<p>I am currently a Physics student at a state university, I chose Physics because I love it and it's beautiful. It explains everything in life through mathematical formulas, numbers, stats. On the other hand, half of me wants to do something creative, something artistic, something I can build, something I can put my creativity mode on, something like architecture.
I am debating whether to do both? Or one minor and one major? Or just do what I'm doing now: major in Physics and apply to grad school to get a professional degree MArch later.</p>
<p>I am exploring my options and since my school doesn't offer anything related to architecture, I'm considering transferring to another school, and MIT is on my list.</p>
<p>My questions:
Is it possible to double major in both fields if I transfer to MIT?
Is there a unit cap on a degree at MIT? At my school there is a 120 unit cap for Physics major, I can't go over 120% of this if I do a minor or double major.
Has anyone done this before and would like to give me some advice?
And last, I know MIT only gives transfer students 3 years of financial aid (aid, loan, need-based) so if I take classes during summer and IAP, does financial aid also cover it or is it already covered in the yearly fee?
Thanks :)</p>
<p>There is no unit cap at MIT, but you might find yourself struggling if you take more than four classes per semester, and absolutely miserable if you take more than five classes per semester. Might.</p>
<p>Financial aid covers IAP. IAP counts as a part of your fall semester.</p>
<p>Summer is a separate semester, and there are not many undergraduate classes offered in the summer.</p>
<p>Architecture is I think quite possibly the hardest major at MIT. It is unlikely you will have much free time, and it is very unlikely that you will have so much free time you can pick up a physics major on the side. Architecture also does not have much flexibility for when you can take a class, because instead of many short prereq threads like in course 6, architecture has fewer, longer prereq threads.</p>
<p>You can view the requirements for architecture here: [MIT</a> Course Catalog: Course 4](<a href=“Welcome! < MIT”>Welcome! < MIT)
and the requirements for physics here: [MIT</a> Course Catalog: Course 8](<a href=“Welcome! < MIT”>Welcome! < MIT)</p>
<p>In the recent past, double majoring at MIT was extremely difficult because it wasn’t really a double major, it was a double degree. You had to fulfill the requirements for two separate degrees and you couldn’t do much “double-counting” of classes. I’m not sure how it works now. Regardless, MIT is a very tough school and there are no easy classes. So I would hesitate to recommend double majoring.</p>
<p>As for whether to major in one subject or minor in another, etc, I think it’s best to be as flexible as possible. It’s hard to know as a freshmen what you want to do with your life, e.g. whether you want to go into a career in physics or in architecture. If you major in architecture, it’s difficult to go to science graduate school. The admissions committees will hold it against you. I’m guessing (though you should check) that architecture programs would be less discriminatory if you had a physics degree. So my recommendation would be to major in physics and minor in architecture. MIT has a “flexible” physics degree which would be easy to combine with architecture. It has a lot fewer required physics classes than the traditional physics degree.</p>
<p>The difficulty of double majoring at MIT depends a lot on the two majors. Adding a math double major isn’t too hard for an EECS or physics major but physics and architecture is likely to be a difficult combination. My impression is that architecture is probably the most time consuming major at MIT and it’s rare for people to double major in it. A lot depends on how much transfer credit you would get as well.</p>
<p>One other consideration is employment after school. As a (now retired) manager at a large engineering company, I would shy away from double majors. If you aren’t sure what you really like, how was I to know? I was hiring to fill a specific job and I wanted someone committed to that job. After all, your education doesn’t end just because you leave school. Learning the details of the job can take years to become as productive as possible. Also, people who did double majors usually just had the minimum classes for each major and I preferred people with more than the minimum; and I usually had more than enough applicants who did have more than the minimum.</p>
<p>Just something to consider. </p>
<p>BTW, I would not usually consider two fields of engineering as separate majors as there would be a fair amount of overlap. Same, for instance, for something like engineering and applied math.</p>
<p>Under the old system, you had to check off all of your requirements for both majors and complete 270 units beyond GIRs (instead of 180 units beyond GIRs). Nowadays, it’s 180 units beyond GIRs for everyone (except for a few majors that require a little more - mine required 192 units beyond GIRs).</p>
<p>For most people double majoring, the difficulty hasn’t really changes. You’d usually end up taking about that many extra classes for a double major anyway, and most people graduate with extra units.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the replies, guys!
HPuck35: uhmm, very interesting. I have never heard anyone told me that double major could hurt me for future employment before. I think that double major could rather help, because it shows that I will have a broader field of knowledge, that I actually challenge myself, and therefore it would give the employer the impression that I am able to work hard and be creative with my broad knowledge.
But now you brought up that it could hurt me, because it might show that I won’t commit to my job and I might not go deeper into the specific field that the job requires than other people, which is interesting. I’ve never thought of that before. So there’s another question for me to consider in my undergraduate study.</p>
<p>^ There are other ways to show a willingness to challenge yourself. I know people who invested their time very deeply into field-related UROPs, and came out with awesome skills they could show their employers.</p>
<p>Doubling is difficult, but even moreso if there is no overlap between the majors or they don’t even complement each other. Architecture/physics is one of those combinations. My instinct is that doubling in architecture and physics would mean that neither would be done well. </p>
<p>If you were really deadest on experiencing both, it would probably be best to do physics for 2 years and then the last 3 as an architecture major. And select the more flexible physics major which I believe doesn’t have Junior Lab.</p>
<p>^ 8B (the flexible version of 8) has one semester of J-lab. </p>
<p>There’s also a flexible version of 4, and there are minors in both. </p>
<p>But really, I’d pick what you’re interested in/will get you started on a career, and then fill your extra space with classes you’re interested in.</p>
<p>The “flexible” version of Course 8 (physics) does not require junior lab. I should know since I did it. You need to fullfill one semester of lab work and that could be junior lab or something else. And yes, junior lab is one of the killer classes at MIT which takes up all your time.</p>
<p>Here’s the official wording:</p>
<p>and one of the following experimental experiences, subject to approval:
8.13 CI-M*
Experimental Physics I
or
a laboratory subject of similar intensity in another dept.
or
an experimental research project or senior thesis
or
an experimentally oriented summer externship</p>