Social Sciences Gain Majority of Students In Concentration Shift

Natural Science has slipped from its wartime pedestal of popularity and the social studies now lead all fields in the preferences of undergraduates, according to figures released Wednesday by Sargent Kennedy, Registrar.

Of the 724 second-term Freshmen who chose fields of concentration this week, 344, or 47 1/2 percent, have decided to devote the bulk of their college efforts to studies in the social sciences: This is an increase of 15 percent over corresponding statistics of a year ago.

As far as the Natural Sciences are concerned, a growing interest in Mathematics, Physics, and the Engineering Sciences, has buoyed up an otherwise sagging area. Thirty-two percent of the men choosing fields at this time fancy themselves potential Einsteins or Comptons, while their predecessors of last year waxed more technical by six percent of the total.

The largest increase was in Government, as one-fifth of the men look for courses in that field. Economics added two percent over last year, while the newly formed Social Relations department attracted seven percent of the veteran-heavy group.

Hardest hit by the Natural Sciences slump, Biology and Chemistry both lost one-third of their 1945 percentage total, and minor decreases were registered throughout the area.

The swing toward Government and allied subjects, indicated earlier by class enrolment totals, has not affected the Humanities, where insignificant changes still leave 18 percent aspiring to letters.