<p>I'm new on this site, so I apologize in advance if I mess anything up/break some unwritten code/hurt someone's feelings...</p>
<p>How common is double majoring at MIT, and how doable is it? I've fallen in love with course 2, but I would also love to study chemistry (or possibly chemical engineering) throughout college. However, double majoring with anything engineering-related sounds like death in terms of workload and time commitment. Also, is there any difference between double majoring at MIT vs. at any other school? </p>
<p>***I'd like give a shout out to all the early action admits on here! I'm trying to get to know and learn from as many of you guys as possible (I was admitted EA as well), so, ah, if you're out there, hi!</p>
<p>You wrote an unwritten code and hurt my feelings. JK :).
To answer your question - no, there’s no difference between MIT and other colleges. MIT is slightly more rigorous but it’s manageable. It’s really tough, though… Even in schools other than MIT.</p>
<p>Double-majoring is reasonably common at MIT – about 15-20% of the class completes two majors.</p>
<p>With both mechanical engineering and chemical engineering, there are more flexible degree options available. These flexible options (2A for mech E and 10C for chem E) are designed to leave you a little more free space in your class schedule so you can pick up a minor or a second major.</p>
<p>With that said, it’s easiest to double-major in two departments that already have a lot of curricular or thematic overlap (math and computer science, brain and cognitive sciences and biology, economics and management). Doubling in fields that don’t have much overlap, like mechanical engineering and chemistry, is going to be more logistically difficult, since you probably won’t have many courses that can count toward both degrees.</p>
<p>And don’t forget that you can take classes in a department without needing to be an officially declared major. Actually having two majors might not help you as much in your career as you might think, and you might be better off just taking the courses that interest you, regardless of whether you end up with two majors or not.</p>
<p>Double majoring can hurt you more than it will help you, IMHO, unless there is (as mollie points out) an overlap between the two majors. Grad schools will want you to choose one or the other as well as any industrial career path. </p>
<p>When I was reviewing college applicants for jobs within my company, I always wanted the most prepared person. That meant, who had the most courses relevant to the job offered. By double majoring (without a career path that mixes the two majors) you will have shortchanged your preparation in both majors to get the degree in both majors. Note, that most college applicants I saw had more than just the minimum number of classes in their major to graduate. By having the double major also throws some doubt into the equation as to whether I wanted to hire that person, would he just work this job a few years and then decide on his other major for a career path. I was more interested in someone who had definitely decided on his career path as the company was about to put a fair amount of on the job training (read money and time) into this person.</p>
<p>You don’t designate a major in your freshman year. I would recommend exploring both majors during your freshman year and choosing the one you like the best as your major and your career path.</p>
<p>I am an RD applicant, so I am not an EA admit But I made this exact same thread a few months ago(not degrading yours), and you might find some useful info there. Here’s the link.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone, you all helped a ton! cpraf104, I wish I’d seen that forum before; it was super helpful. And Hamletz, hi! I actually created a FB account a little while ago solely because of the FB group.</p>
<p>Aerospace engineering is a really tough one to double with anything – there are a lot of requirements for the major, and there’s not really enough elective space to do a double, especially with another engineering major. I’m not going to say it’s impossible, but it would be really, really hard.</p>
<p>I think it would be tough anywhere, but it’s particularly tough at MIT. Note that I’m not just saying it’s difficult because the classes themselves are difficult – that’s a given. </p>
<p>It’s difficult for two more logistical reasons:
Since you have to take more classes as a double major than a single major, it’s not uncommon to need to take a few semesters of heavy courseloads (5 or 6 classes, vs. the usual 4) to complete both majors. This is easier to do when you can arrange it so that you’re not taking two lab courses at the same time, or so you’re taking a few relatively easier courses together in your five-class semester. But there aren’t that many easy semesters in course 16, nor in course 6, so you might end up needing to take, say, four really hard classes in one semester. This is not advisable.
Some majors require more classes than others, and aerospace engineering and chemical engineering are two of the most class-requirement-heavy majors (at MIT, but probably also elsewhere). It’s not that people in other majors end up taking fewer classes, but they have more space to take classes of their choice (in the major or not), which facilitates double-majoring.</p>
<p>I think it’s feasible, if you’re interested in the computational aspects of aerospace engineering, to major in 16, take the computational electives within the department, and take a few classes in EECS on the side. This would be an excellent education in computational aerospace engineering. I think it would be unnecessarily difficult to actually complete a full second major in EECS.</p>
<p>Here’s a question I’ll turn back around on you guys: why are prefrosh so interested in double-majoring? Is it indecision, or not wanting to commit to a single program in advance? Is it because you don’t think you can take classes in a department you’re not majoring in? Is it the perceived “hardcoreness” of having two majors at MIT?</p>
<p>I was thinking to do a double major because I truly find interest in both aerospace engineering and computer science. And fortunately, if I can apply both fields, I might be able to enjoy and create something marvelous. I wouldn’t think it would be difficult for me, at least on the computer science part, I have been working corporate jobs for about 5 years now.</p>
<p>For me…it comes down to me liking too many things and not being willing to give them up. If I could triple major without going insane and having meltdowns… I probably would.</p>
<p>I’ve been a military nut, ocean/animal hippie (no offense intended for “hippie”), and of course, computer and robots dude for a while. I didn’t feel that I had to give up the former two just so I could really pursue the latter. It was not really logical to think for me that I couldn’t be an EECS engineer while loving sharks and World War II weaponry at the same time…</p>
<p>MIT specifically, though. I was googling around, found WHOI and how it worked with MIT. Since as mentioned above I have a pretty intense interest in marine biology, I thought I would ask around to see if it was even remotely possible to double-major so I could do both marine biology and EECS in depth.</p>
<p>But this is the thing – you don’t have to give up any of the subjects you love. I’m just pointing out that it’s a perfectly valid choice to complete the requirements for one major while taking a whole bunch of classes in another, or two others, while it can be considerably more logistically difficult to complete the full set of requirements for two majors. </p>
<p>I think you (guys, not just you-cpraf104) should be thinking about this more in terms of taking the classes you want to take rather than thinking only about the credential. Having the knowledge from the classes you’ve taken stored in your brain is much more valuable than the technicality of completing a double major.</p>
<p>In general I certainly agree that there is little use to double majors over taking lots of classes in both areas but there are definitely some departments that have special opportunities for actually being a major in that department. Some of these opportunities are even quite valuable. Course 6 and I believe some other departments have MEng programs that are only for course 6 majors. Other departments (e.g. 15) give majors important registration priority. Other departments (e.g. 18) give few if any advantages to majors.</p>
<p>EDIT: In some engineering fields an ABET accredited degree in the field is virtually a necessity as well.</p>
<p>cpraf104:
Molliebatmit gave you some great advice. </p>
<p>Double majoring tends to lock you into what courses you’ll need to take. However, wherever you end up at college, your interests will grow and diversify. When that happens, you’ll appreciate the flexibility to take courses or get involved in areas you didn’t previously think you wanted to learn about.</p>
But I made this exact same thread a few months ago(not degrading yours), and you might find some useful info there. Here’s the link.</p>