Anyone double major?

[Backwoods Boy]

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Hey everyone. Did anyone here double major? If so what was it and why?

The reason I am asking because I have considered double majoring in Bio and History (or History Education). Definitely two different fields but I have a heavy interest in both of them.

 

[Ben and Me]

I doubled majored in English and Biology.

English because I love to read and enjoyed the classes.

Biology because I had to take most of the classes as pre-reqs, and to get a BA (lower level degree at my school since they also offered a BS) I only had to take like 1 extra class.

 

[rileyroo]

my degrees are in biology, communications, and business - i feel as though the business background will help me in practice, especially if i want to buy into a clinic/own my own clinic/etc.

ETA: the communications degree b/c i liked the courses offered in the curriculum and the dept at my university is amazing. plus it doesn't hurt to have a background in efficiently communicating with others. might come in handy when interacting with colleagues, coworkers, employees, and clients and aid in business practices.

 

[nyanko]

Not quite double major, but I went back to get a second bachelors in Molecular Biology & Microbiology after my first in Computer Science, so the end result is the same (2 bachelors of science degrees).

If it isn't gonna add a whole lot of stress and debt to your life, I say go for it for sure!

 

[Backwoods Boy]

Not quite double major, but I went back to get a second bachelors in Molecular Biology & Microbiology after my first in Computer Science, so the end result is the same (2 bachelors of science degrees).

If it isn't gonna add a whole lot of stress and debt to your life, I say go for it for sure!

I don't think the stress and debt are going to be too bad (compared to vet school ). It may add a year to my education but that's no big deal. Not looking forward to writing two senior theses but I do like the end result.

Rileyroo: I have also considered a business major but I am unsure about a triple major. I think if I consider that, I will probably graduate with Bio and History then come right back to get a degree in Business. It was strongly recommended to me to take as many business classes as I could.

 

[ColoGirl]

For undergrad I double majored in Animal Science and Microbiology. I felt like those two together really gave me a very strong basis for vet school. Originally I was only in animal science, but when I got a job in a micro lab I decided to do that as well. If you want to do it, you should, in my opinion!

 

[rileyroo]

I don't think the stress and debt are going to be too bad (compared to vet school ). It may add a year to my education but that's no big deal. Not looking forward to writing two senior theses but I do like the end result.

Rileyroo: I have also considered a business major but I am unsure about a triple major. I think if I consider that, I will probably graduate with Bio and History then come right back to get a degree in Business. It was strongly recommended to me to take as many business classes as I could.

instead of doing a business major, if you're wanting to double major in two other areas, maybe you could pick and choose the business courses you think you would benefit from the most 🙂

 

[Backwoods Boy]

instead of doing a business major, if you're wanting to double major in two other areas, maybe you could pick and choose the business courses you think you would benefit from the most 🙂

Yeah. That has crossed my mind as well.

 

[VeganSoprano]

I have a BA with a double major in music and religion, and right now I'm pursuing a BS in bio. Diversity is cool!

 

[canis13]

no, but that's because a double major at my school would mean writing two theses, which would be a crazy amount of work all year long (and something most professors wouldn't want you to do).

anyway, i'm not sure what a double major would give you besides a short way to tell people who don't read your transcript that you've taken a ton of history classes/are proficient in history. for a major that's so different from vet school, it seems like it would be a lot of extra work (especially if you have to write a thesis and take a 5th year) for a degree that you wouldn't really use. i'd probably just take a lot of history classes and not worry about the extra degree if i were you.

 

[deleted266066]

I'm doubling in psychology and biology. I originally was just a psych major planning on getting a psychology PhD later on, but my sophomore year I decided I wanted to go pre-health (first pre-med, later pre-vet 🙂). A year later I declared biology as my second degree since I realized I loved the subject and also was nearly completing the biology major's requirements once I was done with all the pre-vet courses. I also was able to complete my psych degree requirements by the end of my sophomore year which let me focus on biology afterwards.

It worked out well for me because my school had given me essentially a full year's worth of credits for my AP exams coming in as a freshman, so I am still graduating within 4 years. The only downsie really is that I haven't been able to take any elective courses for fun since I need to use up all my semesters completing my required stuff.

