<p>Got my heart set on double majoring in Civil Engineering and Pol. Science. I would like to go to a top university as well, I just want to know if it's possible? Will I have to spread it out in 5 years as opposed to 4? Will I still be able to take electives? If so, are there any universities in particular you'd like to recommend, preferablly with strong Engineering and Liberal Arts departments? </p>
<p>I'm a foreign student and am doing A Levels. Does anyone think doing a Further Maths course (which basically involves more advanced Pure and Applied units) be beneficial? I know it is strongly advised in the U.K and sometimes universities give lower offers to students who take that course, but not too sure if that's what happens in the U.S?</p>
<p>The first thing you need to read is this next statement: YOU HAVE TIME! YOU’RE NOT IN COLLEGE YET! WAIT TILL YOU GET THERE AND THEN DECIDE!</p>
<p>now with that being said, im going to offer my input. First, you can double major in anything you want and take whatever classes you want. No one knows whether it will be 4 or 5 years for you since thats based on whatever AP credit you have and your performance in college. It may be alot of classes but in most cases (at least for my school), some of the required science courses for the liberal arts majors are also required for the science/engineering majors and same goes with the humanities for the science/engineering majors. So you may have some overlap. </p>
<p>Now as far as your other question about the advanced maths, that really depends on where you’re trying to go to school. If outside the U.S., I would say maybe (as i dont know much about schools outside the US, just assuming), but in the US, definitely not. Of course it makes you look a tad stronger, but most top colleges really dont care since everyone’s going to be taking the most advanced courses to get in.</p>
<p>Hi, I don’t quite get what you mean when you say " You can take the advantage of “liberal arts” to kill down some of your political science courses. "</p>
<p>If I go to a liberal arts uni, how could I do engineering at the same time?</p>
<p>Most of us are US based, and could advise universities with good Engineering and Liberal Arts departments in the US. If you are looking to stay in Britain, most of us probably can’t help.</p>
<p>What jwxie meant also was that you can use poli sci classes to fulfill social science requirements at an Engineering school. In the US even in Engineering people have to take some humanities and social science classes.</p>
<p>If you want to know top Civil Engineering and political science, you can browse through the graduate program in political science (you can also search top CE programs too, and among those some have high rank in PS)</p>
<p>I personal think getting into a good engineering school usually have good social science department. If you really want to experience the PE part, you should think about urban universities, such as Columbia, NYU, CUNY, U-Chicago, just to name a few.</p>
<p>Since you are an international, you should also take the money part into consideration.</p>
<p>Well, my school (University of Michigan) has a very highly ranked Poli Sci program, and has a few very highly ranked Engineering majors (not sure about Civil, but top 10). Obviously MIT is another great school, and we could go on listing others. </p>
<p>Is there any reason you want to do a double major instead of majoring in civil and getting a minor in poly sci? I went into college thinking I wanted to double major in physics, but then I realized most of physics wasn’t that interesting to me, so I minored instead. I took only the classes I was interested in and didn’t have to deal with most of the killer core classes that nobody liked.</p>
<p>Also, it’s doable to double major in engineering and a related field in four years. One of my good friends double majored in an engineering, psychology, and also was ROTC. Finished all of them in four years with not a whole lot of AP credit.</p>
<p>Wahay!!! Thanks a lot, looks like it’s going to be very helpful. </p>
<p>I’m in line for a pretty good scholarship so I’m hoping (fingers crossed) that money will not be such a big issue - tuition wise anyway. </p>
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<p>Well, I thought I would struggle to meet the top two requirements so I suppose I can’t be too picky Apart from a top civil engineering course, good poli science course and internationally reputable name (where I come from, this is important), there’s not much more I can ask for. </p>
<p>I’m a bit old school though, would prefer a school with a bit of history (100+ years old) and in university town, but not that big a deal for me. </p>
<p>I suppose a year industry/year abroad would be nice, but I guess I’m pushing it now </p>
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<p>Well, initially I wanted to do Pol. Science/IR. I loved - and still do - the whole dynamics of it, how varied it was (I could study all sorts of cultures), that I could get another language out of it, that it mixed up history and economics made me fall in love with it. I was a big arts guy and shunned the sciences. </p>
<p>But I gave it another chance, figured some variation for my A Level options would be good and to be honest, I’m loving the challenge and ability to apply myself that Physics and Maths is providing me. I find the whole concept and challenge of getting a building like Burj Khalifa to stand and endure all sorts of different challenges. The challenge of possibly being involved in designing a whole city, improving the lives of people in LEDCs or even back home, maybe driving by one day and being able to point something to my kids that I designed, was something I couldn’t say no to. </p>
<p>It can be too challenging sometimes though and I think some more essay based, political-type challenges would provide a soothing relief. </p>
<p>And ultimately, I would like to do something that mixes a bit of both. Urban development is a big ministry sector here and I’d like to be heavily involved in that someday. </p>
<p>In the end, I couldn’t choose between them two.</p>
<p>As far as I know your second major is not filed until your junior year. Most admission is meant for one major.
So you should take as many liberal (PS) classes as you can, and by the time you are a junior you can file your second major.</p>
<p>That’s being said, you should apply as an engineering student if you really want to focus on engineering degree at first.</p>
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That could be urban study. </p>
<p>In your case I would say look for a CE program that has urban study tracks.
The whole idea of political science is quite too much for you if you only want to incorporate engineering and urban (social science) together.</p>
<p>In another words, since most engineers need to take 5 liberal art courses (the numbers varies from school to school) beside the engineering (math and science) courses, you can use those to fulfill your interest of social science with CE.</p>
<p>Typically, urban development and engineering are done by separate people, though I’m not sure how it’s arranged in other countries. Urban planners handle the big picture while engineers design the individual structures (as well as the infrastructure supporting the communities).</p>
<p>You should consider getting a degree in urban / regional planning. It may be a better fit for you - look into it. Some schools offer undergrad degrees, but most offer MUP’s (Masters in Urban Planning). Different programs have different focuses, so research a bunch of them if you do decide to take this route.</p>
<p>Perhaps a BS in Civil Engineering, followed by a MUP is right for you. That should take 4+2 years and give you more choices in terms of colleges.</p>
<p>Just a few quick notes on double majors in engineering.</p>
<p>From my excellent undergraduate advisor: double majoring in engineering and another science field is usually not too bad - with careful course selection at my alma mater, it is possible to be EE/math without taking a single extra course, or to be EE/physics by taking only 1 additional course. In general, double majoring engineering/science takes an extra semester, engineering/engineering an extra year, and engineering/liberal arts takes 3-4 extra semesters, all based on the maximum possible overlap. You can compress this more in isolated cases (as above), or by taking a heavy courseload (in my school limited to about 125% of the standard engineering load). If you really want distinct degrees, as opposed to getting credit for two while doing as little work as possible, you should always plan on a solid 2 years extra per degree.</p>
<p>From a later, more experienced software manager: with double majors you always ask “what did this person want to do that made them double major, and does that line up with my needs?” Most people do not need and are not benefitted by a double major, and would be better served by simply taking the correct major, perhaps with a few extra courses or a minor.</p>
<p>This actually reminds me of my friend who dual degreed in engineering and music performance. His justification was he loved both of them, but knew he wasn’t good enough at his instrument to be in a good orchestra. So he decided to also do an engineering field he liked since he could make money with that. He wound up taking an extra semester to graduate, studied in Europe under a master of the instrument during the spring, and then started his PhD in engineering that fall.</p>
Apart from a top civil engineering course, good poli science course and internationally reputable name (where I come from, this is important), there’s not much more I can ask for. </p>