<p>Career-wise, I'm aiming to become a rocket or robot engineer for NASA. To prepare for that, would it be wise having a triple major in college if the college allows for it? I'm thinking of majoring Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and Physics since all three of these majors will directly apply to my intended career. Even if I don't make it to NASA, I'm thinking these majors should still land me a respectable career that I will enjoy. These majors also somewhat lap over each other so I'm thinking that would make it easier. For example, math courses would be pretty much the same across all 3 majors and some physics class can also satisfy engineering. I already took 3 college classes in math and engineering and I am planning to take a few more this summer before the fall semester. However, these courses will not be under computer science though. Also, I am taking a lot of AP exams this year that should place me out of a good 5-6 courses, if not more, if I'm successful. If you could tailor your response to match the programs and policies of Virginia Tech, that would be awesome. If you aren't familiar with the college, I would love to hear opinions that could be applicable to many colleges. What do you guys think? Thanks.</p>
<p>Impractical and schools dont allow triple majors like that. Do your physics and cs core in lower division and mech with strong aerospace dept. Minor in ee and take cool cs classes in that dept, physics as electives.</p>
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<p>You don’t need multiple majors to work for nasa…
I highly doubt the school would allow it and if they did I would not recommend it.</p>
<p>FAIL.</p>
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<p>You probably only need to major in mechanical engineering to do what you want. If you’re not interested in CS and Physics, there’s no reason to major in them; there’s a lot you’d be forced to learn that would be pretty useless for robotics (CS theory and quantum mechanics come to mind).</p>
<p>I know a guy that tried triple majoring in cs, cpe, and ee. He only lasted a semester and a half in school.</p>
<p>There is no reason to triple nor double major.</p>
<p>Now I do sound a little contradictory, having did a hybrid math/CS degree but many of my courses were math courses that related to CS (numerical analysis, comp complexity, numerical linear algebra, combinatorics/graph theory).</p>
<p>There is nothing good about your plan. It will not make you more competitive, it will provide you with minimal additional skills for your job, it will not significantly expand your career options and may narrow them, and the additional time and money spent doing this can be spent on better things, like a masters degree, 2+ years of gainful employment, or river-rafting down the Amazon.</p>
<p>Pick a major, do really well at it, take a few extra courses where relevant, and if you still want extra breadth, do a masters in a different field.</p>
<p>Where do these ideas come from? There are just so many things wrong with this concept. Tush honey, go to Nasa.gov and look up the backgrounds of people who work there. You will find many many PhD’s, but I seriously doubt you will find a ton of people with multiple BS’s. Who gave you the idea that multiple BS’s were a good thing?</p>
<p>I did a triple major at wash u… CS, Math, and Economics. I was essentially able to skip a year from Ap scores, and I planned well in advance. By the end of my 7th semester, I was done with math and Econ, and 2 courses short from CS. (single bs)</p>
<p>I also never took more than 15 units a semester. That said, it was doable because of the school and its requirements.</p>
<p>Why? More is not better. No need to ‘collect the set’. This isn’t highschool. </p>
<p>Focus on doing well, quality over quantity. There is also tremendous value in getting outside of your box. Get an education, get some breadth. Expand your horizons so you get exposure to that which you will never get exposed to outside of college. Not possible if you eat up all your electives with 2-3 majors.</p>
<p>Quality > Quantity</p>
<p>Pick a subject and excel at it.</p>
<p>When you graduate many companies such as NASA and top engineering companies may want you to specialize, jack of all trades is completely useless. Nowadays, entry level candidates do on the job training or rotation rhough various positions for a specific amount of years. Then they specialize. As a Mech Eng student you will take enouhg physics and CS classes that every company expects you to. Im pretty sure you will be required to learn C programming for engineers. Punch line: triple major, or even double major is not necessary. You will earn almost the exact same salary as the person who does a single major.</p>