<p>How hard is it to double in say, Chem-BioE (Course 10-XB) and Biology (Course 7) in 4 years? </p>
<p>Are there people who decide to double major and then complete their 1st major in 3 years, and finish up the 2nd one in the 4th year? Thanks!</p>
<p>general rule on doubling is that you need to be able to work one major with fewer required classes around one that probably has more, which in this case would probably be the chem.e. bio isn't the most flexible, but i think it's not bad (haven't taken a single course in it, myself) i'm not sure if you could manage to squeeze most of a science major into two terms, plus a thesis; i'm taking my two in parallel right now, since they're both pretty sequential, which makes two classes in each per term, and will probably take an extra term just to play with electives; majors finishable in a year are, say, 15. i think.</p>
<p>what about ee and physics?</p>
<p>or me and physics?</p>
<p>Doubling in 10B and 7 is actually one of the easier double-major combinations -- actually I think a huge chunk of the people who are 10B are also 7.</p>
<p>As for finishing a first major in 3 years and doing a second one in the fourth year -- that's not feasible in all majors. I do not think there is any way one could fit all of course 7, for instance, into two semesters, since so many classes are prerequisites for others. (And don't forget that, to double-major, you need to accumulate 270 units outside the general requirements rather than 180.)</p>
<p>I have definitely heard of EE/physics... have never heard of MechE/physics, but I think it should be possible.</p>
<p>generally, again (amend to allow for advanced credit/mad intelligence): engineering majors usually have a fairly solid sequence of required classes that wil take you several terms to get through. pure science majors don't really have fewer, tho they may be tilted more towards electives and less necessarily on classes with actual prereqs (not all prereqs are always crucial to a class, but you want to take quantum before you take quantum 2 :) so really, it comes down to "are you lucky enough to have picked majors that don't schedule everything simultaneously". while having classes that overlap isn't always a disaster, forcibly skipping more than an hour of lecture a week is generally not a great idea. even if you end up not needing to go to lecture (some people can manage it, but not i, usually), you may get an exam scheduled then, and it just gets messy.</p>
<p>one thing to note is that physics does have an option that is sans thesis and replaces a few of the more time-intensive courses and some elective credits with a concentration in another field of study, which is often used by people intending to go to med school or law or mba folk. they also offer the closest thing to a course 6 minor, where you take 6.001-4 and get a letter saying you're awesome from EECS along with your physics diploma. both of these can be a starting point for doubling in physics and another field.</p>
<p>oh, and while all this advice makes it sound simple, don't forget that it's still a hell of a lot of work.</p>
<p>"oh, and while all this advice makes it sound simple, don't forget that it's still a hell of a lot of work."</p>
<p>I fully agree. (I'm a 9/7 double major currently taking 75 units... it is, in fact, a hell of a lot of work.)</p>
<p>The best thing to do if you're intent on double-majoring is to plan ahead. I decided I wanted to double the summer after freshman year, and I set up a plan of classes to take immediately. I haven't always followed that plan to the letter, but at least I have it to use as a guide.</p>
<p>i've been taking it term by term, as i haven't technically made the decision that doubling is what i should do, and have been lucky thus far in that nothing's conflicted. but i don't really have much choice, as my two have pretty defined core classes for 2nd and 3rd-years. after that, things will get interesting.</p>
<p>Thanks for all that info guys! I am thinking of doubling in 10B and 7 though. But I'm not sure about something. It says on the MIT website that in order to do a double degree, you've got to fulfil the dept requirements for the 2nd degree, and do 90 credits in addition to the 1st degree requirements. Do the "90 credits" have to be all Course 7 classes, if my 1st degree is 10B? Or are they all unrestricted electives?</p>
<p>Or could the "90 credits" refer to credits under Course 7? So if i have 48 unrestricted electives under 10B, can I take Course 7 dept restricted electives under these "48 unrestricted electives", so that I will have just 90-48 = 42 additional credits to fulfil for Course 7? That is, can we use the Course 7 restricted electives to overlap twice with the dept requirements, as well as fall under the "90 credits" needed for the 2nd degree?</p>
<p>Also, in getting a double degree, when applying for a PhD program in grad school, are both degrees considered as equal, or is the "1st major" considered a little more "concentrated" than the second?</p>
<p>Thanks for answering my questions! Hope I don't sound too confusing here=(</p>
<p>To mollie - I was thinking of doing it the other way round - finishing 10B in 3 years, and completing 7 in the 4th year, since the course 7 required subjects all overlap with 10B (except the restricted electives and CI-Ms).</p>
<p>oops another thing - if I decide to do a PhD in biochemistry, will a double degree in engineering as well boost chances of getting into grad school or affect them?</p>
<p>"Or could the "90 credits" refer to credits under Course 7? So if i have 48 unrestricted electives under 10B, can I take Course 7 dept restricted electives under these "48 unrestricted electives", so that I will have just 90-48 = 42 additional credits to fulfil for Course 7? That is, can we use the Course 7 restricted electives to overlap twice with the dept requirements, as well as fall under the "90 credits" needed for the 2nd degree?"
