<p>How long would CS (BS) + Econ (BA) double major generally take?</p>
<p>I know it's doable in 4 years by overloading every semester and/or taking summer courses. However, for an average person in general, how long would it take?</p>
<p>4.5 years? 5 years?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Depends on your school.</p>
<p>At UC Berkeley, for example, the CS major requires about 15 courses and the Economics major requires 12-13 courses. But 2-4 of them (mainly math) can be doubled up, so it would actually come out to be about 24-25 courses. Add up to 7 more courses for breadth requirements not normally fulfilled in high school or automatically by the majors and it comes out to 31-32 courses, out of a typical 32 courses over 8 semesters. And a student who has useful AP credit (e.g. 5 on Calculus BC = 2 math courses, 5 on English Literature = 2 writing courses, 5 on Economics micro and macro = 1 introductory economics course) can open up additional elective space (up to 5 courses) in his/her schedule.</p>
<p>So it can be done in 8 semesters without overloading or summer sessions at some schools. However, it does require some care in schedule planning, including ensuring that all or most courses selected fulfill some sort of major or breadth requirement.</p>
<p>If it’s going to take you longer, then don’t double major. It’s unlikely that a double major will net you any additional money after you graduate, and may disqualify you from certain positions (even with CS/econ there are very few jobs that actually require those kinds of qualifications). If you can’t swing your second major in 4 years, then minor in it and keep going. Most employers don’t care at all about second majors or minors.</p>
<p>What school are you going to? It shouldn’t take you any longer to complete, it will just limit your electives somewhat. If you are at a school where the econ major requires a lot of credits then you should consider getting a minor in it instead. A CS major with a math/econ minor would be a feasible and useful combination.</p>
<p>I’m at UPenn. Comp Sci requires 40 courses and Econ 32. There are some overlapping courses but not too many. In total, I would say I have to take around 55 - 60 courses. I think it’s possible in 5 years. </p>
<p>So, is this really not worth it? Econ minor only takes 6 courses, but I heard employers don’t really pay that much attention to minors.</p>
<p>University of Pennsylvania lists [12</a> courses for Economics](<a href=“http://www.college.upenn.edu/majors/credits.php]12”>http://www.college.upenn.edu/majors/credits.php) out of 32 courses total (average 4 per semester).</p>
<p>However, [Computer</a> Science](<a href=“All Degree Requirements”>Computer Science BAS) requires 40 courses total (average 5 per semester). However, it has 3 for “Career Path”, 7 for “Concentration”, 7 for “Social Studies and Humanities”, and 3 “Free Electives”. You may want to check with advisers if stuffing the 12 courses for an Economics major into the “Career Path”, “Concentration”, some of the “Social Studies”, and “Free Electives” can be done.</p>
<p>Minors are generally worthless. As are double majors. The only way a double major in CS/Economics is going to pay off, is if you go into the financial industry. Are you planning on doing that? Even then, you’d be better off doing Math with a minor in CS and a minor in Economics. If you don’t find work in the financial industry, then you’re double major will be completely wasted.</p>
<p>Well, minors aren’t totally worthless if you want to use some of those “intro courses” to get into a graduate study without the need of taking “pre-requisites”. I guess that’s one way to say why someone would want to have a minor. Hahaha.</p>
<p>Yeah, agree with pseudoghost. Unless you are doing it for financial…</p>
<p>The major in CS at Penn requires 9 Social science electives and 3 free electives. It so happens that the economics major at Penn requires exactly 12 courses in economics, including the intro courses (I’m assuming you don’t have AP economics credit). You would be considered a dual major, not a double major. The nice thing is that both degrees require a decently high amount of math coursework, so there is significant overlap in that subject. The only problem I see is that the only way you could take any social science courses (govt, history, english, phil) outside of economics is if you took some summer courses or overloaded yourself during one or two long semesters.</p>
<p>It is definitely doable in four years, but you really need to speak to an academic adviser (they’re going to make you anyways if you want to dual major) because there could be some fine print somewhere that might hold you back from doing it.</p>
<p>I just stumbled upon this page as well:</p>
<p>[Engineering</a> Major](<a href=“http://www.college.upenn.edu/majors/engineering/index.php]Engineering”>http://www.college.upenn.edu/majors/engineering/index.php)</p>
<p>Apparently there is an agreement between arts and sciences students and the engineering school to allow for a double (not dual) major between the two schools. So the details of how you would go about this depends on if your “home department” is arts and sciences or engineering. It appears that arts and sciences might make it a lot easier on you to do the double major than if your home was in the engineering dept. </p>
<p>Also, check out this page:</p>
<p>[Computer</a> & Information Science / Undergraduate Degree Programs](<a href=“All Degree Requirements”>Program Offerings) </p>
<p>The Department of Computer and Information Science is pleased to announce a new opportunity for College students: Computer Science as a Second Major in the College. With this dual major, college students would receive one
diploma from the College of Arts and Sciences.</p>
<p>To major in Computer Science, College students must take the following 12 required courses:</p>
<p>*Click to see the link.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Yes I’m interested in financial sector. I’m also planning to submatriculate to the MSE program for CS, but I’m not really sure yet. </p>
<p>Is a double major with Econ really gonna make a big difference? If the difference is not really that substantial, I would very much prefer getting just a minor in Econ and taking other classes that suit my interest.</p>
<p>I looked it up, and it would only take you 35-37 CUs to complete the econ/CS double major in addition to all of SAS’s gen. ed. requirements. I think a truly solid grounding in economics can be a huge asset for you life. It really teaches you the science and art of decision making, and then having the CS and math background will give you the tools to effectively implement those decisions to truly maximize all aspects of your life.</p>