Hey, I was wondering if anyone can help me, I’m a little confused. First, I’ve always wanted to double major in criminology and computer science. So, I found the University of California - Irvine and thought it would be a great option. I saw that they had a computer science and engineering major and I want to pair that with criminology. However, the computer science and engineering major is offered between two schools while the criminology major is offered in another school. Could I still major in these two things even if they are in two different schools? Thanks, and sorry for rambling so much!
Are you a current student or Freshman applicant?
I haven’t applied yet, I’m still finishing my senior year in high school. I was looking at colleges and this on seemed great but then I thought of this. I’m asking this beforehand so I know if I should look into a different college or not.
First of all, you cannot apply as a double major. You can select a 1st choice major and an alternate for UCI. Once you are accepted, you can then declare another major after meeting the following criteria.
To declare a double major, you must:
Have completed at least 90 units and no more than 135 units
Have completed a majority of the prerequisites for both majors
Be able to satisfy the requirements for BOTH majors, including 10 upper-division courses (40 units) unique to each major
Be able to complete the 2 majors in no more than 240 units
Meet with both departments or programs and your college to discuss your academic plan
If you take a look at the CSE four year plan, it gives you little time flexibility to complete another major so you may be looking at an additional 1-2 years beyond the 4 to get a double major. You might want to consider a Criminology minor.
http://catalogue.uci.edu/interdisciplinarystudies/computerscienceandengineering/
http://catalogue.uci.edu/schoolofsocialecology/departmentofcriminologylawandsociety/#minortext
Yeah, I meant that I would take on another major after I completed the requirements.
Would it be better if I switched CSE with just regular CS, or would it be the same? I was also thinking of switching it with political science, psychology, sociology, or chemistry.
CS will be another major that is highly structured with few electives so again you need to be flexible and may have to consider taking more than 4 years to double major. What is your end goal by double majoring? For most Engineering/CS jobs, there is no need for a double major or even a minor.
https://www.ics.uci.edu/ugrad/degrees/degree_ics_curriculum.php
You might want call UCI and speak to an academic advisor on how feasible double majoring can be with a CS or CSE major + 2nd major.
I really want to join the FBI, and to do that I have to be a very competitive candidate. I thought that maybe comparing the two things that I am highly interested in would do that.
Thanks for the advice, I will definitly talk to an advisor, she if I can get this all sorted out. Thanks!
My younger son is a CS major at SDSU and is also targeting the FBI post graduation in Cybersecurity. He has been supplementing his CS degree courses with a few Cybersecurity on-line courses and courses through SDSU’s extended studies program. He is not double majoring or even minoring but just showing some specific course work on his resume. We will see next year after he graduates, if he is able to get a job with the FBI.
Oh, that’s so cool! I’ll keep it in mind when I contact an advisor. Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it!