I'd say start out with the idea of majoring in both subjects but maybe hold off on declaring one of them until you've taken a few classes to make sure that's what you want. From what I've seen, it's pretty easy to declare a major but it's harder to "remove" one from your transcript if you decide to drop it after all.

 

[Backwoods Boy]

I'm doubling in psychology and biology. I originally was just a psych major planning on getting a psychology PhD later on, but my sophomore year I decided I wanted to go pre-health (first pre-med, later pre-vet 🙂). A year later I declared biology as my second degree since I realized I loved the subject and also was nearly completing the biology major's requirements once I was done with all the pre-vet courses. I also was able to complete my psych degree requirements by the end of my sophomore year which let me focus on biology afterwards.

It worked out well for me because my school had given me essentially a full year's worth of credits for my AP exams coming in as a freshman, so I am still graduating within 4 years. The only downsie really is that I haven't been able to take any elective courses for fun since I need to use up all my semesters completing my required stuff.

I'd say start out with the idea of majoring in both subjects but maybe hold off on declaring one of them until you've taken a few classes to make sure that's what you want. From what I've seen, it's pretty easy to declare a major but it's harder to "remove" one from your transcript if you decide to drop it after all.

I definitely know what you mean about the delayed declaration of a major. I agree that I need to make sure that is the route I want to go.

 

[BlistexWorks]

I ended up doing a double major in Biology and Music (cello/piano/voice), and finished in four years. I took an extra year to travel and take animal science and animal nutrition online. There is no rush! Do what you love and take your time. I have no regrets and if it gets you extra scholarship money in undergrad then even better!

 

[Backwoods Boy]

Seems like quite a few people majored in music... Wasn't expecting that.

 

[BurntFlower]

I doubled majored in English and Biology.

English because I love to read and enjoyed the classes.

Biology because I had to take most of the classes as pre-reqs, and to get a BA (lower level degree at my school since they also offered a BS) I only had to take like 1 extra class.

Yay, another Bio/English major! Now I know I'm not the only crazy one.

 

[Backwoods Boy]

Yay, another Bio/English major! Now I know I'm not the only crazy one.

You learn something new everyday.

 

[Groominator]

I'm an anthropology/biology double major.

Its a bit of a long story, I chose an anthro major when I went to a different school that had an amazing anthro department. Every anthro class I took at that school was just amazing... unfortunately I hated everything else about the school and transferred out.

In my current school I finished the anthro major and I have no desire to do any anthro work where I am because the department is just awful. Really the classes don't compare. Where the other school's courses were based on facts, studies and findings, all the cultural anthro in my current school is essentially "lets talk about our feelings" on whatever subject is at hand.

Now i wasn't planning on double majoring, I was just going to take all the science courses necessary. Unfortunately my school gives preference to Bio majors for seats on all classes above bio 100. So if i tried to take them all as a nonmajor, I'd have to be stuck with whatever lab sections happened to be open. Besides, the bio major requires all the courses that vet schools generally ask for, that is chem, orgo, physics, cell bio, biochem, and genetics. And a few extra electives that I'm enjoying far more than any of those other courses. So my bio major was mostly a matter of convenience. I'm spending an extra year to finish up but i would have had to anyway, to fit all the pre-reqs.

 

[nyanko]

Unfortunately my school gives preference to Bio majors for seats on all classes above bio 100.

It's not unfortunate, it makes perfect sense seeing as how those people need the courses to graduate! 😉

 

[jesiah]

It's not unfortunate, it makes perfect sense seeing as how those people need the courses to graduate! 😉

lol

i got my degree in pysch and literatures of the world. since then been taking the necessary science classes.. one more upper div next quarter and i'm done!

if i had the chance to do it over again, i woulda probably done animal science + music

 

[Electrophile]

no, but that's because a double major at my school would mean writing two theses, which would be a crazy amount of work all year long (and something most professors wouldn't want you to do).

anyway, i'm not sure what a double major would give you besides a short way to tell people who don't read your transcript that you've taken a ton of history classes/are proficient in history. for a major that's so different from vet school, it seems like it would be a lot of extra work (especially if you have to write a thesis and take a 5th year) for a degree that you wouldn't really use. i'd probably just take a lot of history classes and not worry about the extra degree if i were you.

