Hello everyone,
I will be attending UIUC this fall as an engineering major this fall (international). I was wondering how to go about a double major there? There’s not much information about doing them on their websites, especially for engineering students. I will be majoring in Engineering Mechanics, but I am also really interested in the Information Science major that they will be offering from 2020, and it would be perfect if I could double major and complete both in 4 years. Does anyone have any experience double majoring in two separate colleges in UIUC? (One is Grainger and the other is iSchool).
I know Engineering on its own is a really hard major, but if it’s possible then I’ll try my best to do both. I JUST want to know if it’s possible in terms of TIME, regardless of it being super challenging.
Thank you so much for taking your time and answering! Any answer will be greatly appreciated.
You will need to check their academic plan for both majors and build into it take into consideration that the core major subjects will not be available in the summer, some only in fall while others in spring. Electives might be moved to summer. I’m working with both my kids on double majors and it’s a lot of pre work by looking at available scheduling for spring and summer 2019. Also, prerequisites especially the math subjects and sciences need to be checked for all subjects. Good luck! It’s doable!
Hi, I double-majored in EngPhys and CS at UIUC and just finished in 4 years.
It’s possible depending on how many credits you come in with. I came in with a lot of AP and dual-enrollment credits which gave me more time to take classes in both majors (plus there was a decent amount of overlap).
There are some peculiarities with “double majoring” in two different colleges, but it mostly just involves more paperwork. Make sure to talk to both your Engineering advisers and the Information Science college advisers. They will be your best resource for navigating the requirements and paperwork.
@literallymarx I didn’t take any AP exams (I never even knew about them before applying) and I did not graduate from an IB school. Thus haven’t given the detailed syllabus for the major yet, but an overview of both doesn’t show much/any overlap. Is there still any chance? Thank you for your answer.
Also, they say that it’s a 123 credit course, from which there are only 21 hours of core classes, 30 hours of iSchool electives and 72 hours of genEds. Would it be wise to request them to excuse the 72 hours of genEds for my double major as engineering would already be fairly hard? Or would that be considered rude and informal?
It would likely take at least 5 yeats.
If you’re coming in with no AP credits, it’d likely take 5 years. Summer classes and overloading (taking more than 18 credit hours per semester, highly do not recommend unless you’re incredibly diligent) would help, but I don’t know if it’s worth going through all that trouble for a dual degree.
Go talk to the advisers in both colleges when you get to campus, they’ll help you out.
You probably gleaned this from the previous comments, but just to clarify- there is a distinction between dual major (two majors in the same college like CS and Electrical Engineering) and dual degree (majors in different colleges like Mechanical Engineering and LAS Biology). Dual Degree is usually more difficult as you have to satisfy all the different requirements from both colleges and there may be less overlap of coursework allowed. You’ll definitely want to meet with an adviser from BOTH colleges and understand both sets of requirements very thoroughly. For example, if your engineering degree requires 128 hours, a 2nd degree from a different college would typically add at least 30 hours above that, depending on rules in those colleges. It could be more if your schedule isn’t optimal or if there are additional requirements and you are more at risk of class cancellations or changes messing up a very tight schedule. 158 hours is basically 10 semesters of 16 hours if you have no incoming credits, so 5 years as mentioned above.
There are a couple of potential perks that we’ve found. My son had a lot of incoming credits and is working toward a dual degree in Engineering Physics and Mathematics in 4 years. If your second major is a base tuition rate major like Math, you’ll pay lower tuition for those few semesters you are officially enrolled in the other college, up to $2500 less a semester than Engineering tuition rates. Plus you will likely be eligible for returning student scholarships from both colleges once you are in the dual degree program.
I can’t find any info on the new IS major in regards to dual degree requirements or tuition rates yet.
Thank you so much for your incredibly detailed answer @illinoisx3 ! I realize now that a dual degree will inevitably cost me 5 years, and I’d rather just get one degree (which is already pretty marketable) and use the extra year gaining work experience and networking. InfoSci seems like a super interesting major to me, but it’s not really related to Mechanics anyway, and we all have to make choices in life haha 
A minor is certainly achievable in 4 years. Certain dual majors in the same college may be possible, or may only need a few summer classes to augment 17 hour loads if the 2nd major has a lot of classes in common.
@literallymarx Did you apply to EngPhys or CS first? I got into Materials Engineering and am looking to double major with CS. I’ve heard it’s extremely hard to transfer into CS once accepted as well. Please help.