Hey all,
I was accepted Early Action to Notre Dame and am starting to plan for my experience at the school.
I am sure that I will be pursuing a degree in computer science, but I am very drawn to the humanities as well and am currently deciding upon a secondary major in that field of studies to try and pursue.
The Program of Liberal studies sticks out strongly to me for its emphasis on studying great works of literature rigorously as well as the tight knit seminar group that it promotes. However, my one point of concern is that double majoring in computer science and PLS would almost definitely take five years, whereas computer science and philosophy can be done comfortably in four.
I would still be excited about the prospect of studying philosophy, but PLS seems special and I am trying to decide if the extra year is worth it. Does anyone have specific insight on the differences between the two humanities majors or on the process of double majoring at ND?
Thanks for any advice
Hi there. I’m a current Philo major, but have a lot of friends in PLS. If you can do Comp Sci and Philo in 4 years, I think you could probably finish PLS and Comp Sci in 4 years if you overload (take 6 classes) a few semesters, which is actually way more doable than senior-year-of-high-school-me expected. I was under the impression that Comp Sci is such an intensive major that it will always take 5 years to get a dual degree, but I could be wrong because I haven’t looked into it much. Either way, you have a great program of study ahead of you and I think you’ll love your courses.
Regarding a fifth year: it’s always worth it to do what you love. Most of your friends will graduate and you’ll have to make new ones, but that’s not a reason to ignore your passions at all.
I think you should wait to worry about this until you talk to your first year advisor. He can enroll you in the PLS Seminar that qualifies as a Philosophy class, that way you’re knocking out requirements for both potential majors, not wasting time, and getting to experience both subjects.
Hope this helps! Feel free to follow up if I didn’t answer any of your questions.
Thanks so much for your advice! It sounds like in many cases I can take classes that support either one of the two majors so I probably can wait until I work with my first year advisor.
No need to overload if you can stay for a summer session after your freshman or sophomore year. Of course, that might affect getting work experience as a summer intern which is much more important.