Double Majoring - Not what it's cracked up to be?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I've been poking around from time to time on these forums and talking to some friends. The conversation of double majoring for more appeal and marketability continues to surface in these discussions. A lot of students tell me that its for the best, it looks nice on the resume, and it will boost up their salary. But is that entirely true?</p>

<p>Tips</a> for those considering a double major - College Courses & Majors - Helium - by Tiffany Coley Provides some information on double majoring.</p>

<p>Double</a> majors reap twice the benefits - Campus There's also that.</p>

<p>I'm still really hazy on the thought of double majoring. Does it provide better job opportunities or is just a waste of time? Salary numbers don't seem to come up either in regards to double majoring. Is it truly worth double majoring when you're going to end up making the same as the guy who "cruised" through college?</p>

<p>Thoughts? Your own observations?</p>

<p>(I did a small search for a double majoring thread, but too much stuff to look through :-) )</p>

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<p>Well, I would like to double major in Electrical and computer engineering; however, there are only a couple extra classes I'd have to take at University of Minnesota Twin Cities and no extra classes as UW (you aren't able to take some other extra classes though...). Why do I really want to do it? It interests me. Slim chance I may major in Computer Science also if possible because it also interests me. Many of the things I'd get out of a computer science major probably won't help me for too many jobs quite frankly (with all the theory and what not).</p>

<p>I'm not in college yet nor am I out of college, so I can't really comment further, but I think a strong factor in it would be whether it interests you are not. If it is just about the money...you could probably live happier doing something that you like, but making less money.</p>

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<p>Well, I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. It depends on each person's individual desires and interests.</p>

<p>For example, I'm double-majoring in journalism and northern studies. The journalism degree requires either a minor or a second major, and I liked the northern studies program so much that I decided it would be worthwhile to double-major in.</p>

<p>The major fits in my interests, is very flexible (21 unit core, 15 units of electives, allowing a selection of courses from the disciplines of history, anthropology, political science, linguistics, biology, ecology, geography, literature and art) and provides me with the academic background to pursue my research/reporting goals - covering social/environmental/economic issues across Alaska and the north.</p>

<p>Additionally, the major program plays to this university's strengths, being as it is the northernmost university on the continent.</p>

<p>As for whether or not it affects how much I'll make after college... am I the only person here who doesn't care? I'm in college to learn, and I'm interested in learning about all the things in the double-major. So, I'm doing the double-major. Its effects on how much money I might make never even crossed my mind.</p>

<p>I'm hazy on the idea of why someone (especially the College Confidential crowd) would spend thousands of dollars and years of their life to just "cruise through college." Doesn't seem to make sense to me. Why not take full advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you get to devote yourself to learning? If I wanted to just do the minimum and cruise, I could have saved a lot of money and time by going to my local commuter CSU campus. But instead, I'm attending a state flagship university 3,000 miles from home, perched on the brink of the Arctic Circle. There's no second chance for this, so why squander it?</p>

<p>I don't mean to imply that people who don't double-major are lazy. What I'm trying to say is that I don't care if someone who "cruised through college" makes the same as me, or even more. Good for them. Congratulations. But that's not the benchmark I use, and that's not what I consider important in life.</p>

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<p>well, you only get to go to college once. going back as a post-bac is pretty difficult (i think it's just the admissions problem). it also depends on what you're double majoring in. if you double major within the same school, it'd be a little easier. The humanities degrees also don't require too much labs and too much classes like engineering, so double majoring in the arts and sciences might be more common. i don't know if it looks more impressive or makes you more marketable. but if you're going for that, you might as well do tons of internships instead.</p>

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<p>It depends a lot on the school and how it's set up. </p>

<p>At my school many people double-major, without staying extra semesters. It's not uncommon for people to declare a minor just for kicks, because they were only a credit away anyways, so why not? Some other schools make it a lot harder.</p>

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<p>Don't double major unless you would want to do both of them individually. It's not worth it otherwise. You won't have two jobs after college.</p>

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<p>^^^ or unless the two subjects together make a specialty.</p>

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<p>Probably the biggest worry is meeting the requirements of each major on a time schedule that makes sense. If you're using your elective credits to take advanced-level major-specific classes, you're likely going come across schedule conflicts. Many of those courses may only be offered twice a term, or in only one term per year.</p>

