<p>I really want to double major with EE. I'm considering government, psychology, or applied mathematics, in order of preference. Applied mathematics may be my best bet because many of the courses can overlap and the majors work well together. But I feel I may be overwhelmed by too much of the same thing. Not to mention EE is a difficult major in of itself. What do you think? What are your thoughts as far as handling the courseload and such goes? What about marketability - would I be better off as a double major with a decent GPA or simply an EE major with a higher GPA?</p>
<p>I can’t see a scenario where an employer would care about either of the liberal arts degrees. If they need an electrical engineer to do X job, that’s what they need. Applied math might be a plus, but why not just go to grad school if you are willing to spend more time in school?</p>
<p>If you want to study government or psych simply because you are interested in them, I’d say buy some books and read about it in your off-time, join a club, or take a bunch of those classes as electives. The only benefit majoring in that would likely have is personal enrichment, which you certainly don’t need a degree to get.</p>
<p>I don’t think double majors are usually worth it in terms of increased job outlook, especially if they are in unrelated fields. Sometimes they are if they’re closely related fields that compliment each-other. Applied Math or CS would probably be your best bets, but I don’t think either would be worth it when compared to your other options (like entering the workforce much sooner, or getting a graduate degree).</p>
<p>The thing with double majors is that they generally only help in those very narrow areas where the degrees overlap - which for many of the pairings you suppose is nearly (or entirely) nonexistant. In other areas the double major will hurt you as much or more than it will help you - employers will not be sure where your true interests, passions, and career interests lie!</p>
<p>Why do you WANT the double majors? If it is because you have an interest in multiple areas, join the club - everyone does! Pick one to be a career, and realize that the rest will have to remain interests in which you do NOT gain a professional level of competency and certification. If it is because you are hedging your bets, you are NOT improving things this way, and would be better served by picking a single field and excelling in it.</p>
<p>Also, double majoring can be very time consuming, especially when the fields are widely disparate or when one or both are rigidly schedule (like engineering). Generally speaking, you can get a BS+MS in engineering as fast or even faster than many of the combinations you are proposing, and will receive far better benefit from doing so.</p>
<p>If you want marketability, just do the EE (perhaps with more advanced courses, or an MS) with a higher GPA or more work/research experience. If you want to pursue your (secondary?) passions, double majoring isn’t a bad idea. Go for it, but it’s more rare than not that double majoring is going to mean you make more money or have significantly better opportunities. An MS is a much better idea for that.</p>
<p>I planned on taking a mixture of classes from both my chosen majors over a course of 4 years. I have a fair amount of applicable credits from AP Exams and I could fulfill the requirements for both majors without extending my stay in college beyond the usual.</p>
<p>EE is what I’m doing for practical reasons. The jobs prospects are solid and it makes stable, good income. I do love math but I am just okay as far as being techy/hands-on person goes. I don’t think I would love EE but I wouldn’t dislike it either. The social sciences are what I know I love and am passionate about (and after math, these subjects come most easily to me), so yeah, I guess it was “personal enrichment” and a “backup” in case I wasn’t feeling a career in EE. Again, I don’t think I would dislike EE, but I want the best balance of enjoyment and income. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, your guys’ reasoning sounds practical. Thanks so much! I’ll just minor instead (as part of my interests) and pursue it in extracurricular and if I’m truly not feeling EE in the first year, I’ll switch my major.</p>
<p>If you do major in EE, you can use your social studies breadth and free electives to take political science and other social studies courses.</p>
<p>But have you considered majoring in applied math, applied to CS, economics, finance, or statistics? That might allow more schedule space for additional social studies courses (and things like statistics and game theory are applicable to social studies). Of course, if you really detest the idea of working in the computer industry or finance/insurance industry, that might not work out so well.</p>
<p>I did CS along with EE. They let me go to convocation twice, and a very significant number of the classes were actually co-requisites for both programs.</p>
<p>Compared to just doing CS alone, or just doing EE alone, it is my opinion that the combination actually was easier because I was able to take the CS knowledge, and parlay it into EE applications, and vice versa. Also, there are certain areas in CS, relating to hardware in particular, but also to networks, that are very poorly covered at a theoretical level.</p>
<p>In fact, in 4th year CS, we had a Computer Graphics course. While most of the CS majors were baffled by the discussion of fourier transforms, sampling theory, aliasing, and even some of the 3D vector math involved with developing software for graphics manipulation and filtering – as an EE major, I had already been thoroughly exposed to all of the mathematics by way of various Signals and Systems / DSP courses.</p>
<p>Likewise, in EE, when it came time for the courses on embedded software development and microcontroller programming – the EE-only majors were like deer in the headlights, while the guys who were dual majors/degree people were able to excel quite handsomely in the course. </p>
<p>Since the EE job market pretty much sucks, far worse than the CS market, having a second major to fall back on might be of assistance.</p>
<p>The dean at S’s U STRONGLY recommended against EEs double-majoring or even minoring because of the heavy load of pre-requisites. S entered with 60 credits due to APs but still chose to follow the recommendation & just got the EE degree. He did take courses along the way that interested him & he got several job offers in his field by Feb of SR year.</p>
<p>Personally, it makes more sense to me that you decide whether you LOVE EE enough to major in it or switch to something else by the end of 2nd or 3rd semester.</p>