Ok, this might sound like a stupid question, but I really don’t know, and want to know.
I have split interest between engineering, and art, but I don’t want one to go to waste over the other. So I asked myself the question of pursuing a bachelors degree for both of these simoltaneously at different institutions. I know engineering will be a lot to take on as it is, but I’m not worried about that. I’m more concerned with, is this even legal? Attending two completely different colleges at the same time, for two degrees. (full time)
No you can’t be in two degree programs at the same time. Why don’t you find a college where you can double major across colleges? Plus attending two schools at once would be so difficult scheduling wise.
Yes, you could pursue two degree programs at two different institutions simultaneously, however you almost certainly would not be able to attend both of them full time - except for the few joint programs like the Brown-RISD Dual Degree http://risd.brown.edu/ Doing the two institution program on your own would likely take more than just four or five years to complete. Also, if you need financial aid, federal aid can only be awarded through one institution at a time. You will essentially be paying for the other program out of pocket.
Many universities that are sizable enough to offer both of these programs offer the possibility of double majors. Many times the two majors are in two different divisions of the university so fulfilling both sets of requirements is tricky. Have you thought at all about starting out in one of the engineering fields that are design-heavy, or in something like industrial design that combines both interests? Here is one to look at: http://www.sts.rpi.edu/pl/design-innovation-society-dis
Alternately, could you start at a solid two-year college and give yourself two or three years to pursue these two interests before deciding on one and then transferring elsewhere to finish up that degree?
It is doable at some college’s (my D’s friend had that exact combination at Lafayette College). Agree that checking the graduation requirements for both majors is a must. Another alternative might be to minor in art as a minor would have fewer requirements.
If you try to do it at two separate colleges (unless it is in specific program such as the one noted above) then it would be much more difficult as you would have to satisfy two different sets of distribution requirements, graduation requirements etc. Some other concerns are that you would also need to figure out where to live, if you could live on one campus, it could be difficult socially to be in two places, you would have to get back and forth a lot, the academic calendars would be a bit different, the cost would be highet etc.
Some universities offer double simultaneously degrees from two different colleges within the university. So it’s doable. However, you can’t do that from two independent colleges.
“I have split interest between engineering, and art,”
Many years ago I asked an art professor at a strong engineering school about dual majoring. His reply was that I should continue my existing major (which was math), and just take the art classes. He statement was that anything that I could do with a dual degree in math and art I could also do with just a degree in math, plus having taken the classes in art. Also, the requirements in terms of what I would need to take in order to graduate would be easier if I only had the one major. At the time I was also taking a significant number of CS classes but fortunately the math part of my degree was something I found relatively easy.
I think that you should be able to find one university which is good at both engineering and art. My expectation is that this is probably going to need to be a relatively large school, but there are many to choose from.
As such, my thought that is that you should look for a university that is good at both engineering and art and that is also a good match for your stats and where you want to be, and then plan to major in engineering at that school. Then take as many art classes as you want to and that can fit into your schedule.
You also should probably look for a relatively reasonably priced school, so that if possible you can afford to spend 5 years there. This will allow you to space out the engineering classes, leaving more room in your schedule for the art classes.
Given where we live, for us the first place to look would be our in-state flagship, and then our in-state number 2 school. After that the next couple of options would be in Canada because we live in the US but close to the border and there are many large very good reasonably priced schools up there. I don’t know where you live nor your stats which makes it hard to suggest options for you.
…And yes, engineering by itself is a lot to take on even for very strong students.