Double Major Plus Minor/ College Info

Pre-Med & Medical School High School Student Topics
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<p>I am currently a junior and high school and plan on double majoring in Psychology and Business Management. I also want to minor in dance or something else which I haven't yet decided. I want to go into the psychology field and hope to go to Med School for psychiatry. But I also want to at least have a BA in business management. My hobby is dance therefore I want to do a dance minor. But I am very confused in if all colleges allow double majors or not which hit my mind today. I really want to be successful in the things I like and want to do or accomplish but I have so many other problems associated with it. Would my tuition fees go higher if I double major? If I double major in the two subjects, will my graduation take longer? Would I be able to go to Med. School right after graduation? About how many years would it take to complete graduation plus med school and adult psychology course? </p>

<p>I would really love extra feedback and opinions from someone going into the psychiatry field or psychology or med school even. Thanks so much. The more people the better. I would love any feedback or any info about college anyone would like to share. Please :)</p>

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<p>Double majoring in psych and business may or may not be do-able. It’s going to depend on the specific rules at the college you attend. Many colleges will have rules about how many courses you may take outside your major dept./or college within the university. Or a maximum number of credits you can take before completing a diploma</p>

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<p>Cost will depend on the school you attend. Most private colleges charge a flat tuition rate for up to 20-21 credits/semester with an extra charge for any credit hours taken above that. Private colleges may not allow you to take “excess” credits–more classes than are required for a earn diploma or about 130-135 credits. Public colleges tend to charge by the credit so the more classes you take each semester, the higher your tuition will be. Some public colleges also have upper limits on the number of classes you can take without earning a diploma. (Esp true in California.)</p>

<p>There are also limits on the amount of financial aid you can get both from your college (in the case of need-based or merit institutional aid) or from the federal or state government (Pell grants and subsidized loans as well as state-based grants all have credit caps.) Once you reach a certain number of credits, you can’t get any additional grant aid or loans and will no longer qualify for work-study. Typically college-based institutional aid is only good for 4 years of full time enrollment.</p>

<p>How long it takes to complete a double major will depend on many factors–AP or DE credits earned in high school, the related-ness of the majors, how much overlap with the majors and pre-med requirements, how many courses you take each semester (The usual is 4, but you may be able to take up to 6/semester–if you can manage the workload.) and the specific requirements of your college or university.</p>

<p>A major is usually 12-15 classes. A minor 5-7 classes. (Varies by school and specific major) Pre med requirements include 15 classes. General education or distribution requirements will be another 5-8 classes.</p>

<p>I would guess that 2 unrelated majors + unrelated minor + GE requirements + pre med requirements would take 5-6 years to complete. </p>

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<p>You can apply to start medical school immediately after graduation so long as you have completed all your med school pre-reqs and taken your MCAT by the end of your junior year. The medical school application process takes a a full year. You apply the summer before your senior year in college to start the fall after graduation.</p>

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<p>Some thoughts:</p>

<p>1) you don’t need to major in psych to become a psychiatrist. You will choose a specialty during medical school and your clinical training in med school and residency will teach you everything you need to know to be a psychiatrist.</p>

<p>2) there are many way to participate in dance without having a dance minor. There are dance clubs and dance groups on campus that don’t require you to be enrolled in dance classes. Or you could take private lessons from dance profs/dance grad students while at college. No credit/hobby dance classes may also be offered thru student activities or the athletic dept.</p>

<p>3) if you want business management training as it relates to medical practice, there are specialized MD/MBA programs offered by medical schools. </p>

<p>Your interests seem very scattered. You might do better by identifying just one area to concentrate on in college instead of trying to study everything that interests you.</p>

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<p>Other thoughts–</p>

<p>It’s much easier to double major if your 2 majors are related so that you can “double dip”–take one class and have it count towards both majors. While colleges limit the number of double dips allowed, it can help speed up fulfilling graduation requirements. </p>

<p>Other ways to speed up the time needed to fulfill a double major–taking more than 4 classes/semester (assuming you can manage the workload) or taking summer classes (but then you can’t use your summers for completing pre-med ECs.)</p>

<p>A double major + minor is quite difficult to do unless you have a substantial number of AP or DE credits from high school. </p>

<p>It will also help if at least one of your major has a lot of overlap with pre-med requirements so that those courses don’t have to be taken in addition to the requirements for your majors and add to the number of classes you need to finish. (Psych, dance and business all have very little or no overlap with pre med requirements.)</p>

<p>Both my med student daughters double majored, but both had AP/DE credits from high school, took extra classes during the regular semester or took summer classes and either had overlapping majors or had one major that fulfilled all/most pre-med requirements.</p>

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<p>To become a psychiatrist:</p>

<p>4 years for undergrad (assuming you don’t take an excessive amount time to complete your degree) + 4 years of medical school + 4 years of psychiatry residency + 1 year fellowship training = 13 years </p>

<p><a href=“https://residency.wustl.edu/CHOOSING/SPECDESC/Pages/Psychiatry.aspx”>https://residency.wustl.edu/CHOOSING/SPECDESC/Pages/Psychiatry.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;