<p>I've heard from a few sources that most engineers don't have a lot of choice in what classes they're taking, due to so many required classes for their respective major. Is this true? Also, is it at all possible to do a dual major, one in engineering and the other in something else? My planned major is Biomedical Engineering but Public Policy greatly interests me.</p>
<p>1) Pratt is certainly more rigid than trinity, but a lot of that might actually be more due to its reputation. It’s a bit hard to explain but maybe an example would be better. </p>
<p>For instance, in Pratt, you have only one choice for statistics (stats 113) which is required for all engineerings (unless you are double majoring/minoring in math or something). Trinity students, however, can choose many courses for their Quantitative requirement including math, stats, etc. However, that is a bit misleading. Some trinity majors actually require a certain stats course or math course. In that case, though trinity students in general have more choices, it really depends on your major. </p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that engineering is a fairly specific, rigorous program. Unlike some majors such as English, engineers need a broader foundation before they can specialized. For example, if you wanted to do Shakespeare as an English major, chances are you already know how to read English and Shakespeare’s writing. If not the latter, then reading a few of his plays in a semester will acclimate you. But if you want to be an engineer, you need a grounding in math and physics and to a large extent, chemistry, biology, and computer science. And chances are, most students doesn’t possess such as broad and firm foundation in these subjects. So that’s why engineering is more rigid, because those courses are essential, whereas they might be more optional for say a polsci major. </p>
<p>2) Dual/double majoring is very common in Pratt. It’ll be more work, but it’s very much facilitated and even encouraged. I believe the most popular pratt/trinity combo is BME/Econ. I’m also heard of BME/PolSci, BME/Math, BME/Physics, etc etc. Just know that your Pratt major is required to be your primary major in any Pratt/Trinity combo (just means the whole T-reqs thing doesn’t really apply to you, that’s pretty much it).</p>
<p>Thank you, that was very helpful =)</p>
<p>Agree, very helpful. Thanks for the detailed ansswer.</p>
<p>Duke will work with engineering students to make study abroad possible (often difficult at other institutions). BUT, it is important to start planning for that quite early.</p>
<p>Options for study abroad for engineers are also limited. The most popular places are australia, UK, and Berlin. There are several reasons for that</p>
<p>1) Language barrier, as learning engineering in another language is quite difficult so non-english speaking institutions often have to have engineering classes taught in english</p>
<p>2) The courses themselves, Duke is pretty stingy about giving credits and recognizing courses from other places as equivalent to its own, especially specialized courses in engineering. </p>
<p>3) Scheduling, as has been said, the engineering curriculum is to a degree rigid, thus it’s sometimes hard to accommodate the needs of engineering students. </p>
<p>That said, it’s not impossible to do. Many people study abroad in the places I mentioned before. Another strategy is to set aside a semester where you can take some basic non-engineering courses (humanities, intro sciences, etc) that are pretty much the same everywhere and do that abroad. Or just see it as an opportunity to relax for one semester and do some cultural learning.</p>
<p>^^^our son took one engin course and 3 humanity courses when he was abroad. So it took some planning to save those humanity courses for a single semester and it did make for a couple of very engineering-intensive semesters at Duke.</p>
<p>He would tell you that it was well worth it.</p>