<p>Hi everyone, </p>
<p>my daughter is an entering freshman and pursuing a dual major in psych and social work. She hasn’t gotten much in the way of helpful feedback and advice from the adviser she spoke with. Does anyone here have any knowledge of or experience with this sort of plan? </p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>I would think that they both work well with each other. My sister has her MSW and is a LCSW. I know she had to take a number of psych classes. </p>
<p>If it’s not possible to compete the psych major, at least a minor+ might be achievable. </p>
<p>Is your D coming in with a good number of AP credits? If so, then there may be room in her schedule for both.</p>
<p>Here’s the Social Work req’ts.</p>
<p>BSC<em>108 or Intro Biology Non Maj I (with lab (N)) 4
BSC</em>109 Intro Biology Non Maj II
COM*123 Public Speaking 3</p>
<p>One of the following sequences: 6
EN<em>101
</em>&<em>EN</em>102 English Composition and English Composition 6 …or
EN<em>103 Advanced English Composition
HY</em>101 or Western Civ To 1648 2 3
HY<em>102 Western Civ Since 1648
PY</em>101 Intro To Psychology 3
PY<em>358 Abnormal Psychology 3
SOC</em>101 Intro To Sociology 3
SOC<em>205 or Social Psychology 3
PY</em>372 Social Psychology
SW<em>100 Intro Fields SW Pract 3
SW</em>200 History Social Welfare in US 3
SW<em>351 Oppression & Soc Injustice 3
SW</em>401 Soc Wel Policy & Service 3
SW<em>410 Human Behav Soc Envir I 3
SW</em>411 Human Devel Soc Envir II 3
SW<em>420 Research Social Work Practice 3
SW</em>440 Sw Pract With Indiv & Families 3
SW<em>441 Sw Practice With Groups 3
SW</em>442 Sw Pract W/Communities 3
SW<em>443 Seminar Generalist Practice 3
SW</em>490 Field Education 9
One of the following Statistics courses: 3
BER<em>345 Educational Statistics<br>
CJ</em>381 Statistics<br>
PY<em>211 Elem Statistical Methods
ST</em>260 Statisticl Data Analysis<br>
Two of the following courses: 1 6
ANT<em>100 Intro To Anthropology<br>
ANT</em>102 Intro Cultural Anthropology<br>
ANT<em>103 Discoveries In Archaeology<br>
ANT</em>270 Intro To Physical Anthropology
EC<em>110 Principles of Microeconomics<br>
EC</em>111 Principles of Macroeconomics<br>
GY<em>105 World Regional Geography<br>
GY</em>110 Human Geography<br>
PSC<em>101 Intro American Politics
PSC</em>103 Intro Public Policy
PSC211 State & Local Govt<br>
or Freshman Seminar with Advisor’s approval
Fine arts (FA) 3
Foreign language (FL) 4-8
Free electives 11-15
Humanitites (HU) or fine arts (FA) or literature (L) electives 2 3
Literature (L) 2 3
Mathematics (MA) 3 3
Natural science with lab 4
Two Social Work electives 6
Total Hours 122-130</p>
<p>1<br>
At least one course must hold the SB designation, and the two courses selected must not be from the same department.
2<br>
Students must have a two-course sequence in either HI or L.
3<br>
Math courses have prerequisites that must be met.</p>
<p>thanks, m2ck. She is coming in with a good number of AP and dual credits. I’ve tried to align the two curricula and it looks to me like she’d have at least an additional year of coursework, if not more. I’m just surprised that there isn’t any path in place for two majors that seem like a pretty logical pairing. </p>
<p>She has a presidential scholarship - if this does turn out to be a 4.5-5 year deal, would you have any advice as to how to keep that as long as possible (hopefully, for the duration)?
thanks…</p>
<p>The Presidential Scholarship is only for 4 years…period…8 semesters. If your child chooses to double major or take longer to graduate, then you’ll have to pay for that. Each add’l semester will likely cost you about $18-20k. </p>
<p>The school has to have that limitation otherwise everyone would add extra majors/minors/etc and take longer to graduate.</p>
<p>It really isn’t necessary to double major for Social Work major, that’s a choice.</p>
<p>If your D is going to go for her MSW, that needs to be the focus, not a double major. Grad school for the MSW is expensive, so adding extra costs for undergrad isn’t really advised unless money is no object in your household.</p>
<p>There are many majors that can logically pair with another, but the bottom line is that each major has a LOT of req’ts, so people often either minor in the other subject, or pick and choose classes in the other major that work.</p>
<p>i think a double major might back-fire. There are probably some psych classes that aren’t appealing, would require unrelated study, or would very time-consuming. Those can result in a less-than desirable grade. Since a double major isn’t req’d (or expected) for grad school admittance, why not just have your D minor or pick & choose psych classes that she thinks will supplement her SW coursework.</p>
<p>My kids’ majors were such that other majors would have paired well with, but they too couldn’t fit in a second major. They were able to fit in minors, which I think is really the best. They picked the classes that appealed to them, and skipped the ones that didn’t or were only taught by profs that they didn’t care for (lol). Keep in mind that the number of credits for a minor are the minimum (usually 18-21 credits). You can always take more.</p>
<p>If you think that a double major will help your child get into a MSW, I don’t think it will make any difference. GPA, GRE scores, course curriculum in the major, LORs, and related-ECs are what really matter. If the grad school admissions sees add’l psych classes, that may be favorable, but if your D can’t fit in a second major (even with lots of AP/Dual), then guess what? It’s unlikely other applicants will either.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d begin by considering what advantage the double major in these fields will provide. The fields are so similar that a double major doesn’t really offer a big advantage. My son who is in engineering has asked about minoring or double majoring in math or physics and I ask him to consider what advantage that will give him. Currently he is planning on an engineering major and a spanish minor which will show evidence of a different skill set and be something that stands out on a resume when he goes to look for a job.</p>
<p>My undergrad is in psych and I loved all my classes, but a psych undergrad definitely doesn’t offer many opportunities. Fortunately the skills are general enough that you can use the degree in other fields, I’ve always worked in IT with my degree. With either psych or SW if you want to work in those fields, definitely plan on grad school.</p>
<p>If she decides she wants to do the double major, to stretch the scholarship money, take more courses each semester. You can take up to 20 hours per semester on the scholarship, I believe. Taking more courses each semester will let you squeeze in more classes. My son is taking 18 credits his first semester and frankly has an EASY schedule (he has no classes before 9AM, no classes on Fridays, and a lunch break every day). But this is coming from someone who routinely took 18-20 hours per semester when I was in college and took 24 one semester and it really wasn’t too difficult (and yes I still had friends and even a boyfriend at the time). </p>
<p>Also if she still can’t squeeze in everything she wants, take summer classes at a local community college or distance learning courses that are transferable. They’ll be cheaper and frankly summer courses are generally easier. I know that this past summer Indiana U near our home was offering a 25% discount on tutition to attract more summer students. It would be a lot more affordable than $18-20K/semester.</p>