I was looking to triple major in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Engineering. I was also thinking about minoring in Physics though that is a distant thought. I heard somewhere that I wouldn’t be able to do multiple majors in this way because they are too similar. I created a spreadsheet and sited my sources so that you guys could see exactly what classes overlap and hours required. Besides comments about the workload I am looking for general guidance regarding the implications of doing multiple majors in this way.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/6akkrhv2drir8f8/CMU.xhtml
https://go.cmich.edu/academics/Undergraduate/Find_Program/Pages/Engineering_Mechanical.aspx
https://go.cmich.edu/academics/Undergraduate/Find_Program/Pages/Engineering_Electrical.aspx
https://go.cmich.edu/academics/Undergraduate/Find_Program/Pages/computer-engineering.aspx
What kind of job are you hoping to get that will require major-level proficiency in all three disciplines?
Sounds like you need to figure out what direction you want to go in-leaving all options open forever won’t be adaptive.
You do realize people struggle to finish an engineering major in four years, let alone double-major in another field, let alone triple-major in all engineering specialties? This is a poorly thought out plan that simply isn’t feasible.
Well computer engineering is basically electrical engineering + computer science, so CE + EE is kind of (or very, depending on the program) redundant. I know at my school they don’t allow that combination because it’s too similar, and I’m sure there are some others that are the same way.
Pick one of the three majors and stick with that. There wouldn’t be any careers that I can think of that would require major-level knowledge in all three of those, and you’d take a long time just to get your bachelor’s for very little (if any) gain.
Why do you want to do the triple major?
You are a confused high school rising senior. You will develop a focus as you mature, otherwise you will spend at least 6 years getting your bachelor’s degree.
Wow ok, first, I said directly in the last sentence that I didn’t want comments about the workload. I’ve heard it all and it isn’t helpful. And to those saying I am “a confused senior” and whatnot, believe it or not I am going to college to learn stuff that I wanna learn and have had a passion for since I was a kid. I wanna learn stuff that interest me and I will enjoy doing. I am not going to college to learn something so that I can get a job. Theres more to learning than that. I am not a societal slave and have MY interests. Not a single of the above comments was helpful nor was it on topic.
What other implications are you looking for, if not related to workload or job prospects? I’m not sure what we can tell you.
All the above comments are from people who have been in your shoes as a high schooler, or who have gone through college and college-level curricula, or who are working in the field of engineering, or have kids who have gone through the whole process. You would be shortsighted to dismiss their comments just because you put some time into making a spreadsheet. Wanting to learn doesn’t mean you’re not confused. And, ultimately, at the end of the day, the purpose of college is to get a degree and get a job. If all you want to do is learn, go to a library, use online courseware, audit courses you like–you don’t need a college degree or the college experience for that. It’s great that you are passionate about these subjects and passionate about learning. Don’t lose that passion. It’s great to be studying the things you love, and to eventually work in the area doing something you genuinely enjoy. But if you’re attending college and intend to one day get a job, there are practical considerations as well.
Regarding the actual topic of this thread: if all you’re interested in is learning, then sure, you could do a triple major. There’s nothing stopping you from doing that except time and money, like @TomSrOfBoston said:
It will take extra time to complete those majors, more money to pay for tuition/housing/expenses during that extra time, and there will be little or no benefit from an employment perspective. The extra time spent completing those majors would be better spent getting a Master’s degree.
A lot of high school students think they have to or ought to major and minor in everything that interests them, and they come here asking about triple majors and double minors, etc. You can have other interests and take courses in those other areas without majoring/minoring in them. It’s usually more practical to pick one major and take courses in the other areas that interest you. Furthermore, you don’t need to have any of this figured out right now. The first 2 years of study for any of these areas will be pretty much the same, and during that time, you’ll not only get a better feel for college coursework and the viability of double/triple majoring and/or minoring, but you’ll also get a better feel for what you really want to major in and get out of the college experience, and you may decide that you don’t want multiple majors after all (or you may decide that you do, and you can declare it then–you don’t need to declare majors right away, and most people end up changing either their major or their course plans during college).
And how do your parents feel about paying for all this extra learning?
Reality check: A large percentage of students complete an engineering major from a public college in 4-6 years.
A small percentage of students complete a double majors (with one major in engineering) in 4-5 years.
Triple majors in engineering: unheard.
Those numbers are from colleges that have 4-year graduation rate higher than 60%.
CMU 4-year graduation rate: 21%, 6-year rate: 57%, 8-year rate: 60%
http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=central+university+michigan&s=MI&ct=1+2+3&ic=1&id=169248
TomSrOfBoston: My parents can’t even pay for me to take driving classes let alone college but nice try.
Coolweather: where in my writing did I say I was hellbent on completing college in 4 years? Hell if it took 10 years I wouldn’t mind. And to say a triple major in engineering is unheard of is exagerated.
