Double Major in 4 years?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Are you allowed to bypass the liberal arts requirements if you want to complete a double major in 4 years?</p>

<p>Basically is there any way of completing a double major without having to take on significantly higher workload than a single major? I want to double major in Economics and Arabic, but I'd rather graduate with honors in 4 years with a B.S. Economics, than graduate in 5 years with a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. in Arabic (and no honors).</p>

2

<p>I think lots of folks graduate in 4 years with a double major. It really depends on the school and what their requirements are. In most liberal arts programs, the degree is about 30-40% of the overall credits. Many school require distribution credits in humanities, which includes languages, social studies which includes economics, and science. As a econ major you will need come math classes, so that will cover some of your required science credits. Some schools have little if any distribution requirements, so it won’t be an issue. You will have to plan your courses carefully, but this should be pretty doable.</p>

3

<p>Generally, double majors must complete both majors’ requirements and any applicable breadth requirements, although some combinations of majors will fulfill each others’ breadth requirements (e.g. a physics and philosophy double major may find that physics courses fulfill science breadth requirements and philosophy courses fulfill humanities breadth requirements). Some other combinations have enough overlapping courses that they leave plenty of schedule space for needed breadth requirements (e.g. applied math and statistics).</p>

<p>The details of your question depend on your school and what each major’s requirements are, so people out in forum land who do not even known what school you attend cannot help you that much.</p>

<p>If you just want to learn Arabic, you can take the language and any desired cultural courses that you are interested in without having to officially major in it.</p>

4

<p>

I would seriously doubt it. The schools have those requirements because they think they’re important. Some schools will allow you do do a little substituting here and there. You’d have to ask your school to find out for sure.</p>

<p>I’d recommend a BS in Econ and a minor in Arabic if minors are offered and the requirements for a double major are too onerous.</p>

5

<p>What GreekMom63 said. Ask your advisor at your college. Core requirement will almost certainly not be waived, but with good advising you can do a double major in four years. Happens all the time. Then again, double majors are overrated.</p>

6

<p>Given the option of a double major, one of which is a language, or doing a single major and using the greater scheduling flexibility to study abroad in a country where the language is spoken, is an easy choice. Actual in-country experience is worth a lot.</p>

7

<p>

Uh, no. That’s why it’s called a double major. As everyone else has stated, you might be able to fill common distribution requirements for each of the majors with the same classes, but there will still be some “overloads” required to get done in 4 years.</p>

8

<p>You must complete the breadth requirements of your school, in addition to the major requirements of whatever your respective majors are. </p>

<p>However, in many cases your major requirements can fulfill most if not all of your breadth requirements. </p>

<p>Depending on where you to go school, will determine how easy or difficult it would be to double major. For example, at NYU I’m a double major w/ a minor. If I really wanted to, I could make my minor a triple major. If I had gone to Rutgers, I could have triple majored with a minor. It all depends on where you go, what the breadth requirements are, what the major requirements are and if you’re allowed to double count/cross count classes.</p>