So right now I’m a freshman at Purdue University and since I’ll be picking classes soon I’ve been thinking about pursuing a triple major but I want to know what I’d be getting into first. The three majors I’m considering are French, Global Studies, and History. All three are in the college, so they all have the same requirements in terms of what courses the College of Liberal Arts requires. Besides this, each one only requires between 30 and 33 hours of major specific courses, so it’s not too intense. There is also some overlap in the courses required for the three. Right now I feel like this wouldn’t be too difficult to pull off; however, I obviously have no experience with this and want to get other opinions on it before making this decision. Also, if I were to triple major, would I have to take more than 15 hours per semester?
PS: I know people think that triple majoring is a waste of time, but I’m not really concerned with that. Right now I’m paying less than $1000 a year to go here and I feel like if this is a possibility for me right now I might as well make the most of it.
Thanks 
Ok but my question is WHY do you want do this? How will it really benefit you?
What are the policies regarding allowed number of overlapped courses in multiple majors?
You may not be able to finish in 4 years and financial aid usually only lasts 4 years.
Your net price is awesome at only $1,000 but most awards end after 8 semesters. Do you know if that applies to you and if so what the cost of the 9th and remaining semesters will be and can you afford that?
Since your interests overlap you will probably also want to leave room in your academic plan for a semester to study abroad in France or another french speaking country and tour historical sites in person.
My advice would be to work diligently toward your favorite major first so if you get tired of being in school you will be able to graduate within the traditional 8 semesters or possibly sooner. Keep in mind the complexity and time needed for the upper level classes is much greater than the classes freshman and sophomores take. It would be terrible to try to juggle all three majors and not have any of them completed when you are ready to move on to the next phase of your life.
Your academic advisor will be able to sit down with you to map your course plan and answer your specific questions. Since you know the classes that overlap, take those first to keep options open a bit until a true favorite emerges among your three interests.
If you really want three majors, it would be better to choose one major that will give you “skills” to complement the language skills and knowledge of the other majors.
For example, French, Global Studies and Journalism/Media, or French, History and Statistics, or French, Global Studies and Teaching English as a Second Language, or French, Global Studies and Marketing. Even adding a “critical language” as your third major would help, because there are certain language skills the government and businesses are seeking right now – Russian, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, etc. In other words, you are not likely to get a lot of job offers just for knowing French and a thing or two about history or the world. However, when you combine that with solid skills of some kind, or a more in-demand language, you will have more job opportunities later.
You can of course pick up useful skills without another degree, just by your extracurricular activities, research projects, study abroad and summer internships, and possibly by taking MOOCs. Just keep in mind that one way or another, you will want to acquire skills at college that actually come up in job advertisements. Another approach – which you may already be planning – is to obtain a graduate degree later that is more career-oriented, such as a law degree or MBA. If you think you might pursue an MBA one day, be sure to cover the relevant prerequisites in your electives.
^Yeah, what she said! And also your first response. First, consider WHY you really want three majors. If you are just interested in all three of those areas, consider whether you can scratch that itch by taking electives or even just having a major and minor. (For example, there’s lots of history and global studies already in a French major. Can you supplement with just additional courses? or you could concentrate on Francophone world history in a history major or a global studies major.)
So right now I’m a freshman at Purdue University and since I’ll be picking classes soon I’ve been thinking about pursuing a triple major but I want to know what I’d be getting into first. The three majors I’m considering are French, Global Studies, and History. All three are in the college, so they all have the same requirements in terms of what courses the College of Liberal Arts requires. Besides this, each one only requires between 30 and 33 hours of major specific courses, so it’s not too intense. There is also some overlap in the courses required for the three. Right now I feel like this wouldn’t be too difficult to pull off; however, I obviously have no experience with this and want to get other opinions on it before making this decision. Also, if I were to triple major, would I have to take more than 15 hours per semester?
It’s my personal opinion that a double major should be undertaken in the sense that mommyrocks speaks to above - two majors that will complement and contribute skills to one another and boost your profile that way. Deep abiding interest is a good secondary reason to select two majors. (I generally don’t think three majors is ever indicated, but the same logic applies, IMO, if you do choose three.) To be frank, what’s the point in double-majoring in sociology and anthropology when a lot of the methods, approaches, and questions are the same? Might be more interesting to do sociology and statistics or anthropology and marketing, or even something completely different like sociology and computer science.
Same goes here. These are heavily overlapping areas, which indicates that you can probably get what you want with just a major and a minor or a major and some electives. But what about building some crucial skill? Much of the Francophone world is in Africa, often in places where Arabic is also present, so Arabic makes great sense in understanding some north African countries’ development and culture. There are critical language scholarships that will fund your study abroad to places that may have heavy Arabic and French presence - like Algeria, Mali, Niger, Chad or Tunisia (or Lebanon in the Middle East, where 40% of the population speaks French).
There’s a very good chance you’d be biting off more than you can chew by attempting to pursue a triple major. As others have already mentioned, financial aid usually ends after 4 years. There are a lot of students who aren’t even able to finish a double major in that amount of time, much less a triple.
IMHO, you should play it safe and choose to pursue a double rather than a triple. My two cents.