Secondary Major Requirements?

<p>I know that regardless of whether you do double major, you have to take all the requirement courses for your primary major but is this true for your secondary major? (MCS primary, H&SS secondary)</p>

<p>No, usually seecondary major requires less courses than if it were a primary major
If you look on the departments’ websites, most of them list the requirements for double majors</p>

<p>Strange, I looked and can’t find that information though</p>

<p>These are often referred to as “additional majors” at CMU. For H&SS, here’s the info: [Majors</a>, Minors & Programs-Academic Advisory Center (AAC) - Carnegie Mellon University](<a href=“Degrees, Majors & Minors - Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences - Carnegie Mellon University”>Degrees, Majors & Minors - Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences - Carnegie Mellon University)</p>

<p>(I suggest not trying to actually navigate the CMU site, it’s a nightmare. I usually google “cmu” and whatever it is I’m looking for on the site, much quicker and easier to do!)</p>

<p>Generally, to complete an additional major, you will have to complete all the same requirements as a primary major. However, if the additional major is in a different college, you will not have to complete the gen eds associated with that college. There are also usually some double counting restrictions, so you should investigate the particular majors you are interested in.</p>

<p>Would a Business (Accepted directly) then a Computer Science (will have to state as my second major) double major be a good idea? I don’t want myself missing opportunities in Computer Science if that is my second major though.</p>

<p>Darthpwner: I am an additional major in computer science, so I’m probably well qualified to answer this question.</p>

<p>I’m a Dietrich student, and I was automatically entitled to declare an additional major in CS with no application process. I am not 100% sure, but I imagine this system works the same way with other schools (i.e. Tepper). For the most part, your experience as an additional major in CS will be the same as your experience would be as a primary major, but there are some differences. You will take Tepper gen eds instead of SCS gen eds, and you will have to find our own way in computer science until you can declare the major formally in the spring of your freshman year, thereby getting an academic advisor. Additionally, primary majors get priority in registering for classes required for their major while additional majors do not. Therefore, you will very often be on waitlists for classes, but I have always managed to get into classes I wanted (though sometimes not at my preferred time). The only real advantages to the additional major is that you don’t have to take that silly Freshman Immigration Course that all SCS freshmen have to take, and arguably your gen eds are easier (because you’ll take easier humanities courses instead of harder science courses).</p>

<p>In terms of coursework, business is notoriously easy, and computer science is notoriously hard. With that being said, if you’re doing that double major, you’ll be working pretty much just as hard as a normal SCS student, but you’ll be working a whole lot harder than if you just did business.</p>

<p>Ultimately, if you plan carefully, you can probably complete both majors and be under 360 units (the required total coursework to graduate), or at least you won’t be far over. Therefore, you’ll still be taking about the same number of courses as a normal student would, but you will have more restrictions in the sense that you will need to direct more of your courses towards satisfying one of your major requirements, whereas you won’t be able to take completely free electives.</p>