Impossible Major Choices?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Hey everyone! I'm an incoming international freshman coming in as undecided. Like many undecided people out there, there's just too much to do and I'd like to know how possible it is to complete what I'd like to do within 4 years. I do know that I'll receive advice at orientation, but I'd really like to have a better idea of what I'm talking about before then.</p>

<p>Physics/Comsci <major>[TOTAL UNITS: 82]-
Physics is something I want to do purely out of interest. However, I've no interest in spending my days in a lab or lecturing, so I was thinking I could add in that comsci twist. The problem is that I fear being the jack of all trades, having neither a sound knowledge of (advanced?) physics nor the competence to compete for jobs with CS majors. It might be noteworthy that I've no previous knowledge of programming.</major></p>

<p>Business OR Accounting <major>-
My parents wanted me to do something like this for practicality, and honestly, I see myself running a business or something like that in the future. I do not wish to be an accountant, but I've been assured that the knowledge of accounting can be very important to a businessman. I haven't been admitted into Marshall, however, and am not sure of my odds of getting in. Also, is it recommended to pursue a business major if I intend to pursue an MBA later on? I've read somewhere that it may be redundant.</major></p>

<p>French OR Italian <minor>-
This one I want to do purely out of interest, too. I figured since I like languages and I have to take up a new language at the start anyway, why not minor in it? Based on which language I decide to minor in, I plan to spend a summer abroad at either France or Italy.</minor></p>

<p>In case these are of any relevance, I will be a T.O. student and really hope to be in Mr. Bicker's 160 series Physics classes. I also intend to spend all my summers either engaged in summer programs at USC or summers abroad [at least once!]. As for credits to be transferred, I'm currently an A-Levels student doing Physics, Economics, Maths and Further Mathematics. They aren't very clear on their policies for A-Level students.</p>

<p>As you can see, I've a very incomplete understanding of the whole system and could use a little help. Is this combination of majors and minors impossible within 4 years? Would I be left with no free time to take fun classes like sailing, or even participating in other activities? Any [constructive] advice at all is welcome! Thanks for reading through all this!</p>

2

<p>My daughter is doing two majors and one minor, and started a new language from scratch (so was not placed out of the language requirement). She is graduating within four years.
She did come in with AP credits though which waived her from a few of the required courses (for example, the 2 theme courses in TO, and a couple of introductory required courses in her majors/minor)</p>

3

<p>Physics and compsci would be two different majors. Business and accounting are again two different majors. If you wanted to double major with any combination of these four, and do a language minor, you would probably have to either plan your schedule out very carefully (with no guarantee of successful graduation in 4 years) or stick around for a 5th year, or take summer classes.</p>

4

<p>we have very similar plans! I’m majoring in business and plan to minor in french and study abroad in paris.</p>

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<p>Sequoia: It’s nice to know that others have been down similar paths, but would you mind telling me what her majors and minors were? I’m led to believe that taking two Bachelors of Science is not advisable.</p>

<p>Hawkwings: Haha, I apologize for not being clear enough in my original post.The thing is that I see a Physics/Comsci major in the site that I believe is a single major altogether taking up 82 units, but learning less of each subject than a pure physics or CS major. So, my original plan was to take phys/comsci + either accounting or business major + a language minor. But I suppose your advice still stands. Maybe it is a little much =/</p>

<p>superdoo1: Hey, that’s pretty cool (: Are you going for any freshman programs like LINC or GLP? I hear some people got invitations and I hope to go if I get the chance.</p>

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<p>twaih7…I sent you a PM</p>

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<p>yea, actually i emailed usc about those two programs lol. They told me that the application for those are in like way later in the year. They haven’t finished this year’s program or something…so yea it’s too early to apply for those program</p>

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<p>twaih7, as you most likely know from studying the schedule/website, you need 128 units to graduate but are allowed to take up to 18 units (can take up to 20 units if GPA is over 3.75 I believe) per semester. This translates to 144 units at 18/semester. Since the GEs (in your case, TO core courses) take up about 32 units (but 8 units less if you can place out of History and Lab Science reqs) plus language (again, unless you place out or not req’d of your major), you will have roughly 112 units more or less to get your major and minor requirements taken care of. With the Physics/Comp Sci major you mention, you’ll use 82 units for that leaving about 30 units or so. That will not allow another major but should allow room for a minor. OTOH, if you take a less unit-intensive major, you can often do two majors plus a minor–all within four years. </p>

