<p>What’s better? It’s up to you. Bottom line is that you should apply to the school that offers what you want (or think you do). Isn’t this part of “fit”? We are lucky to live in a country where there is that choice, from all technical to all liberal arts, with every combination in between.</p>
<p>^ Agree with J’adoube.</p>
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<p>Well, we just disagree on what distributional requirements are about. I’m not saying it’s about what you WANT to learn - outside of having plenty of choices within each distribution - but rather what you NEED or SHOULD learn.</p>
<p>^And computer science falls under applied engineering, IIRC.</p>
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<p>Point taken. I actually just said this the other day to a guy who kept complaining that Colleges wanted Foreign languages in HS AND at college. </p>
<p>And I basically said the exact same thing.</p>
<p>Then of course, like him, there will be people who ask: But who defines what I need to learn?</p>
<p>personally, I see comp sci as something legit usable. But someone else may not, in which case, it goes back to who defines what’s important, and picking a school based on standard “You’ll need this” or stuff you agree with needing to know.</p>
<p>There are plenty of double majors at Chicago. S1’s GF was a double major who worked and had plenty of time for fun. She also loved to Core and two years after graduation she left her highly sought after IB job to return to the “life of the mind.” S1 is profoundly well educated as a result of the Core, it changed him, he now savors life as never before.</p>
<p>^Can you share how it “happened,” so to speak? I did the math once with English and CS… the result was not pretty. Did she overload?</p>
<p>I have no doubt that the Core is a great intellectual experience; but it is very limiting for people with multiple interests who would ideally explore several to major/minor-depth.</p>
<p>ETA: Since I have the Chicago catalog sitting next to me, and it’s VERY well-designed.</p>
<p>GE courses: 15
English/Linguistics major min: 13
CS BA major min: 14
TOTAL: 42
Min. required courses: 42
Some overloading (4x3x4): 48</p>
<p>So JUST GEs + two unrelated majors would make up the minimum number of required courses. Replacing CS with Bio (an extremely common major) would be +2, since majoring in biology requires a minimum of 16 courses. No study abroad and every elective would be overloaded. Sure it’s possible, but it wouldn’t be sane for me, and extremely narrow in disciplinary focus if you exclude Core.</p>
<p>I don’t know the details except she majored in both mathematics and economics, and did a study abroad quarter for the Civ requirement I believe.</p>
<p>Are you sure that she didn’t major in “Mathematics with Specialization in Economics”? (It’s 18 courses.) Also, minimum courses for both separate majors would be 13+14-3=24 because the econ major requires 3 math courses. A very common combination and not unrelated.</p>
<p>I forgot about study abroad for Civ, although it’s still probably a net “cost” in courses due to, for example, limited offerings in hard science at a study abroad program focused on foreign language.</p>
<p>My point is only that simple math and examples make me doubt the “plenty” of double majors at Chicago, particularly unrelated double majors. IIRC, I first heard the claim (being “nearly impossible” to double major) from a Chicago student here on CC.</p>
<p>All so nice. But unless you are “so special”, or your parents are “so wealthy” think twice about accepting this dis-advice. This mindset is a holdover view of the world that relies upon a lost economic empire/paradigm. (Also one that the global world now vehemently rejects.) Fun to believe, but awfully self destructive to adopt if not actually prepared.</p>
<p>Nope it was a full major in Econ and a full major in Math. Graduated with honors in both I believe.</p>
<p>^See the second part of my post, then, about overlap. 
Although I’m sure there are English/CS double majors at Chicago too… I just think they are a rare breed.</p>
<p>Several of S1’s friends are/were double majors. Philosophy and math is popular.</p>
<p>Engineering sucks with the number of electives they allow you (very few). Infact, one of the main reasons I’m considering Comp Sci instead of Industrial Engineering (CS is in the Engineering school, but Arts and Sciences people can take CS too) is because they have so many more electives. IE has almost none. </p>
<p>Anyway, I really don’t like how humanities classes and such are pushed on us when there are so few electives. For IE you have to take 12 credits of non IE courses in other Engineering departments (to be more rounded, there’s not a specific application to IE they’re aiming for). I hate that. Especially when they only give you 9 credits of electives.</p>
<p>Wait, what on earth is toblin referring to? What disadvice? </p>
<p>…did he even read this thread? </p>
<p>Yeah, sorry Qwertykey. I here engineering can be quite tough in terms of electives left over at the end. Whereas in some of the sciences or humanities, a specialization is just specific electives WITHIN the major req’s, yours look additional.</p>
<p>I went to college in a different country and we did not have core classes in college. We had to take electives that would compliment the major. </p>
<p>You applied to the university for a given major, took an admission test for that major and then took classes in that major. If we had time, we could take other classes that interested us but the whole curriculum was major specific. If I wanted to switch major, I had to start again: new test, etc.
This seems really different that the American universities but you grow up used to the idea that you will know what you want to do (what major) by the time you graduate from high school. And in high school we had a pretty fixed curriculum with very few choices, we all took the same classes, we could not choose to take wood shop instead os math.</p>
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<p>This is slightly off topic, but under the Engineering and Applied Sciences, there is a very popular Introduction to Computers class which is, literally, a rudimentary introduction to that thing in your lap. Many introseminars (easy, specific, fun classes, I guess) also fill the EngAppSci requirement. I thought it sucked, too, until I actually looked at the plethora of options.</p>
<p>As someone who is in a senior hiring role with a major corporation, I really don’t “get” the whole double majoring business. And I would never suggest using the possibility of double majoring as a weed out factor when looking at colleges.</p>
<p>People who hire for a living understand what college in the US is all about. People understand that you will have explored one area thoroughly (your major) and probably another area more comprehensively (whether related or not) and then have taken a bunch of other things.</p>
<p>Keil, I cannot imagine not applying to Chicago because of the difficulty of double-majoring. What on earth does that second Major do for you that just taking lots of interesting courses wouldn’t do for you?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that your education isn’t going to end the day you get your degree. Nobody will prevent you from reading books, auditing classes at a nearby college, doing online courses in something that interests you, etc. </p>
<p>I would be happy to entertain the notion that the European system is superior to ours… were it not for all the Europeans clamoring to gain admission to our universities. It’s sort of like the folks who believe that health care is so superior in other parts of the world… except for the heads of state, celebrities, and random rich people who come to the US for sophisticated medical care.</p>
<p>Yes, for some disciplines and some kids the European system is better. And for others the US system is superior. There are miserable lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, computer programmers, etc. all over the world, who are convinced that having to declare a major and profession at age 17 or 18 is the source of their professional angst.</p>
<p>Idad:
Math and philosophy are closely related as philosophy has become very mathematical. Mathematical logic is often taught by members of philosophy departments, I believe.</p>
<p>blossom - My parents insist that I major in a “marketable” field. I am passionate about the humanities and I was (at the time) set on majoring in English. You do the math. I didn’t want to attend a college that would impose specific core requirements on me so that I couldn’t pursue what -I- wanted to study in-depth, which is what would have happened in my particular situatio. (Either that, or I would end up as a starving English major.)</p>
<p>That is just my story. There are many, many reasons why someone might want to double-major, and most of them don’t relate to the usefulness of two majors post-college.</p>