I’m considering double majoring in both, and I want to know if it’s possible. I really want to get a degree in chemistry, but my family says that a chemical engineering degree would be more practical if I decide not to get a master’s. If I go on to grad studies, I would want to do it in chemistry instead of chemical engineering. I already have 2 years of college credit from dual enrollment, and all my prospective schools would accept all or a majority of the credits. It’s basically enough to get past gen. ed requirements (except foreign language) and the prerequisites to get into the classes. I’m willing to do summer sessions too, but I just want to know if it’d even really be possible to do both with this or if there isn’t enough of an overlap. If there isn’t enough of an overlap with chem. engineering, is there another degree that has a big overlap in coursework?
You would have to take a look at the double major rules, curricula for both majors, and subject credit transferability of your dual enrollment courses at each college of interest to see if you can do it.
Another option would be to major in chemical engineering, but use your technical and free electives to take additional chemistry courses of interest.
You can go to grad school in chemistry with a Chem E degree. The PhD programs are mostly looking for research experience/potential. If you’re applying with a Chem E degree you should to have some basic chemistry research experience (not industry internships) which will also let you get to know a professor well enough to write you a strong rec letter. Most of the top tier PhD programs are really interdisciplinary across STEM anyway - you’ll find mechanical engineers, applied physicists, materials scientists, chemists, chemical engineers, etc. working together in the same lab on the same project.
Another option would Engineering Chemistry if you can find a school that offers that. Something like
https://chemeng.queensu.ca/undergraduate-studies/engineering-chemistry
I second @ucbalumnus - you really need to look at how it is at specific schools you’re applying to, particularly in how to complete requirements for both majors and rules about double counting.
For something more drawn out, see below:
Speaking from experience- a sophomore chem major at Northwestern with many ChemE friends,
I don’t see how it would make sense to double major in both Chemistry and ChemE - they’re basically the same material from different lenses, and the only reason to do both would be if you were completely undecided about what you want to do in the future, which likely won’t be the case by junior or senior year - not that there’s anything wrong with being undecided about career paths by any point, but I can guess you’ll probably have some sort of preference or bias by then to say which one you like more.
As for the practicality, it’s not the sort of thing I think you can really do at my school, or at least people don’t (it doesn’t make sense). At my school, if you’re majoring in any ___ Engineering, you’re in the engineering school and have basic engineering classes and engineering-geared forms of classes, while the chemistry major is in the liberal arts school, aka the “[Donor Name] College of Arts and Sciences” and gen eds comprise a liberal arts education. I.e. both Chem majors and ChemE kids have to take Calc 3 and thermo, but there are different sections depending on which school you’re in, and engineering kids have requirements like “Engineering Analysis” while chem kids have a foreign language requirement. To double major, you’d probably do the engineering degree requirements (engineering gen eds) and add the major requirements for the LAC major.
That said, a degree is just a label and what’s far more important then what’s written on your diploma is the body of knowledge you build up in undergrad. It’s more important that you take interesting courses and learn a lot, build practical skills and produce tangible work than to say “oh I have TWO majors. Better than ONE right?,” so don’t bend over backwards to do the same thing two slightly different ways just for some extra ink.
Also (speaking as a chem major, so I’m biased) if you really want to major in chemistry, go for it! Whether you end up going to grad school or not there are plenty of opportunities for non-engineers in the “real world.”
Finally, if this decision doesn’t have a large impact on your choice in school, don’t worry about it just yet! Your advisor once you get to college can and will be a huge resource to help you explore your options!
P.S. I had a similar problem with people back home telling me “Not chemical engineering? What, do you want to be a teacher?!” so I can relate! I haven’t made it out of undergrad yet but as you can see I have a lot to say on this topic and you can always hit me up if you have questions about anything!
Chemical Engineering has significant overlap with Chemistry but the curriculum differs significantly enough that it would take an extra year or so to do both degrees. There is hardly any good reason to do so if you plan on going to graduate school. Instead, I agree with those who advise to choose whichever discipline you like best and then go to graduate school in that field. Once you have passed your coursework, your research can easily be in a field that finds Chemical Engineers, Chemists, Materials Scientists and Physicists working in it. That is, a field that can be approached form any number of disciplines. I have had students in my group from Physics (my discipline) and all the others I listed above.
However, if there is an area of research that lies a bit outside these interdisciplinary ones, you should choose that for your major. Examples are synthetic organic or inorganic chemistry. These are areas best approached with a Chemistry background. If you enter a graduate program in Chemistry with a Chemical Engineering degree, be prepared to take remedial courses that were not in your undergraduate degree, electives can make up some deficiencies but not everything.