<p>So, I'm currently a senior in high school who is planning her future in collee. So far, I am absolutely convinced that I will major in English, since reading and writing has been my fervent passion since I was two. But I also want to experience some other paths as well - specifically, a philosophy major and history minor.</p>
<p>The thing is, the college I plan to attend has a BA/MA degree track in English, which I plan to take. On that track, I will have both degrees in four years. Will a BA/MA in four years in English, plus another major in Philosophy, plus a minor in History kill me? Will all the reading drown me entirely? Does that seem sane, logical, or like a good idea to you?</p>
<p>My college has a few 4-year BA/MA programs. At my college it is feasible to complete the requirements for a BA/MA and an unrelated minor in 4 years. A few people managed to squeeze in a double-major, but they placed out of most of the general education requirements and the intro-sequences of their two majors, and they literally took all of their classes in their majors.</p>
<p>A double-major and a minor and a Master's degree in 4 years sounds impossible. Have you added up the number of credits you would have to take to complete all of the requirements (don't forget the general education requirements!) and compared that to how many credits students typically take in 4 years? Keep in mind that graduate courses require more work and are sometimes on a different credit system. (For example, a graduate course might only be worth 3 credits, but graduate students would only take 3 courses and not 5 like an undergraduate student.)</p>
<p>It might be possible to do it if you take classes during the summer and winter breaks, but a fancy degree won't do you any good if you graduate without any relevant work experience whatsoever.</p>
<p>What are your career goals? If you know you want to do something directly related to English, then do the BA/MA in English and forget about the major and minor. You can take elective history and philosophy courses if you have room.</p>
<p>There is absolutely no reason to do all four, even if it is structurally feasible. You will be simply cramming and not learning. If you really have a passion for reading and learning and want to enjoy your courses and college, leave the MA until after undergrad. Double majoring alone will keep you plenty busy for four years.</p>
<p>I agree w/ S35. What's your plan post-college? If you don't have a specific reason for said dbl-major + minor + grad school/adv track, then you shouldn't waste the time, effort and money! If you do, what is it and how <em>specifically</em> will the 2nd major and minor help in your career goals?</p>
<p>I currently plan to apply for law school after I finish my graduate studies. I've heard talk that a philosophy major or a history major are beneficial when it comes to law school admissions, so I was looking into both as options. The thing is, Ive always wanted to major in English, but now Philosophy seems so interesting, and History as well </p>
<p>My problem is that Im interested in too much at the same time. I still want to graduate in four years, so I guess I can take the BA/MA track in English, and minor in Philosophy. Does that sound feasible?</p>
<p>I seriously think you should take to your assigned English advisor about your plan because they would have the best insight about the course load. Some schools make it easy to pick up an additional major/minor whereas others are more strict and make you jump a lot of hurdles.</p>
<p>The MA would be my fallback plan, in case law school doesn't work out (i.e - I'm not accepted; it's too expensive; I hate it; something prevents me from attending). In any of those cases, I can always get my teaching license and teach until I figure out what my next step is. So that's what the MA is for. Plus, most people go to school for six years (BA + MA) to get those degrees; if I can get both in four years, with no added cost, why not?</p>
<p>Polkadotks is probably right; I should talk to my adviser once the time comes. But my decision right now is a BA/MA in English, plus a philosophy minor. Of the three choices, it seems like history is the least helpful for law.</p>
<p>Imaginarywhale - let me suggest something to you. If your goal is law school, you should probably get some work experience, and do a few relevant out of school things while you're around college, while maintaining very strong grades. Now, if a BA/MA plus a philosophy minor is naturally doable, do it. I don't know what the requirements are at your school. However, my view is that a double major sounds your best plan, and my suggestion is to take classes in whatever you're interested in beyond that, if you have time. Focus on doing things that law schools like - that's your REAL goal right?</p>
<p>I am in no way saying this to cut you off or be unhelpful, but you really are thinking about that MA degree too early! Lots of things change once you go to college, and actually sit in the classes which you almost theorized about. So, sitting in your first year with an overcrowded schedule because you're making this plan for 4 years down the road probably isn't the best option. Plus, English is pretty cool, and you may very well realize that you want to go ahead and get a Ph.D. in English or something like that. Not having a cool head to think about all this, i.e., overloading your schedule, can make things a lot less fun. </p>
<p>Maybe start off trying to minor in philosophy, and figure it out after you get a taste of things in your first year.</p>
<p>Oh, so much for my suggestion - to make that explicit, it is that once you start getting a better idea of what college English and philosophy are like, if you're still set on law, maybe do a BA English + BA whatever else - double majors might look good for prelaws, and of course continue to do relevant things outside of class.</p>
<p>If you figure out that you'd rather just do English, maybe go all out on it (BA/MA), and take the phil. classes you want out of interest, apply to grad school, head somewhere fantastic, enjoy that, then go teach!!!</p>
<p>I'm saying all this because I had a slightly dual situation. I started wanting to double up in electrical engineering and mathematics in UC Berkeley, but realized I'd rather just study pure math. I took some of both, and didn't enjoy my classes in EE so much, so happily switched to pure mathematics. If I'd overloaded, things wouldn't likely have gone so smoothly.</p>
<p>The point is, if you REALLY want law school, and aren't just beating yourself to death trying to get 4.0's every semester in annoying classes and doing annoying extracurriculars, you're headed for good things! </p>
<p>Good luck =] and sorry I can never make single posts...always chopped.</p>