Many students who study philosophy hope to teach the subject at the college level. But many other opportunities exist for philosophy graduates. Increasingly, employers are learning that philosophers are well trained thinkers, capable of handling the most complicated and novel tasks. Employers in business, government and other areas recognize the value of the critical and analytical reasoning skills in which a philosopher is trained. In a world in which today's technical mastery is tomorrow's obsolescence, learning how to think and learn is sensible career advice.

Philosophy majors have traditionally scored at or near the top of the humanities and social sciences in standardized tests for admission to graduate and professional schools. This reflects the fact that philosophical training involves applying rigorous logical analysis to complicated questions that require creative and independent thought. Because of this training, philosophy is also an excellent major for students going on to graduate or professional school. The department has a specially designed curriculum for those interested in law, medicine, business, or theology. The tests scores are below:

GRE (Graduate Records Exam)

GRE average test results by field for Oct. 1, 1995 to Sept. 30, 1998 (the most recent available results). The GRE test is required for entrance for almost all graduate schools.
Source: ETS homepage

1898 Physics
1817 Chemical Engineering
1811 Philosophy
1799 Economics
1776 Physical Sciences Overall
1766 Computer and Information Sciences
1764 Chemistry
1762 Electrical Engineering
1759 Engineering Overall
1721 Civil Engineering
1699 Earth Sciences
1690 Industrial Engineering
1688 Biological Sciences
1663 English
1658 Anthropology and Archaeology
1657 History
1654 Arts and Humanities Overall
1654 Art, History, Theory and Criticism
1644 Political Science
1590 Agriculture
1575 Natural Sciences Overall
1567 Social Sciences Overall
1535 Psychology
1514 Health and Medical Sciences
1506 Business Overall
1485 Education Overall

LSAT (Law School Admissions Test)

The following numbers are the average scores on the LSAT by field for those applying to Law School for entrance in the Fall of 1998 (the most recent available figures).
Source: Law School Ad. Council, Robert Carr

Physics 159.9
Philosophy 156.6
Economics 155.6
Anthropology 155.5
Chemistry-General 155.3
Art History 154.2
History 154.1
English 153.8
Biology-General 153
Psychology 151.8
Political Science 151.4
Education-General 148.7
Sociology 149.4
Criminal Justice 145

Department of Philosophy
305 Shatzel Hall,
Bowling Green State University,
Bowling Green, OH 43403.

Phone: 419-372-2117
Fax: 419-372-8191
Email: mdeluca@bgnet.bgsu.edu