Can I double major if I'm in a specialized curriculum?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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<p>Hey everyone, I was hoping to get some insight on this. I'm planning to transfer to UIUC from my CC after completing my associates, and I was planning on double majoring in physics and math. I recently saw on the UIUC website though that they don't allow people in specialized curricula to double major. I was planning on taking the Specialized Curriculum in Physics, and wanted to double in math. I suppose I can just take a math minor, but I really feel like it's not going to be a sufficient enough depth of math courses to satisfy my interests in math.</p>

<p>The specialized physics curriculum includes 15-35 hours of free elective credits with no restrictions...if I were to minor in math, would I also be able to use these elective credits for a bunch of additional math courses? Or are those 15-35 credits basically figured in FOR a minor?</p>

<p>I also want to minor in either philosophy or CS, but those are both secondary, and less important than the math and physics.</p>

<p>Any help would be much appreciated!</p>

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<p>You cannot “double major” which is what one would usually attempt when seeking two majors in the same college such as LAS. The LAS specialized curricula are for many purposes treated as separate from LAS with the result that you can only attempt a “double degree,” which is what you would usually seek if attempting to complete two majors in different colleges such as LAS and engineering. </p>

<p>You face significant barriers to a double degree even though math and physics course requirements for majors overlap to some degree. As a transfer student you can be admitted only for one major and cannot apply for another for at least a semester. Usually, double majors and double degrees need to be applied for and approved by the time you start junior year. Since you would likely be transferring into junior year, you could make only a late application for a double degree raising the risk of being denied. Also, a double degree requires you to complete 30 hours more than the total required for the first degree. The physics special curriculum requires 128 hours total. Add the math degree and it becomes a minimum of 158 hours, something that will be difficult to complete in even 5 total years of college.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the information. Before I realized that they didn’t allow people in a specialized curriculum to double major, I’d figured out the number of hours it would take to complete the double major. Between the specialized physics curriculum and the math major, it would add up to 55-65 hours altogether, depending on whether I took the mathematics or graduate prep concentration in the math major. I’ll have my entire gened core completed before I transfer, plus all of my lower level major coursework. The only geneds I’ll have left to complete will be the advanced composition course, which I could use a course within my major for…and my second year of foreign language.</p>

<p>Completing the specialized physics degree would only require 9 courses, or approximately 27-30 credits. In the specialized physics curriculum, they note that there are 15-35 hours of elective credit, with no restrictions. I would actually be able to fit a math major into those credits. Even if they didn’t technically let me double major, would I still be able to just use those credits to complete the math courses that I want to take? If I took the graduate prep math concentration, it would add up to about 35-40 hours of credit, which would be adequate for the extra 30 hours beyond the first major that you mentioned. Would doing a double degree seem feasible in this situation? I’m planning on contacting an adviser at UIUC with some of these questions soon, just trying to get a feeler out for the types of questions I should be asking.</p>

<p>I don’t even necessarily care about having the dual degree, since I’m going to grad school. I really just don’t want my mathematical education to be inadequate, since I plan to go into theoretical physics.</p>

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<p>I might not have been clear. Those 30 extra hours needed to be awarded a second degree are 30 over and above the original 128 needed for the physics major. It would matter not that you could take most of your math courses for a math degree and also apply them to the elective category for the physics major (which you probably could). That 30 hours extra means you must have 158 semester hours total to graduate with the dual degree and you don’t get to count any course twice to reach that level just because it applies to both your math major and the electives for the physics major.</p>

<p>In other words, assume you come in with 65 hours total. You then take 30 physics and other courses to complete the core courses needed for the physics major, 6 hours of gen ed courses, and then also take an additional 40 math hours which would would go toward the math degree and also count as electives for the physics degree. That would give you 141 hours total, still 17 short of what you need to graduate with a double degree.</p>

<p>If you are in fact admitted, whether you can actually pursue a double degree is something you will need to take up early with your counselor to see if you have a chance of even having it allowed. You would be making a late application and that physics curriculum is not easy and consumes a lot of out of class time. Moreover, special curricula physics students are encouraged (and almost expected) to get involved with research projects (for which there may or may not be any semester credit). Also, until you experience the actual work level required for that physics major at UIUC, you won’t know whether it is really feasible for you to attempt a double degree. In any event, if your main objective is to just have a lot more math courses (and possibly get a math minor), you will be able to apply most of them to that physics elective requirement.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for the information, that’s very helpful. Sorry if this is long and dull…lol</p>

<p>I’ll actually be graduating from my CC with around 100 hours of credit. It remains to be seen though how much of it will transfer though, and how it will transfer. I’m an in Illinois CC, so the gened core is guaranteed to transfer, as are the lower level major courses.</p>

<p>My CC requires more gened credits than UIUC does; 6 hours of rhetoric, 9 hours of humanities, 9 hours of social sciences, 3-4 hours of life science…and the physical science and math requirements obviously won’t be an issue given my major. I’m taking an intro to anthropology course and a world religions course as two of my geneds, and I’m pretty sure those will take care of my western and nonwestern cultures requirements. I’ll also have a year of foreign language completed, so I’ll only need to take an advanced composition course and another year of language, which shouldn’t be a problem. </p>

<p>I’ll have both college algebra and trigonometry courses, but those only transfer as general elective credit. On top of that, I’m taking the full calculus sequence(3 courses), plus a diff eq course, and a computer programming for math and science course. I’ll have a general algebra based physics course, plus a 3 course sequence in calc physics. I’ll have an intro chemistry class and a year of general chemistry as well. Altogether, it will add up to around 100-105 credits. Will some of these courses not count because they’re introductory(but still college level) courses?</p>

<p>They should all transfer though, since they all come up as transferable credit on transfer.org. </p>

<p>It looks like the specialized curriculum would require around 35 credits on top of everything I will already have completed, which would put me up to 135-140 credits, then another 30+ distinct credits for the math degree, putting me at around 160-170 altogether. I’d also likely try to take a few additional physics electives or possibly a computer science minor, but that’s optional.</p>

<p>Again, sorry if that was kind of drawn out. Does this sound possible though? I’ll definitely be in contact with an adviser there to scope out what my possibilities are. Thanks again for the help! :)</p>

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<p>You can use the U.Select system to find out which courses at your CC are likely transferable because they are deemed equivalent to UIUC courses: <a href=“www.transfer.org”>www.transfer.org; Note the algebra class, though it might be trasnsferable, will likely not be a course that you can use to count toward the 128 needed for graduation; that might also apply to trig and low level non-calc physics but I am not sure what the physics dep is doing with those now.</p>

<p>Your situation raises an issue you need to be aware of. UIUC has a preference for transfers into beginning of junior year. Anyone who will be transferring with more than 80 hours (at time of actual transfer) faces a risk of not being admitted because there is preference for those below that level, including because one of the criteria weighed for transfer admission is whether they believe the student can complete all courses needed for a degree in no more than 10 total semesters which includes counting whatever you have already had. It does not mean you will necessarily be rejected but it is factor that may be considered against you and also cautions against emphasizing in your application materials (essays) that you may want to pursue a double degree. Another problem factor is that you apparently will still need to take some language after you transfer. That you will not have already completed any language requirement at time of transfer, particularly when you are coming in with total hours greater than a junior, is another factor that may be weighed against you somewhat.</p>