People say that double majoring takes a longer time but that doesn’the make sense. let’s say if it takes 120 credits to graduate and both majors together are worth 80. 120-80 would only be 40 credits in generals. But that does’t seem right. I’m really confused.
I don’t think this is the right section but it won’t let me post in the majors section. Sorry
It doesn’t take longer time necessarily. It depends on what the two majors are. For example, engineering and history would take more credits than math and computer science because of course overlap.
I’ve never heard people say double majoring takes longer. That’s generally not true. It often takes a little more planning, but assuming you start fulfilling the requirements for both majors soon after starting college, graduating on time shouldn’t be a problem. But of course it depends on the majors you’re trying to combine (as the above post points out, it’s easier to combine two majors where there is some overlap, but of course it’s not impossible to combine majors with no overlap, it will just take more courses), and the particular school, because different schools have different general ed requirements and requirements for number of credits in and outside the major(s). Info of this sort is best obtained directly from your school, or if you’re not in college yet, from the schools you’re considering. If the ability to double major in two particular fields is going to be a big part of your decision on where to attend, best to find out the details as soon as possible.
It depends on the school and the majors. The example of engineering and history would almost certainly take longer than 4 years because at most schools, that is a major in two separate colleges within the university, each with their own distribution and other requirements. On the other hand, two majors within the same college of a university – say, econ and poli sci, a student is fulfilling the graduation requirements for only a single college, and it should be manageable.
The challenge comes when, for instance, a student adds a second major based on a new subject they discover, say, sophomore year. Now, they are probably looking at 8-10 classes in the major, typically with prerequisites to move through the advanced level of work. In many departments, you cannot simply double up and take 2 courses in the department a semester – a student may have introductory breadth requirements, for instance, in poli sci, then a certain number of intermediate and advanced credits, plus prerequisites for a mandatory research seminar. With good planning, it can work, but it takes a lot of attention to detail.
If you look carefully at university policies, many require an additional year’s worth of credits to double major. So, if 120 credits is the normal graduation requirement, 150 would be required for a double major.
Agreed, it depends on the school and the majors. While you need 120 credits to graduate you need to meet the core curriculum for the school, the requirements for both majors, as well as any core classes required for one of one or both majors.
A couple of examples where it could be difficult:
-Some colleges have very large cores (for example my S went to a Jesuit university with a huge core curriculum) which can make it harder to double major. My D’s college has a smaller and much more flexible core and many students double major.
-If you want to have majors in different disciplines (ex. business and humanities) they will most likely have different core requirements which would both need to be fulfilled.
I suggest that you look online at the requirements for the university and for both majors you are interested in at the colleges you are considering (or are attending) and you will get a sense of if you can complete the two majors. Otherwise, you can consider one major and one minor.
It’s not uncommon for students to want to create compact schedules (e.g., arrive on campus 9-10, leave 2-3). Although a small consideration, a student trying to double major may have to be willing to forego notion of compact schedules in order to satisfy prereqs/reqs of both majors along with GEs within a 4 year time frame, whereas a major/ minor would offer more flexibility in scheduling.
Also you have to ask why you want to double major…could you not just take some extra courses in the second major without officially majoring?
Yes, it depends on the school and the majors. In many cases, the total number of credits or courses for both majors and breadth requirements is fewer than the number required to graduate.
Having two majors does mean that the student needs to plan schedules more carefully from the first semester, since s/he will have fewer free electives and will need to make sure that almost every course fulfills some sort of requirement for at least one major, or a breadth requirement not covered by either major. For example, if the majors in question each require 40 credits and do not overlap, and the school additionally requires 32 credits of breadth courses, then a student with one such major has 40 + 32 = 72 credits of required courses and 48 credits of free electives to bring the total up to the 120 credits to graduate. But if the student has both majors, then 40 + 40 + 32 = 112 credits will be required, leaving only 8 credits of free electives. So if the student had previously taken more than 8 credits of courses not applicable to any requirements, then s/he may have to take overload schedules to graduate on time.
That said, it is usually the case that a second major does not add much beyond just taking courses of interest in the second subject as free electives without trying to check all of the boxes.