Main Longhorn: I was asking if doing multiple majors in engineering is allowed with how many classes overlap. (Its right there if you had read what I said)
AuroaObscura: I understand what you are saying but I am serious about the things I want to learn and if I simply tKe them as a minor or take a few select classes I wont be getting the full range of knowledge provided.
I said directly in my original post that I simply wanted to know if it was alowed and that I didn’t care for everyones opinion about the workload but everyone reversed that and complained about the workload and didn’t answer the question.
Post your test scores, GPA, and other achievements you may have then we may be able to tell how long it will take you to graduate. People who double major are very capable.
Workload: A strong student can take 5 engineering classes each semester. A few can take 6 engineering classes in one semester, but not every semester. Many can barely handle 3 or 4 classes.
Add all the required classes for the majors in the links you post then subtract any duplicate classes then you know the total of required classes to take. For ME you have to take 24 classes which require 5 or 6 semesters to complete.
You cannot take any class at any time. Many classes require pre-requisite classes. Many classes are only taught once a year. Many classes are taught in a sequence. So, if you drop or fail one class then you have to repeat the whole year for that class sequence. Many classes for 2 different majors are taught at the same time, so you cannot take them in the same year.
Heres what you can do if you really feel it necessary to have 3 engineering degrees. Get an electrical engineering degree first. Then after those 5 years, get your mechanical engineering degree in another 2, then get your computer engineering degree in another 2.
9 years. Then you can be a societal slave.
So how do you plan to pay for this? My parents also couldn’t pay for any of my college…and so my first priority was taking four years at most, because there was no way to afford taking longer than that. I can’t see how somebody who’s paying for it on their own would have this attitude of “if it took 10 years I wouldn’t mind”. So I’m genuinely curious: What do you plan to do about finances?
It depends on the school, so talk to counselors at specific schools of interest. Before you start flaming me for an “unhelpful” answer, realize that there are so many schools in this country and that they each have slightly different policies. Unless someone here happens to have experience with the school you mention (which I’m guessing not in this case because nobody commented on it), we really can’t help much. For the most accurate answers, you’ll need to talk to people whose job it is to answer these kinds of questions.
But really, when you bring up something like this you can’t expect people to not bring up the workload or general feasibility. Especially when you said this in your OP:
We answered. You just didn’t like the answers. And like it or not, workload is a serious consideration for doing something like this.
^Good post. And the OP needs to learn to take advice gracefully in order to do well. Getting defensive is not constructive.
By the way, technically, this statement means you are looking BOTH for comments about the workload and general guidance regarding the implications of doing multiple majors in this way.
The main point of a degree is to prove to others that you have competency, and having one engineering degree accomplishes that. Curiosities can be satisfied by all manner of means; you don’t have to have the straitjacket of a degree program for that.
If you family is that poor then seriously how will you pay for this? Even if you get a full ride somewhere, which is extremely rare, it would only cover four years of college. Your low income parents will not likely qualify for parental or private loans.
You need to talk to your high school guidance counselor and listen to his advice without rolling your eyes and telling him that he doesn’t know what he is talking about.
Let’s go back to basics for a minute: your interests in engineering are broad. That you have done this much research says that you see interesting things in each specialty area. However, multiple majors is just one approach. Another would be to do a multidisciplinary engineering degree (such as the one at [Purdue](http://www.admissions.purdue.edu/majors/majors_details.php?MjrCd=MULTENG)). Another would be to choose a program that is a pre-bundled double major of any two of the three, such as [url=<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/eng/academics/special-programs/double-majors/%5DBU%5B/url”>http://www.bu.edu/eng/academics/special-programs/double-majors/]BU[/url] or [url=<a href=“https://my.kettering.edu/academics/departments/mechanical-engineering/undergraduate-degreesprograms/me-dual-degrees%5DKettering%5B/url”>https://my.kettering.edu/academics/departments/mechanical-engineering/undergraduate-degreesprograms/me-dual-degrees]Kettering[/url] offer, then do a masters in the third. The advantage of a pre-bundled double major is that they college sorts out the courses and scheduling for you, and makes sure that it is somewhat manageable.
Putting together your own multiple major (double or triple) is much harder on a lot of levels, not just the workload: simply scheduling classes- just getting into the sections you need or not having schedule conflcts- can be hard within one major, never mind two or three.
Also, don’t forget that as you study the various disciplines you are likely to find that you develop a greater interest in studying one area or nexus than others, as studying/working in a field is different than being interested in it. Collegekid went to college looking to double major in astronomy and physics, but after 2 astronomy classes decided that she enjoys astronomy as an interest, not a field of study.
And if your do not have financial backing for this enterprise, as another poster mentioned you will find financial aid dries up after year 4.