<p>Hello,
I am currently a senior in high school. I know I would like to major in a Biology or Chemistry major in college, as well as pursue a minor. I understand that undertaking a double major is academically strenuos, but could somebody actually describe a typical workload for a double major who is pursuing a minor?</p>
<p>For example, a double major in Biology and Psychology, with a minor in physics?
Thanks!</p>
<p>bump 10char</p>
<p>At my college that combination would require 35 courses (including general education requirements) without AP credit. The normal course load to graduate in four years is 32 courses. Your particular major/minor combination would be even more tricky because all of your programs require lab courses, which are very time-consuming. Chances are that some of the required classes would conflict at one point or another, and your degree program may not have enough flexibility to move classes back and forth between semesters.</p>
<p>What are your plans after college? You might be a lot better off specializing than completing the requirements for three different programs. The degree requirements will inevitably force you to take classes you are not really interested in. (For example, you might be primarily interested in the cognitive and biological aspects of psychology. Would you want to take Women’s Mental Health or History of American Psychology just to complete all requirements for a major? Or would you be happy with a minor, taking only the classes you are actually interested in?)</p>
<p>Barium has it right – with those majors, it’s tough. I’m a biology and math double-major, and I’ll end up being just a little short of a computer science minor (unintentionally – not a field I’m interested in), and I’m pretty sure I’ll have to drop math down to a minor because it’s going to be so stressful. I won’t be able to do summer classes thanks to internships, so I’ll be at 18-19 credits almost every semester. As lectures, that’s totally bearable for me. With labs, I’m suffering since they take SO long. I can’t imagine if my second major had labs as well. I advice dropping to 1 major and 1 or 2 minors, and take some extra classes in fields you’re interested in instead of working to make another degree out of them. If you go to grad school, you’ll know your interests then.</p>
<p>bio and chem are common double majors. there will probably be a lot of over lap. the lower division classes will be very similar (if not almost identical) while the upper div bio classes (assuming they are more biochem/mol bio type) will probably be able to count as electives towards the chem major.</p>
<p>The question is why do you wish to take a double major with a minor. Why not approach the academic advising office of the college you will attend to create a novel major that meets your diverse interests. If that is not possible, major in your primary interest or the major with the fewest requirements. Then just take courses in the other areas of interest. There is no advantage for grad or professional schools or employers to having a formal double major or minor (instead of just taking select courses in these secondary areas of interest). </p>
<p>Its also important when in college to explore topics that are entirely new to you. Hence completing general ed requirements can introduce you to whole new areas that may even turn into a major!</p>
<p>^ The advantage to the formal programs is having the institutional support… knowing which courses to take and actually being told that you need to take them. It makes it harder to abandon it if other people expect it of you.</p>
<p>This is a valid argument for picking a primary major but is not a compelling argument when considering adding a second major and/or minor.</p>
<p>I tend to disagree that this is always the case. For instance, speaking for myself, I knew I wanted to be a CS major, but also wanted to study Physics. I didn’t necessarily want to limit my Physics exposure to courses I thought I would like up-front; I wanted to take everything my institution thought a Physics major should know, so that I could honestly say that I had studied “Physics”. It’s hard to explain. Had I avoided E&M, for instance, could I really say I had studied Physics? Yes, I guess, but I guess I wanted the full treatment. The easiest way to make sure you get the full treatment… well, is to have people tell you what you need to take, people who presumably know better than you.</p>
<p>I also recommend that a student contact the advising staff and take ownership of their education. The goal is to set up a doable curriculum that allows one to explore one’s interests and excel. Specialized education can occur at the post-grad level or in one’s first job.</p>
<p>However, I do understand that some individuals do better with the pre-planned rather than individualized course of study. In both cases, one should not do this without the help and guidance of the major and/or dept advising staff</p>
<p>With what you want it would be quite the course-load since there is not a whole lot of overlap with bio, psych, and physics. Are you planning on a BS or BA in bio because that makes a difference too. At my school, if you are getting two degrees and they are both BS or both BA then you can graduate with 120 hours. However, if you are getting one BS and one BA then I believe you need 132 hours to graduate. My school’s bio majors are only required to take 1-2 semesters of physics (depending on if its a BS or BA bio major), so you would have to find somewhere to fill in the rest of your physics requirements. With an additional major (psych) that would be kind of hard. Of course you have the summer to take classes, but many students use that time to work, study abroad, or gain some form of job experience. Not saying it can’t be done but you might want to be flexible about receiving the physics minor.</p>