<p>Does anyone know if the College of Chemistry allows its students to double major in the Letters and Sciences? I'm in CoC right now, and it makes its students adhere to pretty strict codes (must meet with advisor before telebears phases, must take 12 units of chemsitry courses, etc). I can't seem to find any information regarding simultaneous majors with other colleges, so any useful information will be much appreciated.</p>
<p>No. It’s not a double major, it’s a simultaneous degree. CoC offers the Bachelor of Science while L&S offers the Bachelor of Arts.</p>
<p>Simultaneous degrees are possible for any course, you just need to complete the requirements for both colleges/degrees.</p>
<p>I’m also in CoC and I contemplated a simultaneous degree in MCB since I would only need 5 more classes in addition to the 10 I need to graduate. Then I realized how ridiculously hard that schedule would be. I also considered a few minors (also needed 5 classes).Though I have a ton of room in my schedule and my adviser didn’t say no, it wasn’t really that practical for me.</p>
<p>I think double majors are only really useful in certain areas. I don’t see any reason why you COULDN’T, but is it really worth it to you? Depending on your intended career, double majors (or simultaneous) don’t necessarily look BETTER than a single major and can potentially harm your GPA more since you can’t take classes P/NP. Since CoC has such unit heavy majors, it’s going to be a lot more difficult than 2 BA degrees would be. What additional major were you thinking of?</p>
<p>short version: yes.</p>
<p>long version: yes, you can do simultaneous degrees even though the breadth requirements of L&S will make you want to strangle the “liberal arts” philosophy. also, you will be sacrificing a lot of your academic freedom since almost all your units will be used up in fulfilling major/breadth requirements. unless you have a very, very, VERY good reason for wanting pursue simult degrees, i really discourage it.</p>
<p>there is also some information here: [url=<a href=“http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/simultaneous_degrees.php]University”>http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/simultaneous_degrees.php]University</a> of California Berkeley College of Chemistry - Simultaneous Degrees<a href=“it’s%20hidden%20in%20the%20’undergraduate%20forms’%20section%20for%20some%20reason”>/url</a></p>
<p>Thanks for the input guys! </p>
<p>Killmy, I’m thinking of adding a physics BA because of my deep interest in the subject and because I’m considering on going to grad school for physics. Right now as a chem bio major, I’ve realized that I really dislike biology and any other memorization-heavy courses like ochem; I’m starting to find them boring and lacking rigor. I definitely like physical chem, but I have realized that my research interests match those of physics much much better. I’ve finished the lower division pre-reqs for chem bio and physics (they are the same), so I figure that I might as well finish my chem bio degree and add on physics since it is a BA and doesn’t require as many upper division courses.</p>
<p>I think I may need an additional semester to finish these courses. When you spoke with the adviser, did she say anything about that?</p>
<p>I suppose if the adviser does not approve, I can just take the physics courses as electives…?</p>
<p>meakame, thank you so much for the website! It was indeed hidden since I looked all over that website for it lol.</p>
<p>If you prefer physics and want to go to graduate school in physics, another option is to just switch to a single major in physics (perhaps taking a few electives in physical chemistry if desired). If you do not like biology and organic chemistry, there is not much point to continuing in chemical biology. Also, job and career prospects for chemical biology are worse than for physics, according to the career survey.</p>
<p>I agree with ucbalumnus…Having a chemical biology degree will be useless if you want to go to graduate school for physics. The chemical biology degree will prevent you from taking as many physics courses (undergrad and grad courses) during your time at Berkeley. Just completing the physics degree is not enough for physics graduate school, you need to take relevant classes beyond the physics curriculum, and you won’t have time for that if you double with Chem Bio. If I wanted to go to graduate school in physics, I would try to take every possible physics class offered, not just the small number required for the degree.</p>
<p>I wasn’t planning on taking an additional semester. Consider a minor rather than an additional major since you would only need 5 courses as opposed to 8 (?).</p>
<p>Honestly, I also wouldn’t suggest switching majors right away. What have you taken, 8A/B or 7A/B? That’s minimal exposure to introductory Physics. Also, have you finished Math 53 & 54 already? Before you change your entire college plan, sit in on a few UD Physics classes or even just watch some lectures online and make sure that Physics is REALLY what you’re interested in.</p>
<p>If you’re not really interested in Chem Bio, why wouldn’t you switch to Chem at least? You can always tailor your schedule to include more Pchem based electives if that interests you more. Personally, for my Allied Science UD elective, I took Phys 7C. </p>
<p>Regarding Grad school, I’d suggest looking into the requirements of the schools you’re thinking about applying to. A lot of them don’t actually require a Physics degree per se (since a lot of Grad Physics had done their UGrad in things like Math/Eng) but you can prove your proficiency by taking the Physics GRE despite having a CoC degree. Generally, they just want to make sure you have a sufficient preparation but this is something that you would need to double check. Think about all of this before you go and change your whole schedule.</p>