<p>I'm really excited to become a part of the University of Rochester community next year! I just have a couple questions that I usually don't get straight answers to- is it hard to double major at the U of R (I'm thinking of double majoring in math-stats and financial economics). Also, is it tough to take 5 classes a semester at the U of R? There are lots and lots of interesting classes there and I'd like to broaden my horizon both within my major field and outside of it. Is it unrealistic to expect that I can take 5 classes (which translates to about 12.5 hours of class, if the U of R online class schedule is accurate). Any advice I could get would be appreciated!</p>
<p>It is not difficult to double major because UR doesn’t have ‘distribution requirements’ or ‘general education’ requirements. Instead there are ‘clusters’–groups of related 3 courses, usually all in one dept. Each student must complete a cluster for humanities, social science and physical science.</p>
<p>Econ would be in the social science. Math would be in the physical science. You would just need 3 courses in humanities (plus freshman writing) to go with your major requirements. It’s more difficult, but still quite possible to double major if both your majors are in the same area.</p>
<p>First semester freshmen are not allowed to overload. However, if have a 3.0 or higher GPA, you may ask for permission from the Dean to overload starting second semester of your freshman year. The request is pretty common and permission is usually easy to obtain.</p>
<p>Students may take up to 23 credits/semester without paying additional tuition. 24 credits/semester and up incurs a per credit additional charge.</p>
<p>D2 has taken an overload every semester since the second semester of her freshman year. (Double majoring in 2 physical sciences, including one that has more required co-reqs than any other major.) Typically she’s taken 22-23 credits every semester. It’s do-able, but not necessarily fun.</p>
<p>One caveat—if you’re planning to overload with the intention of graduating early, UR has an 8 semester rule. Students are required to pay for 8 semesters of tuition–even if they complete all their graduation requirements early and leave campus.</p>
<p>Thanks- that response was very helpful, as always. When you refer to the 8 semester rule, if I were to proceed onto graduate school in my fourth year, would they charge me all 8 semesters of tuition for undergrad, or would they let me off the hook with just grad tuition (which is fairly pricey anyway)? I was also under the impression that double majors were free from the “cluster rule,” although perhaps I was mistaken. </p>
<p>I’m helped by the fact that I’m an IB student with lots of credits to bring over, plus Multivariable Calc; I’m hoping to retake Multivariable Calc and Differential Equations over the summer at the local college to ingrain what I learned, since I wasn’t satisfied with my performance. Is there a limit to the number of credits I can bring to the U of R? </p>
<p>Every student must complete a cluster, major or minor in each of the three areas. No exceptions. Double majors are not exempt.</p>
<p>UR would not exempt you from the 8 semester rule if you left UR and began grad school somewhere else. Basically all students must attend UR for 8 semesters (or at least pay for 8 semesters). Summer sessions don’t count towards fulfilling the 8 semester rule. What you could do is take grad level coursework at UR your senior year to prepare for/transfer to your eventual grad program. Or possibly earn your MS before you leave.</p>
<p>You may find that some depts limit the number of AP/IB credits they will count toward fulfilling graduation requirements for majors. Some departments won’t accept them at all for majors. <cough-biology-cough></cough-biology-cough></p>
<p>For clusters, you may not use more than one (1) AP/IB credit, if any are allowed at all, to fulfill a cluster requirement. Most clusters do not allow you to use AP/IB credits.</p>
<p>D2 has a bunch “unassigned” AP credits that won’t count towards her graduation requirements. Most kids with lots AP or IB credits do.</p>
<p>I can speak with reasonable confidence about the math dept policy on advanced credit. (One of D’s majors is math and she had thru linear analysis in high school.) If you have an official college transcript (from your summer college), then the math dept will allow you advanced standing towards your degree. It’s pretty pro forma. However, other math classes–the junior-senior level stuff requires you to get advance permission from the dept. if you take coursework elsewhere. </p>
<p>If you want to use your IB credits alone without a college transcript–then the math dept advisor will determine placement on a case-by-case basis.</p>
<p>You will not be able to enroll in advance level math courses during summer pre-registration. (Nothing above Calc 3. Just how the system is set up.) You must arrange a meeting with the math dept undergrad advisor during freshman orientation to get permission to enroll in more advanced classes. If you have the credential to back up your request–it’s usually granted.</p>
<p>Sounds good- I’d like to take a fair number of classes to prepare me for grad school anyway. So if I were to attend a U of R grad school (say, get a master’s in finance from Simon), the U of R wouldn’t charge me the two remaining semesters of undergrad tuition and just charge me the $60Kish grad tuition?</p>
<p>You’ll need to speak with an advisor at Simon—I’m not really sure how they handle BS/MS co-enrollment. I do know there are some econ students doing that, though.</p>
<p>I must have misunderstood- so what you’re saying is that if I graduate in less than 4 years, regardless of whether or not I stay in the U of R for grad school, I’ll be charged all 8 semesters of undergrad tuition plus grad tuition? </p>
<p>Thanks for talking to me- college can be a bit confusing.</p>
<p>I doubt you’ll be charged both undergrad and grad tuition at the same time, but how it works in practice, I don’t know. You really need to speak with an advisor at the Simon School who is familiar with all the details and practices.</p>
<p>My d is also graduating with a double major, and a minor as well. One major is in humanities, one is social sciences, and her minor is in humanities as well. She had to do a natural sciences cluster, which she did in math (she’s obviously not a math & science kid).</p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptance, and good luck in your college career!</p>
<p>A large percentage of our students double major, often in very different fields. I referenced this in another post, but our Dean of Admissions mentioned this morning that he knows four students that are pursuing double majors in Mechanical Engineering and History, which requires that they overload at least a few semesters. I’ve seen a lot of students combine the natural sciences with social sciences/humanities by double majoring. </p>
<p>Good luck to you and congrats. Hope to see you here next fall.</p>
<p>You should quite easily be able to handle 5 classes a term unless you take compsci, physics and some other heavy load classes. I’d encourage you to look completely out of your interest area.</p>
<p>This is a benefit of the lack of distribution requirements: take what you want, find interests and cultivate them. As I noted in another thread, a big purpose in not having standard distribution requirements is so that classes contain motivated students who choose to be there and professors who then want to teach those students. Another purpose is to encourage multiple interests. There are a lot of things going on at UR. Lots of clubs. Lots of ways to get involved in just about anything.</p>
<p>I understand that college is about finding out one’s interests and that I’d be a little bit naive (and pretentious) to say that “I’ve figured it out,” but after two years of all AP/IB classes… I think I can say with certainty that I won’t be majoring in the natural sciences, comp sci, or languages. My talents, and interests, lie in math and the social sciences. :)</p>
<p>That said, I’m really happy to see the wide variety of clubs that the school has to offer. I’m really intrigued by the Investment and Entrepreneurial Clubs as well as the Consulting Group and plethora of debate teams available. And, after calling a couple of guys on the golf team, I’m almost certain I want to be at Rochester.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses! Can’t wait to start a new chapter of my life.</p>
<p>You can easily do a social science and math/stats double major. It’s kind of “par” for Rochester and my D did psych and math a few years ago and then went on to grad school.</p>
<p>It’s is really easy to overload, and at some point most people do it.
A few things important things to know: each science class is actually about three classes. Bio 110 is only two classes, because there is no lab, but there is a 2 hour recitation every week. Most other science classes however seem like three classes because you have lecture 2-3 times a week, recitation once a week, possibly lab lecture once a week, and lab. So while overloading is definitely possible, in sciences be very careful, or you will find yourself drowning in lab reports.</p>