<p>I am a hardcore history student with excellent writing skills and dreams of becoming a chemical engineer. </p>
<p>I am an incoming high school junior and I feel the pressure to choose a path to follow right NOW. </p>
<p>Does a major such as chemical engineering require total and unrelenting commitment? Or does this depend on what college and program you choose? I've hear about programs at MIT that allow history studies to perfectly coincide with physics majors... </p>
<p>Any chemical engineering/chemistry majors, please speak up about where you study and the kind of work you do/what you enjoy most about it. This would really help me.</p>
<p>A BS degree in engineering is a professional degree, with substantial course requirements in engineering, math, and physical sciences, as defined by ABET (the national accreditation agency). It doesn’t give you a lot of flexibility to take coursework in other disciplines over the four undergraduate years. </p>
<p>So it is generally difficult to double-major in engineering and a humanities discipline. One way to do this is to spend five years as an undergraduate, instead of four. Another option, at some schools, is to pursue a less intensive, non-ABET BA degree in engineering (as opposed to the professional ABET BS). However, a non-professional BA degree in engineering does not have the same value as the professional BS degree.</p>
<p>Dartmouth, for example, offers both of these options. You could double-major in history and engineering, and graduate with a BA degree in four years. But the engineering degree wouldn’t be an ABET BS degree. You could still get the professional engineering degree, but it would require a fifth year of study at the engineering school.</p>
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<p>You have a lot more flexibility when it comes to double-majoring in history and science (as opposed to engineering). Bachelor’s degrees in science aren’t generally regarded as professional degrees, and they don’t have the same extensive and rigidly-defined coursework requirements.</p>
<p>Thank you for such a thorough and extensive response. I realize the intensity of an engineering curriculum, but is it possible to earn enough AP credits in high school in order to complete a program of the same rigor in four years and earn a professional degree? </p>
<p>Also, suppose one chooses a program that allows for a minor in humanities and major in Science (as in the latter part of your post)…in this case, is it possible for one to pursue a Master’s in either of these areas?</p>
It might be theoretically possible to come into college with a bunch of AP credits, then double-major in engineering and a humanities discipline, and graduate in 4 years. Not sure if this works out well in practice though.</p>
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It should be feasible to double-major in science and humanities disciplines, especially if you pursue BA programs, as opposed to BS programs. BS programs typically require more specialized coursework; BA programs typically require less. </p>
<p>If you want to pursue a science/humanities double major, then you should really consider a liberal arts college. In general, LACs promote broad (rather than highly specialized) study, are limited to BA programs with relatively low coursework requirements, and are quite supportive of double majors in totally unrelated fields. At many LACs, some 25-35% of a class are double-majors. A BA (as opposed to a more specialized BS) is not a disadvantage for graduate study, if it’s from a well regarded school, including LACs.</p>
<p>Note that this only applies to science, not engineering. Relatively few LACs offer engineering degrees, and those that do have the same issues with rigorous coursework requirements as any other ABET programs.</p>
<p>Honesty, get a BS in ChemE - that will pay your bills later in life.</p>
<p>Become a “history buff” as a hobby. There are endless books on history, which make for good reading before you go to bed or on a relaxing weekend. ChemE will pay, History unfortunately will not.</p>
<p>I absolutely love history, but would never major in it, as it’s not the most practical degree.</p>
<p>@Corbett: yes, I realize now that there may be a few technical/physical difficulties with such plan. For the second part - thank you very much for the response. After reading it, I will farther research LAC’s and see whether they really suit me or I should just go for a specialized degree in science that will pay. I mean, when you think about it, what’s a minor in history really worth? Where will it get me? I’m not sure. </p>
<p>@OminousRun: I have to agree with you based on my knowledge of general statistics, as well as the amount of applicants coming into the field of History + its diversity of jobs. Although it is much harder to get into a ChemE program at a VERY good college than to get into a History program at a VERY good college, right?? :(</p>
Take a look at some LAC commencement programs, like for example [url=<a href="News | Bowdoin College. You will see that students routinely graduate with BA degrees in unrelated double majors or majors/minors, including sciences/humanities. If this sort of intellectual breadth appeals to you, then a LAC might be a good choice. A science/history double major or major/minor would fit right in.</p>
<p>However, a bachelor’s degree in science (whether a BA or BS) is not necessarily a degree “that will pay”. The good science jobs usually require a graduate degree. A bachelor’s degree in science from a good undergraduate program (again, whether a BA or BS) will get you into a good science grad school, but it is not necessarily going to get you a good job as a scientist. </p>
<p>A bachelor’s degree in engineering is a professional degree that is relatively employable right away, even without grad school. The downside is that an ABET-accredited professional engineering program limits your flexibility to study anything else as an undergraduate.</p>