<p>I'm a senior in high school and trying to decide between these three majors (sorta). I know that a lot of people seem to change their majors in the first two years of college, but I'd really like to know what I'm doing early on. And I would like to do that because I was considering a triple major (with a BS in each). The thing is, most of my schools require 40-70+ credits in each major (with little overlap, unfortunately) for a BS and I'd really like to graduate within four years with maybe some research/job experience and a social life outside the library. Do any of you with experience in these majors think this would be possible?</p>
<p>I've looked at some of the job and research opportunities for each of these majors and I like them all, which is why I originally considered triple majoring. Would a double major and minor (probably physics/math major, CS minor) give me these same opportunities? What about a BA in two and BS in one? Could I even drop one (or two) all together?</p>
<p>Some information on what each major is really like would also be helpful. :)</p>
<p>I'm 90% sure that I'm going on to graduate school after college, BTW. </p>
<p>Oh, and I'm going to have just under 60 AP credits going into my freshman year of college, about 30 of which are applicable to my major or the general education requirements.</p>
<p>If you want to go to graduate school, you would be better off focusing on one of those subjects in your junior and senior year. Research experience and graduate-level classes in the field you want to study in graduate school will help you a <em>lot</em> more than a triple major. That being said, your interests complement each other nicely and a foundation in one might prove useful for the others. Graduate programs in physics and computer science would appreciate your strong math background. Programming experience is very useful for math and physics. Physics might come in handy if you develop an interest in applied math or engineering.</p>
<p>You see, you don’t have to decide right now what you want to do. Just take a class for each major in your first semester and go from there. A triple major would likely feel like a burden for several reasons: scheduling would get really tricky once you get to upper-level classes that offer only a single section, and you will probably get tired of core requirements at some point. There might be six CS classes you really want to take. Would you rather take only those six, or add eight more classes just for the sake of getting a major?</p>
<p>A bit of personal experience: going into college I wanted to double-major in mathematics and economics. After my first semester I switched to a double-major in math and computer science. After my second semester computer science became a minor. After my third semester I was aiming for a dual BA/MA degree in math only. At the end of my fourth semester I decided that the requirements for the MA were too restrictive, so I was back to a plain math major. After my fifth semester I thought I might add a minor in computational methods. I am in my sixth semester now… let’s see if I will ever finish that minor.</p>
<p>You do not need to double or triple major, either:</p>
<p>1) Take one as a major and one as a minor…or</p>
<p>2) If two of the three areas have a lot of cross-listed (read: same course in both departments) courses, then go for a “dual-major” which is satisfying 2 majors within the same 120 semester/180 quarter hours.</p>
<p>A B.A. in Math would probably give you the most free electives to fit in a good specialized minor concentration or 2nd major. The B.S. in Math usually requires a few more math courses.</p>
<p>If you major in physics, math will be required and you can take CS. You will probably be able to take all three your first year and figure out what you like the best. Study your college’s catalog and see what is required. Your AP credits will certainly allow you some flexibility if you are planning to go to a college that accepts lots of them.</p>
<p>This is interesting for me, because I personally know someone who is trying to do a triple major in Maths, Computer Science and Physics. Followed by a Masters of engineering in Mechatronics and then a Phd in Physics… He’s not planning on graduating in 4 years though…</p>
<p>Whether or not you will be able to do a triple major in 4 years obviously depends on the specific college and the graduatation requirements they have for each major. Have a look through the course catalog website for the colleges you are interested in and see if you can plan a course that satisfies all 3 majors in 4 years… Thats the only way to know for certain. Of course things could change in a few years though…</p>
<p>Seems to me that you may need a more specialized major like Computational Science/Computational Engineering which is a blend of Computer Science, Math and Applied Physics.</p>
<p>This is probably a decision you’ll have time to make as an undergraduate if you start out with your core physics and math and begin computer science either your first or second semester. To major in physics, you’re typically required to take quite a few courses that are sequential, which are more difficult to start later than sooner. Also, I believe that computer science degrees often require a component of natural science, so if you decide to opt out of physics for one of those two, you’ll already have taken the requisite courses.</p>
<p>I’d say your best bet might be to choose one to major one (one you’re most likely going to want to go to grad school in) and go for a minor in the other two. You’ll probably find after taking a few classes you don’t like one field as much as you had thought (actual college level math, physics, and CS are considerably different than what you get in AP) and wind up liking another more than you had thought.</p>
<p>I was contemplating doing both a double major in Materials Science & Engineering and Physics as well as a BS/MS in MSE, but wound up doing a major in MSE and a minor in physics. Why? Well, there were a ton of classes I’d have been required to take for a double major in physics that I had absolutely no interest in (upper level E&M? NO THANK YOU), so instead I took a very directed path within the physics department so I only took classes I wanted to take. I also opted out of the MS since I was going to grad school anyway, and most schools require you to redo the course work.</p>
<p>Good suggestions all. I went the route of choosing my the two hardest ones for me, knowing that I’d love all three of them and I wanted to get the most bang for my buck (I’m actually almost coming out of it with a minor on accident, but still). After doing CS and Physics as a double major, I’ve got to say that I don’t have many (if any) regrets at all, except that I might have had more AP credit coming in (which would have allowed me to take more math).</p>