Umm...some people like to learn for the sake of learning? I think we've lost a lot of the good quality classical education that makes one well rounded. One strength of a social sciences degree is that it teaches you to be a better writer and to evaluate things more critically. Always a plus in science and medicine.

Anyways, OP, I double majored in religious studies and biology (honors) and minored in history in four years. I took both semesters of physics during the summer after sophomore year, but I had no other credit coming in otherwise from AP or anything else. I miss my RS and history classes a ton!

 

[canis13]

Umm...some people like to learn for the sake of learning? I think we've lost a lot of the good quality classical education that makes one well rounded. One strength of a social sciences degree is that it teaches you to be a better writer and to evaluate things more critically. Always a plus in science and medicine.

I totally agree with the idea of learning for the sake of learning (I come from a school that doesn't show you your grades), and I'm not sure how my response indicated the contrary. My point is that if you are learning for the sake of learning, you do not need a second degree just to prove you are smart. You can accomplish nearly an equivalent amount of learning without the official 2nd major, or even more so, because you can take a wider variety of social science classes, for instance, instead of just history classes. So like, instead of having to take 8 history classes, the OP could take 4 history classes, 2 economics classes, and 2 political science classes, for example. No 2nd degree, but a wider area of knowledge.

My perspective is probably different, though, because I go to a liberal arts school that has a required year long humanities course, and a ton of area requirements, so everyone graduates with a pretty well rounded education. So if anything, the second degree to me seems like you're cramming stuff in to seem more impressive. But maybe at most other colleges, if you only major in biology, that may mean you don't really get the chance to get a good social science/humanities background unless you double major?

 

[Electrophile]

I totally agree with the idea of learning for the sake of learning (I come from a school that doesn't show you your grades), and I'm not sure how my response indicated the contrary. My point is that if you are learning for the sake of learning, you do not need a second degree just to prove you are smart. You can accomplish nearly an equivalent amount of learning without the official 2nd major, or even more so, because you can take a wider variety of social science classes, for instance, instead of just history classes. So like, instead of having to take 8 history classes, the OP could take 4 history classes, 2 economics classes, and 2 political science classes, for example. No 2nd degree, but a wider area of knowledge.

My perspective is probably different, though, because I go to a liberal arts school that has a required year long humanities course, and a ton of area requirements, so everyone graduates with a pretty well rounded education. So if anything, the second degree to me seems like you're cramming stuff in to seem more impressive. But maybe at most other colleges, if you only major in biology, that may mean you don't really get the chance to get a good social science/humanities background unless you double major?

I went to Mizzou for undergrad and there are certainly a number of general education requirements, but a lot of the pre-professional people can't seen the forest for the trees and take something that's supposedly easy over something interesting to them. The sad thing is, a lot of the upper level electives have way less busy work than the lower level classes the pre-so and sos take. Anyways, I figure it's the last time you'll be able to take non-science-y classes in any practical sense, so make the best of it.

And there's something to be said for cramming stuff in to look impressive for ad coms. While it's just a piece of paper, it does show extra initiative and ability to multitask. But it's not for everyone. Lots of people just minor in stuff (usually means 5ish classes or 15 hours in a particular discipline) instead of double major (usually around 10 classes or 30 hours). Which is fine too. That was significantly less paperwork to declare a minor than doing a second major. I picked up the double major senior year when I realized I just needed a few more classes over the minor I was doing already and thought, hey, might as well have something to show for it, right? But yeah, if there's too many hoops to jump through, it's not a huge deal if you don't, but pretty helpful if you do. I wasn't going to graduate early or anything without it, so nothing lost in time. I think the ad com was sufficiently impressed during the interview, so it helped in my case. I guess I make up for quality of grades with quantity of degrees?

Oh yeah, we have an four semester honors humanities sequence if you're in the Honors College at my undergrad. It rocked!

 

[canis13]

Yeah, I think my perspective is totally different...we don't have minors at my school, and there's no such thing as an easy intro class. Double majoring requires special permission from multiple advisors and the registrar, and I think only one person every couple of years ever attempts to do this.

Anyway, I think the bottom line is that people should challenge themselves above and beyond the bare minimum, not just in science classes, but in other areas as well. Whether that's accomplished at a school where there's no such thing as "the easy path", or at a school where going above and beyond means that you might want to do a second major in order to stand out, hopefully both will be good ways to prepare for vet school.