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Career Preparation Grounded in the Liberal Arts

Brandeis is a great place to get the kind of liberal arts education that is the best preparation for a career in law, medicine, education, business, journalism, research, psychology and many other fields.

Brandeis students develop habits of inquiry, critical thinking, clear writing and analysis — skills that will serve you well as a professional and a citizen. Brandeis seniors are very successful entering graduate schools, including medical and law schools. Others are well prepared to enter the work force directly upon graduation.

Brandeis offers many majors and interdisciplinary programs through which students explore academic and possible professional interests. Here are some examples of exciting opportunities available to Brandeis undergraduates:

Medical and Health Fields

Students interested in going to medical school find outstanding premed preparation at Brandeis. This demanding undergraduate path is the choice of many who enter Brandeis.

Our outstanding science faculty members give undergraduate students the opportunity to work closely with faculty mentors. Brandeis has a 75 percent acceptance rate into medical graduate schools: 69 percent for allopathic medicine, 74 percent for osteopathic, 82 percent for dentistry, 100 percent for optometry, 100 percent for physical therapy and 78 percent for veterinary.

Some students interested in public health, clinical fields or premed elect to pursue the Health: Science, Society and Policy (HSSP) major. This interdisciplinary program enables students to study health and health care by expanding their understanding of the factors that promote health or cause illness; introducing them to the various dimensions of health care systems in the United States and throughout the world; and providing them with hands-on experience in an internships, laboratories, or field-based research projects.

The psychology major curriculum includes all the required courses for entry into a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology. In addition, clinical Ph.D. programs require substantial research experience, which psychology majors can obtain by volunteering in faculty labs, taking independent study courses, doing honors research and/or undertaking postgraduate research employment. It is ideal to obtain some direct service experience in a supervised clinical practicum or internship during the academic year or summers to acquire insight into the nature of the helping role.

There are also other paths to a career in the helping professions, including an M.A. or Ph.D. in counseling psychology or school psychology, a Psy.D., or an M.S.W. Clinical and counseling psychologists work in a variety of settings including universities, schools, hospitals, social-service agencies, government, law enforcement, business and private practice. The psychology department offers advising and information sessions geared toward students who wish to consider advanced training for a clinical career in psychology.

Law

Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis once said, “The study of law should be introduced as part of a liberal education, to train and enrich the mind . . . I am convinced that, like history, economics and metaphysics — and perhaps even to a greater degree than these — the law could be advantageously studied with a view to the general development of the mind.”

In bringing legal issues into the liberal arts curriculum, the Legal Studies Program gives Brandeis students who plan to enter law school an opportunity to survey the field. But the focus of the program is much broader than preparation for law school. We offer students a compelling vision of law in its broadest human and social dimensions, examining the social impact of law in areas of health, business, public service, community life and international settings.

Our new business major, like our very popular business minor, is grounded in the liberal arts. It encourages examination of the organizational underpinnings and the social context of business practice. The major teaches students fundamental business frameworks and analytical concepts and helps them understand the social and global context of business, including the value of ethical reasoning in decision making. 

Sitting a few paces away from the chief executives of major companies, business students have a front-row seat on cutting-edge economic issues of our time.

Students deepen their business expertise in an area of their choice, such as commerce and culture, or environment and sustainability. Business majors and minors work closely with faculty from the economics department and the International Business School.

Education

Brandeis students can also graduate with a license to teach by choosing the teacher education minor. The Education Program has two missions: preparing teachers who are reflective practitioners and excel in the classroom (Teacher Education Program); and studying education as a central institution in our democracy (Education Studies).

In teacher education, students prepare for teaching at the preschool, elementary, middle or high-school level. Teacher education is a minor, elected in conjunction with a compatible major. This minor leads to the initial license to teach.

Film

Film, Television and Interactive Media is a humanities-based field of scholarly inquiry. In this program, the study of film and video arts offers analysis of film style and content, film history and the relationships between cinema and culture.

The program currently offers two practicums in field production. Additionally, it offers a wide range of internships, stretching from supervised work in media capture to more traditional internships in New York and Los Angeles studios. This program also brings exciting artists and films to campus.

Journalism

Our Journalism Program examines the place of the media in the American — and, more broadly speaking, the global — experience. The program offers students a unique, liberal-arts approach to the study of journalism.

A diverse faculty of scholars and journalism professionals teach students about the role of the media in domestic and international affairs and train students in the skills necessary for the accomplished practice of journalism.