Thinking of double majoring ... advice

Colleges and Universities A-Z Florida State University
1

<p>Hey everyone, so I'm a psychology major, and I've been recently really interested in doing a double major. </p>

<p>Is there anyone here currently double majoring? How difficult is it to do a double major? </p>

<p>I'm honestly thinking of doing a double major in Family and Child Sciences : ) What you think? Anyone here doing Family and Child Sciences as a major/double major? </p>

<p>My concern is that I want to enter graduate school in the field of Psychology, I don't want to overwhelm myself, I need to make great grades to impress, as well as various other stuff to build a graduate school resume. </p>

<p>I'm also very opened to perhaps taking a different major as a double major. </p>

<p>I'm really interested in teaching, one of the things I want to do is teach abroad, or perhaps teach at low income areas. </p>

<p>Any suggestions? Feedback?</p>

2

<p>I wouldn’t recommend a double major. As you mentioned, you will probably get overwhelmed. To be fair, some manage to do this, but I’ve found that a lot of people get ambitious when they start at a college. Eventually, the novelty wears off and they gradually get burned out to the point where they start just doing what they can to graduate and get out of there.</p>

<p>One thing about majoring in Psychology (sorry if you’ve heard this before). Unless you are CERTAIN that you are going on to graduate school, major in something else. You really need a masters (at least) to get a decent career in the field.</p>

<p>Take it from someone who started out as a Psych major. :)</p>

3

<p>Ask yourself: Are you TRULY interested in learning about both subjects? Would you want to know the information even if it didn’t land you a job? (for example, i am planning on double majoring in bio and math; i doubt i will ever use my math though)</p>

4

<p>My girlfriend is a Psychology major, who is having to double major just to fill her schedule. The Psychology major at FSU is rather easy to fulfill the requirements for. </p>

<p>The thing with double majoring is that you really need to choose something that you’re interested in. If you’re interested in double majoring in Psych and Family & Child Sciences, discuss it with your advisor. They’ll be able to help you discover whether you are really interested in double majoring or not, or if you’re adding that other subject as a double major when in reality you’re more interested in that than your primary major.</p>

<p>I’m a dual degree student, although I’ve been debating for a while whether I should go through with that or drop to just a double major. I’m doing mine though in Environmental Science & Policy and Geography (with minors in Geology and International Affairs respectively), not Psych. </p>

<p>SweetheartCroc has a very good point though about the Psychology field. It’s very diluted and you have to have at least a Masters to really get a foot in the door.</p>

5

<p>So with what SweetheartCroc said, I absolutely understand, and you’re right even I think I may be overwhelmed. But graduate school itself is so competitive in the field of psychology that only recently I’ve been thinking about a “backup plan”. </p>

<p>I love psychology, I really, truly do, and I want to do the best I can in the subject, however; there’s always that “what if” scenario I’m afraid of. </p>

<p>I must admit though, I’m doing a minor right now, and taking Family Relationship and Life Development course, from reading into the text so far, it’s quite interesting, I’ve never heard of the major before, so I’m considering it as perhaps a double major. </p>

<p>The four classes we have to take to minor in child development are the prerequisites to being admitted into the Family and Child Sciences major here at FSU (as far as I can tell from the website that is). </p>

<p>Jossie, you do bring up a good point, would I consider learning about the information provided, even though it won’t land me a job. Truth is, I’m not even considering having kids or so in my future lol. awkward - I know, but like I said, one of my desires is to teach sometime, and I think maybe having a better understanding about children and how they develop, function, learn etc… would be beneficial to that extent. </p>

<p>Hey Pasbal if you don’t mind me asking, what is your girlfriend doing her double in? I’m going tomorrow to discuss this with my advisor and see what they have to say. </p>

<p>Now from my understanding a “dual degree” is better than a “double major”. A dual degree is like having two diplomas from two different schools, (college of business, college of social science, college of statistics etc…) right? Which means you’re also required to have minors in both degrees, thus more courses required. When will you be finished with you dual degree? </p>

<p>I don’t know if I’m being overly ambitious, or if this would be the best thing for me. I feel like I want to learn more, but I also am a bit lost as to where to begin. I also understand the competition out there in the real world when it comes to landing a job can be quite fierce, I at least want to be of standards. </p>

<p>I don’t know, is that really a good reason to want to double major?</p>

6

<p>Doing two bachelor’s degrees means probably at least another year, more likely two years, of undergraduate studies; it can be a costly project. Doing two degrees makes the most sense for undergraduate students bringing a LOT of college credits from high school. Federal financial aid ends when you get your first bachelor’s degree, so if doing two degrees, try to graduate from both the same semester.</p>

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<p>She’s double majoring in Japanese. Don’t ask why, because I don’t know why she is. At least I believe that’s what she’s double majoring in.</p>

<p>And you’re right with the dual degree. I’ll be getting the BA in Environmental Science & Policy through the College of Arts & Sciences and the BS in Geography through the College of Social Sciences. I’ll be graduating next spring (2013).
It’s actually not going to delay my graduating at all- I’ll be done after 4 years anyway. </p>

<p>Ultimately, the decision on whether to double major or not is going to rely on you. If, once you get all the information about doing so, you still want to go through with everything, I don’t think your advisor can really stop you unless you don’t meet the requirements of the second major or if you’re off track for your current major.</p>