Heya! I’m part of the Haverford class of 2023. I know I haven’t even stepped foot on campus, but I’m wondering if double minoring with a major is a thing? I’ve heard of one or two people double majoring, but never double minoring. I’m curious if it’s actually done or not. Thanks!
Hi, I’m a linguistics major and planning on double minoring in Japanese and Ancient Greek, and it’s totally doable!
The requirement for minors is usually taking 6 courses in that department/disciplinary and those courses have to reach certain levels (i.e. 200 level + 300 level)
FYI, Minors don’t matter. Your employer won’t look at them, nor will your graduate school. Just take classes you are interested in and get as much experience you can in the summers. I see too many students kill themselves over minors and concentrations. Not worth it.
@MidwestMIMom - Not every student who completes a minor does it for an employer. Most of them do it because, as you say, they are interested in the subject matter.
Thundercrashbolt:The answer to your question is “It depends.” I encourage you to familiarize yourself with Haverford’s academic catalog site, which can be found at https://catalog.haverford.edu/academic-regulations/ . There is valuable information regarding all the various graduation and distribution requirements, as well as info regarding major, minors, and concentrations; this site has not been updated for 2019-202 but should be generally valid just the same since it’s the latest available info. Familiarity with this information prior to arrival for Customs will help you make better informed decisions when it comes time to register for classes. Be advised that there are some academic paths that require taking the right sequence of courses from the get-go; biophysics comes to mind. Also keep in mind that such things (alone or in combination) as extracurricular activities, study abroad, major selection, and PG school desires can make some minor and concentration options less tenable than others. You will also have an Upperclass Advisor, or UCA, assigned as part of your customs team who will be your initial POC into the world of academic advising at Haverford. Academic advising at Haverford is excellent; however, be advised that advisors will expect you to have done some research up front and have pertinent questions for them that will help them help you productively. Best of luck.
There are some new changes coming to Haverford in terms of distribution requirements for this coming academic year.
During Customs Week, current students will help you pick your courses. Your First Year Dean and advisor can also be very helpful. No shortage of people to assist.
It isn’t that unusual to do 2 minors. 2 majors is much more cumbersome given the thesis requirements.
@doschicos my daughter has her heart set on double majoring. How cumbersome are we talking? She will come in with the allowed 4 elective credits, reducing her overall requirements from 32 to 28… which probably isn’t helpful for double majoring anyway.
(ETA: double majoring in Linguistics and Languages and Italian)
@milgymfam Some students do double major but I’d say less than you might find at schools that don’t require a major thesis. Writing to theses is doable but a ton of work.
You can peruse the list of recent grads that includes majors/minors/concentrations and thesis titles to get a better idea of what students undertake.
https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/Office/Commencement/haverford-college-list-of-graduates-2019.pdf
@milgymfam - My son is double majoring and professors in both departments tried to talk him out of it. He is determined to do it anyway. He thinks that as an American he needs the language credential that comes with a language major for anyone to believe he can speak the language.
I think the issue is that you need to do a separate thesis in each major. One of my son’s majors is a language and he says that he can use some of the research in both theses. But he still needs to write two completely different theses. He has the max credit allowed from AP classes.
At most colleges, you don’t need to declare one or more minors just to take those classes. Thst is, as long as you qualify.
@Proudpatriot thank you for that personal insight. My daughter plans to live/work in Italy someday (after claiming her citizenship) and she feels the Italian major is important for that. Linguistics is her field of choice though, so she’s determined to do both. Hopefully she is able to accomplish her goals, but I’m sure she’ll be equally successful if she if forced to only minor in Italian. The fluency is the most important part there and I have no doubt she’ll reach that regardless.
@milgymfam Since the majors are related, there may be some overlap in the classes and requirements, which will make it easier to double major. My son did 2 totally different subjects that were not really related at all. He graduated with honors in both departments so it’s doable, but it is a lot of work, especially when it comes to the theses.
I believe that it’s doable, you just have to take into account the workload you’ll get and make sure you’ll be able to pull it off