Yes. The "90 extra units" thing just means that you have to take 90 extra units outside the GIRs. It doesn't matter what they are. I'm taking advantage of a substantial amount of overlap between courses 9 and 7 to double-major. As long as a set of units is not being applied toward the GIRs, it counts toward the 270 you need. (Maybe it would help you to look at my degree plan: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/mollieb/Public/PDFs/Other/Class%20Plan.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/mollieb/Public/PDFs/Other/Class%20Plan.pdf</a>)</p>
<p>"Also, in getting a double degree, when applying for a PhD program in grad school, are both degrees considered as equal, or is the "1st major" considered a little more "concentrated" than the second?"
Both are considered equal, because technically speaking, you are not "double-majoring" (though most people refer to it that way), you are actually getting two bachelors of science degrees.</p>
<p>"To mollie - I was thinking of doing it the other way round - finishing 10B in 3 years, and completing 7 in the 4th year, since the course 7 required subjects all overlap with 10B (except the restricted electives and CI-Ms)."
I just looked at the 10-B degree chart... I didn't realize 10-B required 7.03/7.05/7.06 as well. That actually might be possible, although I would suggest doing 7-A rather than 7 if you plan to finish in a year. </p>
<p>"if I decide to do a PhD in biochemistry, will a double degree in engineering as well boost chances of getting into grad school or affect them?"
My intuition is that, yes, that would be a helpful thing (and it's certainly not going to hurt you for grad school admission). But I think I will be more of an expert on grad school next year, after I actually have or have not gotten in ;)</p>
<p>Wow thanks! </p>
<p>So if i have 48 unrestricted electives under 10B, can I take Course 7 dept restricted electives under these "48 unrestricted electives", so that I will have just 90-48 = 42 additional credits to fulfil for Course 7? That is, can we use the Course 7 restricted electives to overlap twice with the dept requirements, as well as fall under the "90 credits" needed for the 2nd degree?"</p>
<p>Actually I was wondering if you could do something like only 90-48=42 additional credits, since I can fulfil 48 of the 90 under ChemE's unrestricted electives (which could be classes from anywhere right?). That would mean I would do 198 (for 10B) + 42 = 240 additional units beyond GIRs altogether instead of 270. Is that possible?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>First, I would like to say that someone should make the credit system less damn confusing.</p>
<p>Now then. You have to take 270 units outside the GIRs. The Committee on Curricula won't care what they're being applied to, just that you've taken 270. In other words, you can't double-count classes toward the 270 unit requirement, but you CAN double-count classes toward a major (7.23, for example, could be both an unrestricted elective for 10-B and a restricted elective for 7, but it would only count for 12 units outside the GIRs).</p>
<p>Generally speaking, you can't cheat the 270 units requirement. 270 units is kind of a lot outside the GIRs. If you have enough hubris to double-major, the COC kind of wants you to suffer.</p>
<p>hrm ok - thanks! Guess I'll have to take like 5 classes each semester=(</p>
<p>btw, does anyone know if the 8.02 ASE has multivariable calculus? Will I be able to pass it if I read through and understand the Serway textbook? Thanks!</p>
<p>Yeah, I should have clarified that double major generally = 5+ classes/term. I'm actually taking 6.25 this semester. It's fun, in the not sense.</p>
<p>But do you know that coming in with AP credit from humanities classes can get you credit outside the GIRs and all that jazz?</p>