Hi! I’m a proud Wolverine, class of 2023. I’m currently in LSA(going to major in astronomy), planning to dual degreeing into nuclear engineering too. They’re my two biggest passions, and I’m 100% sure I want to major in them(assume for this I’m not switching.)
So, worried I’d have a huge courseload, I tried to plan out a sample 4-year schedule… and found that, despite the two majors sharing a bunch of prereqs, it would take me 190 credits! That’s absolutely insane, and while I think I’d technically be able to manage it it’d leave me without much of a social life. So, people who dual degreed, how did you do it? Did you take more than 4 years? Did you forgo a social life? In the words of Princess Leia: Help me, College Confidential. You’re my only hope.
Can you minor in one? Or just take the courses you want in one It isn’t going to be of any benefit to stress yourself, lower your GPA, lengthen your grad time, compromise your understanding of the material just to get it on paper that you have a major in each subject. Passion overrides paperwork in s situation like this
With 60 extra credits needed, consider going to graduate school instead in one or the other. A master’s degree is 30 credits. You have the equivalent of an undergrad + 2 masters with that credit hour count. I’d consider the engineering degree as the major with some astronomy classes for a minor.
@dweisserman - you can do it! Yes, you can take more than 4 years, you just need to get it approved. Honestly, many engineers take more than 4 years to get through school because the courseload is heavy and co-op/intern opportunities can take up your time. Get to UMich and talk to an advisor. You may change your mind once the college work kicks in so give yourself some leeway. My D did a double major in two colleges (BSE / BA) and she ended up with taking over 200 credits in 5 years to do it. For most people that would be way too much work but it was what she wanted and it got her where she wanted to go… 
Michigan offers an Interdisciplinary Astronomy major –
“The Interdisciplinary Astronomy (IDA) major is an ideal second major for students seeking to add astronomy content to their primary degree. It provides the solid scientific background needed for technical positions in astronomy or for careers like teaching, science writing, and outreach.”
https://lsa.umich.edu/astro/undergraduates/interdisciplinary-track.html
I have seen students double major through some combination of taking classes over the summer, and taking an extra year. Engineering is generally considered to be a difficult major (or range of majors), which suggests that expecting to take much more than 15 credits per semester seems like a bad idea. This means that if you need 70 extra credits, it is 30 in your extra year, plus 40 spread across 4 summers. This is still a lot.
First of all, what would be the financial implications if you needed to both take classes over the summer and also go for five full years?
Secondly, you might want to seriously consider majoring in one of your passions, and minoring or just taking classes in the other. I also like @GoBlue81’s suggestion.
Yes, it would be extremely difficult to major in both and graduate in less than five years. My middle son majored in Biomedical engineering and minored in mechanical engineering at another university These majors have more common classes than do astronomy and nuclear engineering. With 59 AP credits, he was able to graduate in four years, but he had to take 15-20 credits a semester. I’d consider Astronomy with a nuclear engineering minor. Then plan on a nuclear engineering masters degree.
BTW, Michigan’s graduate nuclear engineering department is just outstanding, ranked 1st by US News. My oldest son is starting his second year as an Aerospace engineering PhD student. He took Intermediate Plasma Physics (NERS 571) from the department last year and plans on taking Introduction to Computational Plasma Physics (NERS 574) in the fall.
Michigan strongly discourages dual degrees. Pick a major and then a minor. Why on earth would you go to Michigan and deprive yourself of the opportunities of the great social life and living in Ann Arbor? I have a daughter who just completed her freshman year at UM and during orientation they strongly discouraged dual degrees because they know the cost and the workload is unmanageable. Don’t deprive yourself of some of the greatest times of your life.
Talk to the engineering department now. They are nice people. They don’t see a huge advantage in dual degrees with engineering but there are some listed. Sit down or call with an advisor. The head and assistant heads of the engineering department are great people. We had this conversation a few years back. If you can define your goals there might be multiple ways to accomplish it that your not thinking about. My sons at Michigan and taking nearly 18 credits a semester for engineering alone. He is looking into doing a specialization… Not quite a minor. Not sure how you would do this unless you have a lot of AP type credits coming in.
Major /minor makes the most sense and some suggested getting further training in graduate school.
The interdisciplinary astronomy major described in post # 4 seems designed with OP in mind.
I agree with this philosophy. My kid just finshed up freshman year and is planning one major and two minors. With a bunch of AP credits from HS, should finish in 4 years.
In my view, 18 credits in a STEM discipline is a BOATLOAD of work. Remember, you will want to meet with your professsors, GSI’s and advisors on a semi-regular or regular basis. Plus, there’s potentially math and science labs you may want and/or need to attend to keep up with classes. And of course, Saturdays in the Fall are mostly blown if you want to attend the games. And there’s bball games in the winter plus potentially Greek rush in the Winter too, if you’re interested. 
Try and take it easy or easier freshman year, would be my recommendation, because it’s definitely a huge adjustment from HS.
Dual degrees are really hard. If you can’t do it in 4 years, get a masters instead of the dual bachelors. My D is doing a dual degree at another school in 4 years and even with a boatload of AP credits, it still requires overloading every semester. I wouldn’t recommend it to most students.
It can be done in 4 years, but you will likely need to overload your schedule and actively work with your advisors in both areas to plan everything out. Unless you are committed 100% to this path, I wouldn’t recommend it.
That said, my D graduated from Michigan with dual degrees (a BM in Music Performance and a BS in Biomedical Engineering) in 2018. It took 4 years and 192 credits - over 30 hours AP credit, 3 summer classes, and carrying 17-20 hours every semester (including numerous labs and music practice, rehearsals, sectionals and concerts).
My D tells others that she does not recommend this intensity unless you are absolutely passionate about your two areas of interest. She was completely self-motivated. And yes, she found time for fun. She was in several engineering organizations, served as an officer multiple times, volunteered in a research lab, went to tons of non-required concerts (including off-campus throughout Detroit metro area), did some paid gigs, went to parties, went out with girlfriends, dated regularly, and attended several football/basketball/hockey games. She was incredibly busy and periodically suffered from too little sleep, but was always way more happy than stressed.
One of the main advantages of Michigan is the incredible breath and depth available academically. For example, you can do cutting-edge research for 4-years as an undergrad; you can have a faculty mentor; you can take graduate courses of interest in your major or in related/unrelated fields of interest. What about internships, study abroad? And there are hundreds of clubs and activities you can join, etc. You’ll likely miss most of these with your dual-degrees.