Double Majoring or Minoring

<p>Hi, so I've heard that a ton of students at Rice double major, and some even triple major. Is this a feasible plan for a student planning to go on to med school? There are a lot of premed requirements, so can students cover these and still double major?</p>

<p>On the other hand, I know that Rice recently added some minors. Does anyone have some sort of experience with Rice's minors? Are they relatively easy to complete or are they useful at all? Would you recommend double majoring over major/minor?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>Also, how easy is it to take classes and/or major or minor in a school other than the one that you were admitted to?</p>

<p>For a pre-med student, double majoring is probably not a good idea, regardless of what the majors are. If you’re dead set on doing it, it is possible, but like I said, it will be a challenge.</p>

<p>And Rice lets you take classes from all over, you aren’t locked into one school’s course offerings (except for some specialized classes).</p>

<p>The only time you would have trouble switching schools would be if you were trying to move into/out of the music or architecture schools.</p>

<p>It all depends on what your majors are. If there’s a lot of over-lap between the two majors and your premed requirements, no problem. If you’re trying to do, say, Mechanical Engineering, Math-Econ, and pre-Med, that would be a problem. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t worry about it too much though. Pick a major and go with it. Rice lets you take classes across majors (and add/drop majors as you go along) so it’s easy to pursue things your interested in without majoring in them. </p>

<p>Also, I don’t have the numbers on it, but anecdotal evidence would be that the vast majority of Rice students change majors at some point - especially if you consider changing/dropping second majors.</p>

<p>Awesome, thanks for the info.</p>

<p>My husband was pre-med at Rice. Now, he is a 2nd year at an Ivy Med School. I’m a recent alumna too. </p>

<p>“Is this a feasible plan for a student planning to go on to med school?”</p>

<p>Yes it is feasible. My husband doubled in BioChem and Hispanic Studies. My husband was pre-med at Rice. Now, he is a 2nd year at an Ivy Med School. I’m an alumna too. First of all, if you are a new student at Rice, Pre-Med especially it is unwarranted though somewhat admirable to worry this much about the balancing Pre-Med and other interests. Do not let your major be dictated by your desire to go to medical school. While you do need to take the dreaded organic chemistry and highly recommended though not required biochemistry, take classes at Rice is a balancing act, period. </p>

<p>Minors are viable options to take instead of majors. Minors give a solid knowledge of the field but majors will provide more grounding and interactions with professors especially if you are interested in research. For example, Rice offers at sociology major and a minor. The major requires 36 hours. The minor requires 18 hours with mostly core classes like Social Theory, Intro etc. The amount of work you put in to get either minor or major should be reflective of the amount of passion you have the subject. </p>

<p>Rice also offers a Global Health, Jewish Studies and Business minor. </p>

<p>There is some overlap. I have only met two triple majors who graduated in four years. They both were majoring in Political Science, Religious Studies and History. Many pre-meds do double major in bio/chem and in a humanities/social science. Nevertheless, the bio/chem is a B.A instead of the B.S. </p>

<p>I would highly recommend, if you are interested, either a humanities or social science major only while fulfilling the pre-med requirements.</p>

<p>My husband says that if he could go back he would have not stressed so much over pre-med and MCATS. He would have majored in Anthropology and Philosophy while fulfilling pre-med requirements!</p>