I’m currently double majoring in Urban Studies and Planning and Geography at SFSU. It’s the first of my two senior years, so I’m getting ready to look at graduate schools now so I can contact some programs before deciding where to apply. Which has me wondering whether double majoring typically makes graduate programs consider you a more attractive applicant or whether the extra degree doesn’t really do much in that regard. For context, I want to pursue a master’s in transportation planning or a related field, with a specific interest in public transportation systems. I’m looking at California public schools (SJSU seems promising), but I might branch out from there (if you have any recommendations on programs, I’d much appreciate them).
It certainly doesn’t hurt, but I don’t think it really gives you a significant advantage. You study specific things in graduate school, so they most care about your experience in these specific things and your potential to continue studying these specific things. I was a double major in undergrad, and while one person at ONE of my prospective schools mentioned it in a casual conversation, I don’t think it really mattered.
I know for PhD programs, they are going to look at your transcript and look at what courses you took that are relevant to the PhD discipline you are applying for. They only thing they care about is that you are prepared to do research and course work in that field.
There are some ways it can help you out (if you are applying to biology programs but also have a strong background in programming, that can be very enticing).