double majoring

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Sooooooooooooo, majors have been on my mind recently. Since Cornell is one of my top choice schools, I feel it is appropriate to ask this question on this board:</p>

<p>Can one double major in subjects across different "schools"??
such as.... </p>

<p>mechanical engineering (COE) and astronomy (CAS)???</p>

<p>I know that I dont need to worry about majors too much as a high schooler. However, I feel that I may continue to have this conflict of interests in the future... </p>

<p>P.S. This is directed mainly to current cornell students or alumni</p>

2

<p>Cornell is one school for which you should be a bit concerned about majors even before you’ve matriculated. different schools offer different majors and you have to transfer internally in order to switch, so it really helps to know ahead of time what you want to do.</p>

<p>you can take both of those majors in the dual degree program (google it). keep in mind that you would have to fulfill all the non-major requirements of both COE and CAS, so you will need to take heavy course loads every semester and possibly courses over the summer. it is pretty tough, and not just the same as adding on an additional major within the same college, so you would really need to be determined and believe that it’s the right choice for you.</p>

<p>P.S. I am a current student, though not in COE or CAS.</p>

3

<p>You probably don’t want to dual degree. You waste more time doing college requirements than actually doing the degree requirements, and even less time doing the courses you’re actually interested in.</p>

4

<p>so what are the non-major requirments in COE and CAS?</p>

5

<p>COE degree requirements: [Cornell</a> Engineering : Degree Requirements<a href=“easily%20digested%20version%20of”>/url</a> CAS degree requirements: <a href=“http://www.arts.cornell.edu/stu-adv/parents/degree.asp[/url]”>http://www.arts.cornell.edu/stu-adv/parents/degree.asp](<a href=“http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/programs/undergraduate-education/degree-requirements/index.cfm]Cornell”>http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/programs/undergraduate-education/degree-requirements/index.cfm)</a></p>

<p>look around the dual degree website for more info: [Dual</a> Degree](<a href=“http://as.cornell.edu/academics/opportunities/dual-degree/index.cfm]Dual”>http://as.cornell.edu/academics/opportunities/dual-degree/index.cfm)</p>

6

<p>One question you should ask yourself is why do I need a double major?</p>

7

<p>Well… I just like both subjects equally. Basically, I need to decide between following an engineering path or a astronomy/astrophysics path. Any suggestions with that?</p>

8

<p>I believe in today’s world, it is better to become a in depth specialist than a broad generalist.</p>

<p>Both MechE and Astronomy are such broad topics its better to pick a specialization within one and become very good at it than to learn many shallow topics.</p>

<p>I’d suggest going with MechE major and learning on your own/helping professors in Astronomy/Astrophysics.</p>

9

<p>The A in MAE stands for Aerospace… so there’s no reason you can’t focus on this area.</p>