<p>How do double majors work in college? If you do a double major, do you pay for double the amount of courses? So if a person with one major has to pay say, $31,000 to go to Northwestern, would a double major have to pay 62,000 in tuition? How does it work? Or, is double majoring free in a way, where you pay the same amount as a full time student with one major, but you take more courses? </p>
<p>Is it normal to take longer than four years to complete double majors? What is double majoring good for? What kind of opportunities do they bring? What are the benefits of one major vs. double majors? How important/good are minors and what can they do for you?</p>
<p>You don't pay for the majors; you pay for the semesters. Many people fit a double major into four years---which takes very meticulous planning. So they'd spend the same as someone who completed one major. Some people take an extra semester or more to finish. They'd pay for the extra time.</p>
<p>What it's good for varies entirely from student to student. Some students simply want to study two things indepth; some have specific goals which will be facilitated by the second major. There's no one answer.</p>
<p>Whether you have one or two majors is not the issue for tuition. Colleges charge tution according to number of hours you take per semester (or quarter if on the quarter system). A full time student is usually considered one that takes 12 or more hours per semester. A typical load is 15 to 16 hours per semester. And an engineering load is often 17 to 18 hours. Your tuition price for the semester is usually the same if you take anywhere from 12 to 18 hours per semester; most colleges then charge an additional rate per hour if you go over 18 although some do not. Having a double major can have the effect of costing more in tuition in the long run simply because you will need to take more hours than the typical student takes; thus you may take more than 18 hours some semesters or take summer sessions or attend a fifth year, all which can add to your total tuition.</p>
<p>It is not necessary to take five years for a double major because many can do it in four by a combination of AP credits going in and taking courses in summer. Also, it is actually "normal" for many with only one major to take more than 4 years to graduate -- engineering is typical in that regard both because of course load and that many do co-ops for a semester or two.</p>
<p>Double majoring really does not mean anything in the employment world after college except that you may have two different options to go in. In other words, an employer looking for an electrical engineering grad is not really going to care much that you also have another major or a minor.</p>
<p>Policies vary by school. A second major can add between 20 and 50 additional credits to your workload, depending on how closely related the two majors are. You would not be taking double the amount of classes because there are usually some common core courses and you may be able to use requirements from one program to satisfy elective credits for the other. You would typically take one extra course per semester and you may have to either attend school in the summers or else take a fifth year, particularly if the majors are not closely related.</p>
<p>Many schools require that you get special permission from your advisors to be able to take more than 17 or 18 credits in a semester and some do charge extra for course loads larger than that. When I attended UVA, I took as many as 21 credits in a semester without having to pay extra. My daughter who is now at Oberlin would have to pay an additional $860 per credit for anything over 16.</p>
<p>Double majors are typically suggested for people who have very strong interests in two or more different fields and wish to pursue them simultaneously. They can be excellent preparation for those who are looking to do things that cross traditional subject boundaries.</p>
<p>The benefits of a single major are that you have a better chance of completing it in four years while still having time for EC's, a social life and a decent night's sleep every once in a while.</p>
<p>Minor programs vary very widely from school to school. You could easily fashion a minor by careful selection of elective courses within your basic curriculum. Minors are basically a way to explore an area of interest in some depth without taking on all the challenges and requirements involved in a second major.</p>
<p>By all means check the tuition policies and charges for individual schools. DD students often need or want to carry a heavy workload and additional credit hour charges might be prohibitive.</p>
<p>Typically with minors, they are just as good as a major except less in depth? Say I major in film and minor in english, can I still become certified to teach english in schools with a minor in english? That's basically what I'm looking for. And I don't want to have to go to school for teaching, I just want to get certified immediately. We have these student teachers that keep popping up in my school who are saying they had to go back to college to be able to teach. I don't want to have to do that. I have a teacher/friend who graduated from college with a major in communications and then got certified over the summer and began teaching the fall after he graduated when he was only 22. I want to do that. Is that the typical way teachers do it?</p>
<p>There's a whole lot of factors in play for you to get the right answer to your question. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Are you planning to teach in public or private school? Do both (in your area) require certification? Some privates do not require certification (i.e. specific education courses and student teaching)</p></li>
<li><p>What are the requirements for <em>certification</em> in the state(s) where you are interested in teaching? You probably have to do student teaching and a certain selection of education courses.</p></li>
<li><p>What grades do you want to teach?</p></li>
<li><p>What coursework to fulfill those requirements is available at your college?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Minors are not considered as good as majors. A minor is really just an area in which you have taken perhaps as few as four or five classes. In some cases, there is not even a required sequence of courses. In a major, you generally need 30 to 50 credits plus supporting classes in related areas in a coordinated program that is structured to give you all the basics in a particular field.</p>
<p>Teaching requirements vary widely from state to state and school to school. You may be able to find a school willing to employ an uncertified non-major fresh out of college to teach english, but it will likely be a school that is having a hard time attracting someone more qualified. They will also probably expect you to take classes at night and over the summers to sharpen your skills.</p>
<p>Okay, thank you for your help. Sounds like it just depends on the institution and the state and there is no real set-in-stone answer. Thank you for the advice everyone!</p>