Hey all,
I was hoping to collect a few opinions on double majoring. My primary major is philosophy, but I want to do philosophy + chemistry, both because I enjoy both of them and because I eventually want to go into bioethics. My choices seem to be: double major, major + minor, or just single major. I am leaning toward double major, but I wonder how much work this would entail.
I’m actually curious about this too! I’m a criminology major but i want to work in forensics! Wondering if there’s a way to minor in biology or chem at UCI?
I believe UCB gives transfer students a maximum of 5 semesters to complete their degree after transferring. Assuming you take the lower division classes required for both majors you still have 5 semesters to complete the upper division of two majors. That sounds pretty miserable to me.
Most of the reputable posters here are against double majoring often citing that it’s a lot of work for very little long term gain.
@Platocrat, You can only be admitted into one major so you would have to add the second major once you arrive at your UC. (UCLA?) Since these two fields are practically on opposite sites of the academic spectrum, I’d say it would be very hard as a first time freshman and near impossible as a transfer student especially if you don’t have the majority of the prerequisites complete.
To start off, you would need to meet most of the prerequisites for both majors prior to transferring to be taken seriously by an academic counselor at your eventual UC. Additionally, with the unit limits in place at the UCs, you have a cap to worry about while finishing all the graduation requirements for both majors.
The philosophy major at UCLA has 52 quarter units of upper division major requirements while chemistry needs 47 plus the associated lower division prerequisites which can be as many as 75 quarter units if not previously completed at CC. Coming in with the maximum of 105 units along with the 52 and 47 respective graduation requirements would place you at 204 and with very minimal leeway in regard to the UCLA unit cap of 216 units. Even at the minimum 90 units required to transfer (with no AP credits), you would be at 189 units already which means missing as little as four of the prerequisite courses would make it impossible to double major without a petition approval from a department head.
If UCLA is anything like Berkeley, petitions for unit cap extensions are rarely approved outside of UCEAP considerations.
Sources:
http://www.philosophy.ucla.edu/major.html
http://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/undergraduate/Chemistry_Major_2014_2015.pdf
http://www.ugeducation.ucla.edu/counseling/max-units.html
If a good portion of your transferable units come from AP scores, and you have completed most of the chemistry major’s extensive list of prerequisites, then it might worth trying to go for it. Otherwise, I would just take additional classes in chemistry as they fit into your schedule. If your adamant on pursuing the double major, your probably better off going to a CSU where the unit limits are much more lenient and such a double major is more feasible.
@uciruby, There is no Chemistry minor available at UCI but there is a Biological Sciences Minor available.
Be careful though as the prerequisites are fairly extensive and UCI has a stricter (relative to UCLA) cap of 9 quarters regardless of units for transfers. Its also important to note that since UCI uses UC-GPA to rank applicants, you would need to take summer courses at a UC (and do very well) in order to have a real shot at adding a second major if you end up going for a second major instead of minoring.
Sources:
http://catalogue.uci.edu/schoolofbiologicalsciences/#minortext
http://www.changeofmajor.uci.edu/CoM_BioSci.html
http://senate.uci.edu/uci-academic-senate-manual/part-ii-regulations-of-the-irvine-division/chapter-i-section-3-scholarship-regulations/regulation-386-credit-hour-unit-limit-undergraduate/
Do you have a specific occupation within forensics that you are interested in? It might be a good idea to read up on this: http://www.utsa.edu/careercenter/pdfs/Forensic%20Science/career_advice_forensic_science.pdf
@SDGoldenBear thank you sooooo much. You were really helpful ! 
@SDGoldenBear makes good points. Consider them. If you can, go ahead and double major. If you find that’s not feasible, you could do a minor in chemistry with the philosophy major. Also, consider doing ECs related to bioethics at the UC to which you transfer to give you a good foundation for further study in the field.
@SDGoldenBear, thanks for your exhaustive response. You’re correct; I’m heading to UCLA in the fall for philosophy.
For chemistry, I’m missing the o-Chem pre-reqs (and physics 1a-1c), but I have everything else. For philosophy, I’ve got everything but the logic pre-req. Sounds like, though, I’ll be cutting it close if I tried. Is the 216 unit cap firm even when counting summer quarters?
I only mean to say, I feel like some proposals would seem more doable and thus more likely to be approved than others, e.g. only requiring 8 extra units (totally doable over summer) vs 18 extra units (totally not doable over the summer) to graduate with the double major.
@cayton I think you study philosophy at UCLA, right? Have you heard of any bioethics type EC programs there?
For Berkeley, pretty much all proposals involving a late graduation are denied. The only real exceptions are if that extended stay will be done at a different campus as part of a study abroad program or a campus exchange program. I can only assume that UCLA would be the same.
I believe that if your over units your still allowed to enroll during summer or at the UCLA extension so there really isn’t any danger of not getting your degree(s), but you pay extra in tuition costs (Non-UC rate) and don’t get the perks associated with being a student like amenity access and insurance.
Since Phil 31 is 4 units, the Physics series is 15 units, and the O-chem series is 23 units together adds up to 42 extra units outside of the 99 upper division units you would need to complete the double major, I think it’s very unlikely you’ll get the approval from both departments for the double major. It might be worth a shot though.
@Platocrat
Yep, I do.
http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/home/clubs/clubslist?searchfor=bioethics
This is UCLA’s bioethics club. ^
@SDGoldenBear
UCLA seems to be more lax about that kind of stuff. I’ve known a few people here who are 5th year students.