Philosophy majors take on some of the biggest questions that have ever been asked, and learn how to evaluate them using rigorous arguments.  The study of philosophy exposes students to great debates on deep and important questions, and teaches critical thinking skills that last a lifetime.  But these aren’t the only reasons to study philosophy.  Philosophy majors are also very successful after college, whether they choose to pursue advanced studies or move directly into their careers.  A few majors continue to study philosophy in graduate school, and go on to become philosophy professors.  But most study philosophy as a way of broadening their intellectual horizons before pursuing a career in another field, such as law, finance, publishing, education, medicine, public policy, and more.

Data from many sources show that philosophy majors who pursue careers outside of philosophy meet with success.  Many argue that the demonstrated successes of philosophy majors is due to the training they receive in their studies.  Philosophy majors learn how to think clearly and creatively about difficult, abstract problems, and the critical thinking skills they develop undoubtedly serve them in the fields of their choice after graduation.  The success of philosophy majors might also be due in part to intellectually curious and talented students choosing to study philosophy in the first place.  But whatever the explanation, this much is clear:  philosophy majors do well after graduation in a wide range of fields.

Philosophy major salaries

According to recent data reported by the Wall Street Journal, philosophy majors as a group earn higher mid-career salaries than majors in any other humanities discipline for which data is available.  In contrast to the stereotype of philosophy as an impractical major, philosophy majors have higher median salaries than majors in more vocationally-oriented fields like business management, marketing, accounting, and nursing, as well as popular social and natural science fields like psychology, chemistry, political science, biology, history, sociology, and anthropology.

These data concern philosophy majors who enter the working world immediately after completing a bachelor’s degree.  Many philosophy majors decide instead to pursue additional education first—and they meet with remarkable results.

Philosophy and graduate school

Philosophy majors are consistently among the highest scorers on the GRE, and do well in admissions to graduate school.

Philosophy and law school

In the most recently available data (from 1999), philosophy majors outperform other popular majors like political science, history, English, and psychology in law school admissions.  This might be due to philosophy majors’ stellar scores on the LSAT, on which they tied with Economics majors as the highest-scoring students from any common pre-law disciplines.

Philosophy and business school

Philosophy majors are among the highest scoring majors on the GMAT, outperforming even business and economics majors.   Many prominent business people hold degrees in philosophy, including Sheila Bair, Eva Chen, Sir Ronald Cohen, Carly Fiorina, Gerald Levin, and George Soros.  (See here and here for more.)

Philosophy and medical school

It is essential for philosophy majors who plan to pursue a medical career to prepare themselves with the appropriate non-philosophy courses.  But if they do, they can rest assured that philosophy majors as a group have a higher rate of admission to medical school than majors in any other discipline, including more traditional pre-med majors like biology.

Additional information

A central repository for further general information on majoring in philosophy can be found here.

A list of famous or highly successful philosophy majors can be found here.

Additional articles on majoring in philosophy can be found at the following links:

• http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/education/06philosophy.html?_r=2&ex=1208232000&en=77938556ef676098&ei=5070&
• http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/26/business/philosophers-find-the-degree-pays-off-in-life-and-in-work.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
• http://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/10/business/mutual-funds-report-beat-market-hire-philosopher-bill-miller-rethinks-value.html
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/05/why-philosophy-majors-rule_n_4891404.html
• http://www.theguardian.com/education/2007/nov/20/choosingadegree.highereducation
• http://www.thereitis.org/can-i-get-a-job-with-a-philosophy-degree/
• http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/06/the-management-myth/304883/
• http://www.usnews.com/news/50-ways-to-improve-your-life/articles/2008/12/18/learn-philosophy
• http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jan2010/ca20100110_896657.htm 
• http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/415633.article
• http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/10/is-philosophy-the-most-practical-major/246763/

Philosophy concerns some of the biggest questions that have ever been asked, questions like What is the right way to live?, What do we really know?, Is there a God?, and Do we have free will?.  Philosophers don’t ask these questions as mere idle curiosities.  We try to formulate clear answers to them, and to evaluate whether our answers are true by considering the arguments on both sides.

There are many subfields within philosophy, but some of the most prominent include:

• Ethics:  What is right way to live?  What are our moral obligations to other people?
• Epistemology:  What do we know, and what do we merely believe?  Do we really know anything?  Is it rational to hold beliefs without strong evidence that they are true, and that the opposing views held by others are false?
• Political philosophy:  How should society be organized?  Is it fair for some people to have so much while others have so little?
• Philosophy of law:  What is the purpose of the law?  Should we legislate morality?  When is it appropriate to punish people for their actions, and why?
• Metaphysics:  Is there a God?  Do we have free will?  What is the fundamental nature of reality?
• Philosophy of Science:  Does science represent the world objectively in a way that non-scientific ways of understanding the world do not?  What is the scientific method, and how does it work?
• Philosophy of Mind:  Do you have an immaterial soul?  Is it possible to survive the death of your body and brain?  What is the mind, and what is its relationship to the body and brain?