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<p>My brother graduated with two majors and two minors. He wound up with a job barely making $30k. I graduated with a major and one minor and am making that much money just for attending graduate school where at the end of four-five years my salary will triple.</p>

<p>Like 90% of all other advice relating to college, it really depends what field you're in.</p>

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<p>I'm trying to figure out how I could make use of a Theater minor alongside a Computer Engineering Major still... :-P</p>

<p>Guess it's just community theater for me. Computer engineering >= theater (but that's just me...).</p>

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<p>It really doesn't seem too difficult to me. If you plan it out well, are driven, and are willing to not take 12 credit semesters, etc...it seems possible.</p>

<p>I'm planning on going to Law School, so I'm going to double major in the least in Journalism and PoliSci...and would like to do a bit of studying in economics and spanish (extensive foreign language is a requirement for the journalism, so thats fine).</p>

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<p>I'm going to double major in bio and poli sci. Biology is for my own enjoyment and career pursuits. Political science is almost purely for my own enrichment. I have only a slight chance in actual pursuing a government job. I just hope I can bear all of the extra classes and possible summer school time. I doubt I'll regret it, though.</p>

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<p>@ Godsend</p>

<p>Only double-major if you have keen interests in both fields. I stumbled upon my two majors in college because I noticed I took a lot of classes in both departments. They are also related, and I wrote a senior thesis for both departments. I didn't choose my majors to make myself more competitive career-wise. That is not really the point behind a double major. Graduate schools don't view double majors as better than a major and/or minor either. Law school is all about GPA and test scores. Do it if you like it will expand your mind intellectually and you do well in it.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I'm still really hazy on the thought of double majoring. Does it provide better job opportunities or is just a waste of time?

[/quote]
There are some times when it makes sense due to your interests or specific field you want to enter. The CS major with theater minor someone mentioned -- ideal employee for a company doing computer animation?</p>

<p>But more generally employers are not going to be too impressed by a random double major. Liberal Arts degrees for the most part don't lead directly to jobs. Poli Sci, Anthropology, History, etc. are not vocational degrees where you step right into a job the way that you do with an Accounting or Engineering degree. Having 2 liberal arts degrees doesn't change that. </p>

<p>And a double major comes at a cost. You have 4 years in college. In addition to delving into some subject in some detail (your major) you have a chance to take classes to explore other fields. With a double major most of this will be soaked up by the 2nd major. Unless the 2nd major is filled with classes you'd prefer to take over everything else the U offers, you're giving up this chance.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
There are some times when it makes sense due to your interests or specific field you want to enter. The CS major with theater minor someone mentioned -- ideal employee for a company doing computer animation?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'd say not....a bunch of theory or even basic programing knowledge won't help a computer animator extensively unless they are writing the software to create animations. If this is the case, a theater minor would be useless. You have a bunch of people who specialize in one particular thing (an animator, a story-writer, etc.), not one person who can do everything for things like that.</p>

<p>As for a very useful double major: computer and electrical engineering, but mainly because they overlap a lot and are very closely related. Having both would open you up to a bunch of job opportunities. What's nice about that though, there aren't really any extra classes or many you would be taking to accomplish that...you could probably tipple major or have another minor if you were really determined or wanted to spend more time in college.</p>

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<p>A lot of schools actually combine Electrical and Computer into one major and make you pick a concentration from them.</p>

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<p>Double majoring shouldn't be about job opportunities. It should be about having strong interests in both fields, liking the material, and wanting to receive an education in both. It's not about picking your favorite two majors, it's about not being able to pick one over the other... double majoring means you really love both.</p>

<p>If you double major you should be able to explain why you did so to employers. If you have a good answer... "I thought that I would be better suited to pursue a career in this area with a double major"... then the choice will be looked on favorably. If your best reason is "I wanted you to think I was better than the 1,000,000 other applicants", then maybe you should reconsider why you're getting an education at all.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
A lot of schools actually combine Electrical and Computer into one major and make you pick a concentration from them.

[/quote]

Yeah, I think MIT would be a good example of a school that does that (if I remember correctly). They go quite nicely together. :)</p>