriented requirement. For my math requirement, I am planning to take MATH 22 (Linear Algebra). For my methods class, I tookQSS 41 (Analysis of Social Networks), which was such an interesting and rewarding experience. My final project consisted of analyzing passing networks between successful world cup teams, which was beyond fascinating.
The best part of this major, however, is the social science requirements. Every single QSS major chooses a concentration they want to apply their knowledge of math and statistics to, and you take 4 social science classes related to that field to fulfill it! One of my friends is concentrating in judicial law, and another is doing international relations. As for me, I am concentrating in global health, and I have already taken SOCY 28 (Healthcare and Healthcare Policy), which solidified my passion about health disparities. I am planning to take more classes in the Sociology and Anthropology departments to complete the major.
The faculty for QSS!
As you can see, if you decide to major in QSS, you will be exposed to numerous departments at Dartmouth, which truly makes it one of the most rewarding paths you can take
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