<p>I...really, really want to get a second major in psychology (because I like the subject so much), without jeopardizing my business degree. The thing is, right now I've confirmed that next year I'll be in the Business/Cinematic Arts program (which takes up a lot of classes that I could've otherwise used towards my psychology degree), and I'll be doing Thematic Option (which is the same number of GE, but with a lot of reading, which equates to more time spent...gahhh!). Another thing that works against me is that I'm a Resident Honors Program kid---so I haven't had my senior year of high school, and will be missing a lot of AP classes I would have taken (like Stats and Econ...now I won't have those credits waived). Assuming I pass all my exams this year, I'll only have 8 classes total. Those are,</p>
<p>Human Geogrpahy
World History
Chinese
Biology
Calculus BC
Art 2-D Design
U.S. History
Psychology
English Language</p>
<p>Most of those are going to count only as elective credits. Oh my goodness...what am I going to do...!</p>
<p>Is it still going to be possible for me to graduate within four years, with a double major in psychology and BCA at the same time? I'm willing to take summer classes, but...I really don't want to take an extra year. How do-able is this?</p>
<p>Well if you’re fluent enough in Chinese and can pass out of the language requirement, then that’ll help with the BA in psychology. Calc BC can get you out of MATH 118 and Biology I believe will get you out of GE 3. You could also ask the Psychology department if they’d take your AP credit towards Intro to Psychology. However, the rest will be used for elective credit.</p>
<p>But under normal circumstances, you should be able to major in both. I recently declared a Sociology major along with my Business Administration major, however, I’m not doing any joint programs, so I’m not sure how many additional classes you’ll need to take. But summer classes are always an option, and if you wish to do that, I would hold off on doing Micro and Macro econ at USC and do them during the summer since those are 2 of the few classes you CAN get credit for during the summer for Business majors.</p>
<p>With AP Psych (4/5) you will definitely be able to waive Intro Pysch with Departmental Clearance.
AP Bio will get you out of the TO Theme class. But only AP Euro or AP Art History will exempt you from the second Theme TO Theme class. I believe US History does not.</p>
<p>You really need to talk to an advisor about all this It is three different concentrations, after all.</p>
<p>That said, it’s conceivable. Suppose you knock out one TO class with AP Bio and that leaves you with 7 TO classes = 28 units. Suppose you manage to waive the language requirement with your chinese. Suppose the psych dept waives you out of two classes (math 116 and psyc 100) with your AP, and business/cinema waives you out of math 118.</p>
<p>That leaves you with psych requiring 32 units of psych, 12 units of biz prereqs (econ 203/205, math 218), 72 units of biz/cinema, which adds up to: 28 + 32 + 12 + 72 = 144. </p>
<p>That’s 18 units per semester, over 8 semesters. The issue would probably come down to can you possibly schedule classes so tightly.</p>
<p>There’s one issue with the business/cinema being a BS degree vs. psych being a BA degree, the exact problem with that I’ve never really figured out. (also, you should be comfortably above the CLAS unit requirement.)</p>
<p>One point to make. Would you be satisfied with only taking courses in psych, alongside your actual biz/cinema degree? (or possibly getting a minor in psych). That would take off much of the stress of trying to fit it ALL in.</p>
<p>When I went to talk about getting a BA in Sociology along with my BS in Business Administration, these were the points that were addressed.</p>
<p>1) BA requires a language (3 semesters), whereas a BS does not.
2) If you are only pursuing 1 degree, you only need 128 units to graduate. However, if you pursue 2 (ie a BA and a BS), you need 160 units. However, this shouldn’t be an issue if you come in with 8 classes of AP classes added to the 144 units jbusc figured out.
