<p>Hey, this is addressed to all current Columbia students/anyone good with number-crunching credits. I was thinking about taking on a Concentration/Minor (French) in addition to my Major (English). I'm also very interested in Economics. With the chunky Core (I adore you very much Core, but you are not exactly svelte, and your beckoning me--nay, demanding me--to take you on, while at first charming and curiously thrilling is, now, rather tiresome), a Major and a Minor, how many Econ classes do you think I can squeeze in over the next few years?</p>
<p>P.S. Feel free to continue the Core as Demanding Mistress analogy if you please, but--in all seriousness--I'd greatly appreciate anybody who can address, sans snide comments as to my seeming inability to answer this question for myself, my main question: with the Core, a Major, and a Minor, how much room do you realistically have left in your schedule for other classes?</p>
<p>Okay, so I'm an English major, history concentrator, writing program-mer?, and interested in French, so I share your frustration with a slightly obese yet oh-so-loveable CORE.</p>
<p>Some basic info: the English major is about 30 credits (about 10 courses) so plan on that; the CORE is 12 courses plus what's left of foreign language requirement after you place in/out (so it could be 16 courses if you don't place out of any foreign language classes) and 2 PE's, but they're only one point and can be squeezed in anywhere. The French minor is 27 points (9 courses) beyond the 4 semester FL requirement. This adds up to 31 courses over 4 years (just about 4 classes per semester) or 35 if you need a foreign language (about 4.5 classes per semester). Five classes is about average, so you can definitely fit in some (4-8) economics courses (sorry, I don't know about minors or majors for that dept.)</p>
<p>There are also some tricks, like for the English major, you can use two upper-level literature classes in foreign languages (they don't satisfy distribution requirements, but they can be counted towards the major). So those could count for both the English major and French minor. If you decide you want something more defnite for your economics study, you could minor. In fact, at Columbia, you don't need to major in anything; you could graduate with a minor in something (or in your case, a triple minor).</p>
<p>I love Physics and math and I intend to double major.(i feel they are very similar courses). but I also love Economics, but with the Core is it possible to triple major, or should I just take a concentration in Economics.</p>
<p>I doubt a triple major plus core would work. However, you certainly could do an Economics-Math major plus a physics concentration. Probably, with careful planning from the start, even an Economics-Math major plus a physics major. Or do math and physics and just take some econ courses. </p>
<p>If you have the background, honors math or accelerated physics (you'd have to be really hardy and well prepared to do both) will give you a head start, and more flexibility later on, as they are both two semester courses that count as three.</p>
[/quote]
If you have the background, honors math or accelerated physics (you'd have to be really hardy and well prepared to do both) will give you a head start, and more flexibility later on, as they are both two semester courses that count as three.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>My take on accelerated physics is that it is a horrible "deal." Acc Phys is 2 semesters of 4.5 credits. Regular physics is 3 semesters of 3 credits. In the end, you don't gain anything. I'm not sure who teaches the class nowadays, but when I was there it was notoriously hard. You had a class full of kids who got two 5's on Physics C who would collaborate on the problem sets and still not be able to do most of them. If you're up for the challenge, great (I wasn't--I was in the class for a day). But, don't take accelerated physics just for the sake of gettng ahead.</p>
<p>I agree with Sac that a triple major at Columbia is close to impossible. In fact, rumor has it that the office of academic affairs is thinking about not recognizing triple majors, and discouraging (but continuing to recognize) double majors. The trend in the Ivies is away from being so overly specialized, so it wouldn't be surprising if that happened.</p>