double major

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
1

<p>How many AP credits do you think someone would need to have a reasonable load as a double major?</p>

2

<p>I think a bigger issue with a double major is doing two theses senior year. My son, who is undecided between UVA and W&M, has 26 AP credits now for W&M (and could get as many as 54) and just 17 for UVA with a possibility of thirty. Yet, he thinks it would be easier to double major (math/physics for him) at UVA because of the thesis issue at W&M (UVA also has fewer distribution requirements). </p>

<p>Does anyone know for related majors like math and physics whether the requirement of two theses can be waived, if say the student is willing to do a thesis that spans the two fields and have it reviewed by faculty in both departments?</p>

3

<p>An honors thesis is NOT a requirement at W&M. I’ve looked into it extensively, and not too many students do it because its so time consuming. Its recommended if you want to get a doctorate (“training wheels” for a Diss. so to speak) but if you double major, you don’t necessarily have to do a thesis (if you even choose to do one) for both majors. I know for history (and its likely similar across departments) they suggest:</p>

<p>“As a general guideline, students should gauge their interest in the honors program and their academic abilities between the start of their sophomore year and the beginning of their second semester as a junior. A minimum GPA of 3.0 on a cumulative basis by the end of the junior year, or a 3.0 for the junior year alone, is required for participation in the Honors Program. When a student has not met the GPA requirement for Honors, the student and the Department of History can jointly request the Committee on Honors and Interdisciplinary Studies (CHIS) to review the student’s application. The CHIS will only hear appeals that come from both the student and the department. Exceptions to the GPA rule are rarely made, however.”</p>

<p>It’s basically something each student needs to decide for themselves, to write up their proposal and bring it before their department; if you’re double majoring the student does not need to do a thesis for both departments. Of course, you could if you wanted to; you’d likely also be more eligible for the research grants from the Charles Center (very generous ones at that!), but you’d also be in danger of crashing and burning on both if you aren’t used to the amount of writing/research involved.</p>

<p>Back to the original question. Why does everyone think that doing a double-major is particularly difficult? I’m an history/anthro double major- all a “double major” really is is deciding that of the 70-odd non-major (ie primary major) credits one must accumulate before graduation, you will devote around 30-33 of those to a SINGLE field (the secondary major). You are not taking on extra courses in order to fulfill it as there is generally enough breathing room between Gen Eds (even if you need to take all of them) and “elective” credits to easily fulfill a double major. Now a triple major (pretty sure W&M doesn’t allow it) would actually require more courses.</p>

<p>Something to keep in mind for all you crazy overachievers out there. W&M generally doesn’t allow for taking 18 credits (6 classes) in a semester, even if there are audited classes in that group. You have to petition for it, which are usually turned down, as 15+ W&M credits are incredibly intensive. So if you’re like me and have a need to plan out your academic career, keep that in mind.</p>

4

<p>YoungHistorian is correct. A thesis is not required. Of my daughter’s group of friends none wrote a thesis. The one friend who started out doing honors research realized it was just too much and turned it into independent study instead. My daughter did a Monroe research project, but chose not to expand it into an honors project.</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>zero.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>muckdogs… make sure you do your research. As has been mentioned, I think you have an incorrect interpretation of something that you heard at one point about W&M and writing a thesis.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I never understood this either. And you are correct, W&M does not allow triple majors. Of course, you can take all the classes, but you can only officially get two.</p>

6

<p>About one-third of W&M students graduate with a double major (some coming in with minimal AP credit) so it’s something that’s relatively easy. The curriculum is divided into thirds: one-third for General Education Requirements, one-third for your major, and one-third for whatever you’d like (which can be a second major). There are historically some departments which strongly encourage a senior thesis so it might be worthwhile to check with the math/physics departments and see if a senior thesis is something that’s normally done within their departments. We’ve never heard of a student doing more than one however and it’s certainly not a requirement to graduate as other posters have noted.</p>

7

<p>I wanted to clear up some misinformation in this thread.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Petitions are only required for 19+ credits, so you could do 6 3-credit classes without petitioning. And if you have a decent GPA, it’s easy to get overload approval after your first semester. I took three 19+ credit semesters.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Physics is sort of one of these. If you don’t do a full thesis, you still have to do research your senior year. Physics is also among the most likely to not award honors, so it’s a good thing they don’t require it.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Not a requirement, but definitely possible. I have a friend who wrote physics and math honors theses.</p>