3) That’s about it.</p>
<p>LOL, so yeah, really Chinese would be the main issue here, but you may pass out of the requirement, so it might not be in the end.</p>
<p>You have time to make this decision! Try to get through your first semester or two and see how much time you have for extras like… a life? LOL. If you are still chill, you can take on the pace of adding a second major. One thing you might then sacrifice–the chance to spend a semester abroad. You may ask yourself if you really need to MAJOR in psych. A minor might suffice. I don’t believe the psych major is a prereq for any masters programs in psychology.</p>
<p>USC has a fantastic list of minors. I suggest you read all of the list of minors and see if you want to work your program around including a minor rather than an extra major. Also,
look at the study abroad programs (both summer and during the year) to see if you want to do any classes there. I suggest you work out an agreement with USC to take a relevant course this summer which USC will accept for transfer at a local community college if there is something of interest to you.</p>
<p>Hmm…I was hoping to study psychology comprehensively, because I haven’t really decided where I want to go after college. In case I might want to pursue graduate studies in psychology, wouldn’t it be better to have a psychology major instead of a minor? Of course, if I can’t work my schedule out, business comes first…</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m taking macroeconomics at my local community college this summer, and I’m going to take micro next summer, most likely. I called Marshall and they also said that I could use community college credits for those two classes, and that’s what I think I’m going to do.</p>
<p>For Math 116 and 118, if I DON’T get a 4 or 5 on my Calc BC exam tomorrow, would I have to take BOTH? I mean, I’m assuming for psychology they only want you to know enough math to be able to handle the work, right? So shouldn’t Math 118 cover 116? I’m just guessing, I have no idea.</p>
<p>I think I might be able to be waived from the foreign language. I took both AP and SAT II Chinese for that purpose and got a 5 / 800. That should help a bit…</p>
<p>I would guess you could talk the psych dept into recognizing math 118, but nothing’s guaranteed. </p>
<p>You would have to talk to someone about graduate school in psychology and what you need for that. </p>
<p>Ideally, you’d have a MUCH better idea about what you want to pursue after 2 years at USC - so your first job is to keep your options open as long as you’re still figuring that out.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, Psych majors need only the minimum Math 116.
My D chose to take Calc 125 instead of 116 or 118 because she thought it would be more interesting than taking trig again or precalc, and she liked a couple of the Calc profs better. She’s doing fine with a solid A. If you don’t get the 4 in AP BC I’d think about taking 125 rather than 118.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, talk to the Psychology department to see if they’ll waive it. The Sociology department was able to waive an upper division stat class for me because my 2 stat classes through Marshall should cover all the material. But it all comes down to the department.</p>
<p>“I haven’t really decided where I want to go after college.” This is not a reason to pick up a second major now. Just get started at USC, make friends, enjoy activities, figure out your interests and your life plan will come together over time. Before getting into a major, take at least one class in the subject and see if there is truly interest for further study.</p>
<p>mdcissp, I have taken classes in both of these areas and enjoyed them a lot. The thing is, my interests are rather broad, but not necessarily worn out thin. I already narrowed down and eliminated a lot of things that I could have potentially studied, and got it down to psychology and business. Both of which I have a genuine interest in. I’m usually a take-things-as-they-come person, but I’ve found in recent years that sometimes…your thoughts change later, and suddenly you find you haven’t met a certain prerequisite…and now you can’t do what you want to do. You know what I mean?</p>
<p>Alright, I’m going to call the Psych department to ask if they would take my AP credit as soon as I can. (:
Took the Calc BC exam today, by the way. Not feeling extremely confident about the 4 though…</p>
<p>When you come to summer orientation, meet with your advisor and discuss your goals, academic interests, etc. Your advisor should work out a 4 year plan with you. I am not sure if the 4 year plan will be developed in the summer or in the fall, but there will be a plan in place. Keep in mind that many freshmen change their minds, change their majors, change their interests when they come to college. This is completely normal. Be patient and things will come together for you when you get to USC.</p>
<p>If you don’t get a 4/5 on the Calc BC exam, you can take the equivalent Calc course at a community college. My friend did that the summer between HS and college.</p>
<p>Try not to stress too much over what you need to do this summer or how you did on the Calc BC exam. degree requirements, even for double major are still a long ways in the future.</p>
<p>For now, just focus on getting acclimated to college and being ready for your first semester. I guarantee that will be more than enough to occupy your mind by itself! :)</p>
It is three different concentrations, after all.</p>