Selecting Courses
Once you decide to become a public policy major, here are things to keep in mind when designing your course selections:
- The earlier you complete your core courses the more you will get out of the electives, since you will have a broader set of skills to apply in your studies.
- Try to take PPS 55 during your first three semesters at Duke. The course is a prerequisite for PPS 114 and PPS 116, so this will allow you to take those courses earlier in your Duke career.
- For students matriculating in Fall 2005 and beyond, the internship class has a large set of prerequisites: PPS 55, 114, 116, 128/equivalent, Stats 101, and Econ 51 or Econ 55. Be sure to take these so that you can do the internship between your junior and senior year. If you have not taken all these classes by then you will have to do the internship in the senior year.
- If you take Econ 51 as your prerequisite, you must take PPS 128. Students who take Econ 55 may choose to take PPS 128 or a PPS course on economic policy taught by a PPS professor. The Director of Undergraduate Studies posts a list each semester of classes that substitute for 128.
- Students are encouraged to do an honors project, either through the honors seminar or the independent study track. For students considering an empirical honors project, classes such as Stats 101 (or Stats 103, for those headed for econometrics), a course in data analysis (such as Stats 121, Data Analysis for Undergraduate Research or Economics 139, Introduction to Econometrics), and a research seminar may be good preparation. Starting with the class of 2007, the honors seminar will begin in spring of junior year. For more information on honors, click here.
- Students who get the most out of majoring in PPS often select courses that cluster around a particular policy area. For a description of the Pathways in Public Policy, which describe different ways to combine PPS courses to form a coherent major, see Pathways.
To request more information or to request a faculty advisor, click here.