<p>Sometimes it’s good to realize at this point (before you start college) that majoring or even minoring in a subject is not a requirement for many career paths. In other words, it could be better to officially major in one focused area and do really well (great GPA) and take other classes that appeal to your interests and allow you to find your niche. This is most important if you do have plans for grad school. Have you asked USC what grads with the combined Physics/Comp Sci degree go on to do? Most going to grad school or…? </p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

9

<p>What you really need to ask yourself – and maybe tell us here – is what EXACTLY you want to end up doing when you graduate in terms of what sort of jobs you would apply to, what (if any) graduate programs you are considering, etc. </p>

<p>I don’t have a clear idea of what your future plans are; all I see is, “Well, I like such and such, and I think it would be fun! I also like this, too.” There were (and are) a lot of subjects I was passionate about and interested in, but you didn’t see me picking up an American Studies/History major, or a Gender Studies minor – I just used GEs that were related to these areas and whet my appetite that way.</p>

<p>From this potential list, it seems like your interests are scattered – which is OK! What I am having a hard time trying to understand, however, is how you plan to make all these areas of study work together. Potential employers and grad programs would rather see a cohesive, complementary path of study rather than someone who clearly overshot and put together a bunch of unrelated programs as their degree.</p>

<p>Double majoring is common, double majoring and minoring is less common but doable with less unit-intensive majors – as someone above stated. I have a hard time telling you that a science a business double major WITH a minor will be a feasible (let alone smart) thing to do because of how heavy the workloads (and unit requirements) can be for these programs.</p>

<p>Also, take this coming from someone who already went through USC: There’s no rush to declare a major and no one expects you to pick your entire career path and stick with it at age 18. It’s OK to do your GEs for a full semester to take time to decide your major, just like it’s OK to switch majors after a semester or two. This should be a very calculated decision. You may not get it 100% correct, either. (Example: I knew I wanted to do something involving writing, so I was a screenwriting major but now, I work in journalism because I found out I liked it much better. But, I didn’t waste my college career doing something completely 100% unrelated to my “passions,” if you will.)</p>

<p>As far as my personal opinions on the subject go, it sounds like you’re neither prepared nor fully invested in a science-related career path – so why even consider it? You say you LIKE physics, but have no desire to do lab work? Hate to break it to you, but that’s pretty much what ALL physics majors do. Similarly, for your physics degree to be worth the 4 years of work, the only way you can do anything with the degree is to go to graduate school and learn more physics. Even most high school physics teachers have Masters degrees in the subject; there’s little you can do with a physics BS and nothing more.</p>

<p>I don’t think you necessarily need programming experience to do Computer Science, but you would be at a severe disadvantage from the students who already have extensive programming experience in your classes.</p>

<p>If you’re into the business idea, maybe look into Communications Management or International Relations? Those would compliment nicely with a foreign language minor and a business degree. (This is also offered as a combined degree, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (International Relations))</p>

<p>There is also a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science/Business Administration that seems up your alley – but I would recommend you take some programming classes over the summer and, if you decide on this, I would also nix the language component since neither French nor Italian will help you in either of these areas.</p>

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<p>In all honesty, I hadn’t imagined how my combination of majors would look to an employer. I figured that they might hire/accept me based on relevant majors like Business or Accounting while French and Physics would be purely for myself. But I suppose it might be a better idea for me to study physics as a hobby, since it’ll probably have nothing to do with my career.</p>

<p>In the future, I actually see myself starting a business or in a managerial position in a tech-company of some sort. Right after graduate school, I actually hope to join the Peace Corps and work in France/Italy. I know you don’t get to choose, and I’m not sure how I could be of use, but they say you can request to be posted in francophone countries. Vague, I know, but I guess i’m truly ‘undecided’. For what it’s worth, your posts have been very helpful, so thank you, madbean and Zelda! It’s far from completion, but I think my plan’s slowly taking shape (:</p>

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<p>tech</p>

<p>comp sci or something like EE -> MBA</p>

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<p>I’ve been working in high-tech for over 25 years, and I think a combined physics/cs degree would be very attractive to employers because it’s intellectually rigorous. A combined undergraduate business/cs degree would be less attractive.</p>

<p>Most programmers I know don’t have cs degrees.</p>