Pursuing a double major in two different schools

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of South Carolina
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<p>I (an incoming freshman) have a major in Public Health, in the Arnold School of Public Health (a B.S.). But Anthropology is what I want to pursue b/c I believe that it will give me some valuable skills that would be useful if I were considering working internationally, or for the government. I'm just wondering if someone could tell me about the double major process. </p>

<p>A lot of people throw around the word double major and I get it without really getting it. I am a hardworking student so I know I could do it, but how drastic of a difference is it when you take on two majors in different schools (200+ credit hours sounds like a lot or is this even an accurate number?). Public health and anthropology do complement each other so how does that change things? Also, what could help with pursuing a double major? I want to go to graduate school and I have searched some schools that have joint programs for these two majors and I'm tying to keep that in mind. </p>

<p>When would be the right time to add on that second major, 2nd semester freshman year or 2nd year?</p>

<p>What is the difference between a a major and minor in terms of the degree you have when you graduate? </p>

<p>I know it's a lot but I just want to get an idea about all of this and y'all's help would be awesome!</p>

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<p>Buummmppp.</p>

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<p>The first thing is that you have to satisfy core requirements in each college. If you print off the academic bulletin for each major you can see what differences are in the colleges. USC has now shifted to core curriculum across campus (although each college can add requirements) so things are more uniform. For most of core, and many of major pre-reqs you can count courses in both colleges. Are you bringing in AP/IB credit? That will certainly help. D is double major (same college, but slightly different gen eds based on when she started) and still has space for other stuff…mostly based on having lots of AP credits. USC does have a cross campus advising office to help with determining how to work double major.</p>

<p>I think you can add a double anytime but you might want to give it your freshman year to decide. As to whether you double or major/minor…I’m not sure it matters. Some majors require a minor (which is waived if you double) which says to me that there is prob. time to work in required work for second major. Bigger question is what do you want to do with double. Honestly, grad schools look to see you have pre-requsite courses for program, regardless of what major is called. For instance…you can be pre-med and be a religion major as long as you have taken courses med schools require. To get your masters in teaching secondary math you don’t need a Bachelor in Math, just certain math courses, etc. If your main focus is public health and you think anthro will enhance it, then not sure difference in minor or major makes a big difference. You just have to research, and when you get here talk to advisors, to see what is possible in 4 years (would not add expense of extra semesters to get second major over just adding minor).</p>

<p>To keep the most options open, look at both academic bulletins and choose the harder course options. For example…anthro may let you do any science, including ones for non-majors. Public health may require specific science. Do the public health requirement since it will certainly count for anthro but won’t necessarily work the other way.</p>

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<p>If it’s going to take 200+ credit hours to get both degrees, I think that I would consider making one of those majors a minor, or holding off and going to grad school for the second major. Generally, you don’t have to major in the same field in grad school, as long as you satisfy most of the prerequisits for grad school. You can google those types of details.</p>

<p>Masters degrees generally only take 30-40 credit hours, and employers normally would prefer someone with a masters, and having a masters often will bump up your salary. Also, a masters normally only takes a year or two.</p>

<p>If a double major is going to take an extra 80 credit hours, you could actually get a bachelors with a minor plus two masters degrees (one in each field) in the same amount of time.</p>

<p>If you haven’t done this already, you should probably make a chart of all of the curriculum requirements for each major, and line them up side by side, and get an accurate total on the number of overlapping course. It’s possible that you might find that it will take less than 200 credit hours to get both degrees (as scmom was suggesting). I believe that the core requirments for all BA degrees may now be identical, but other bachelors degrees can vary quite a bit. </p>

<p>I just looked it up, [Programs</a> A-Z - Columbia Campus - Acalog ACMS?](<a href=“Columbia Campus - Acalog ACMS™”>http://bulletin.sc.edu/content.php?catoid=36&navoid=4241), and there is a BA option for public health, and anthro is only a BA anyway, so I think that the second major could be done in just an extra year (or a couple of summer schools plus a maymester or two). </p>

<p>The BA’s aren’t going to be quite as impressive as a BS, but with a double major BA that would probably make up the difference. Generally, a BS is considered a “professional degree” that qualifies you for a job in the field immediately after college, while a BA doesn’t always lead directly to a job in your major (obviously there are exceptions), and many BA students have to pursue grad schools to be well qualified.</p>

<p>Also, if you decided to go the BS route with the public health degree, it will take slightly longer to graduate (maybe one more semester), but any second major would be “upgraded” to a BS also, so you would end up with a BS in both Anthro and Public Health.</p>

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<p>^^Yes you’ll have to determine what end goal is. The BS is science heavy…basically pre-med requirements, smaller language requirement and not as many electives available due to more specific science requirements. The BA would fit in well with Anthro BA since already requires basic anthro, plus 12 hours from a group that could be all antho, plus 14 hours unspecified electives. </p>

<p>Again, I would start as if doing BS requirements (calc 141 instead of 121) and then take time to talk to Public health advisors about what you want to do as a career. If BS is best route, then a minor is probably more possible…but you don’t have to decide this now. Maybe try to get entry level anthro and public health in to see if you like them.</p>

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<p>There is a difference between two majors and two degrees:</p>

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[USC:</a> Academic Bulletins](<a href=“http://www.sc.edu/bulletin/ugrad/acadregs.html#graduation]USC:”>http://www.sc.edu/bulletin/ugrad/acadregs.html#graduation)</li>
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<p>The other thing to check is whether SC has a credit limit for in-state tuition. Many public schools have a credit limit, after which you pay OOS tuition even if you are in-state.</p>

<p>I couldn’t find anything on the web site, but it is often deeply buried.</p>

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<p>A double major shouldn’t add that many classes. For me the difference between a minor and a major were like three or four classes.</p>

<p>You need to contact both colleges and ask if they allow double majoring in different schools. I think I remember reading that the only allowed double major outside of the CAS was a music BA, but I could be wrong.</p>

<p>Within different schools, the different gen ed requirements is what’s going to get you. It’s much easier to double in the same college than it is to double in different schools.</p>