Double major?

[Jazzebelle]

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I am a senior in Highschool and I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on being a pre-med and trying to double-majoring. I don't want to die trying to do all this. I have no idea whether or not I can really do it, especially if I go to a really competitive school. If you know anything, or have any advice to offer, please let me know. I want to double major in either Bio-psychology and Music Composition or Neuroscience and Composition. Thanks for your help!

 

[darly]

I am currently a fourth-year double major in psychology and biology. I am also going to be done this year. It's been really tough fitting all of my classes into four years, but it's really worth it because I love both of my majors. Whenever I am tired of studying for my bio classes, I can switch to my psych classes. The things I learn are totally different, so it's never boring. I really recommend double majoring if you really love what you'll be learning. But if you decide to try it, remember that there would be more workload. The only reason why I am able to finish in four is because of summer school (4 classes per summer). Take your time... most people finish college in five years anyway.

 

[turtleboard]

In college I double-majored in Mathematics and Chemistry. It's not difficult at all to double-major, but there's a lot of work involved. Did I go to a competitive school? Sure I guess.

Despite all that conditioning of my "work ethic," med school is still 10X that workload!

Tim of New York City.

[This message has been edited by turtleboard (edited 12-22-1999).]

 

[darly]

I agree with Tim. Although the past three years have been hard, I know that it's nothing compared to med school. It's a very good preparation for what I may have to face in the future though.

 

[Paulac]

Hi,

I don't know what school you are planning on going to, but any combination of a major in the arts with a major in the sciences is REALLY HARD. Well if you want to graduate in 4 years it will be, i can guarantee that, just because with 2 completely different majors, none of the classes overlap. I know this because i attempted second semester of my freshman year to switch to a double-major in Art and Biology, and it was a a ridiculous amount of work that brought down my GPA. Right now i switched to an Art minor and Bio major and still its a lot, but more feasible. As for music, all the music majors i know work their asses off as it is--i know one brave soul who is a music minor/Engineering major and he doesn't sleep ever, just because for music you have countless ensembles and stuff that takes up A LOT of time. Anyway, good luck with whatever you do--i'm sure its not the same at every school, but combining science and the arts i found to be rather rough.

Paula

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[justwannabadoc]

I majored in biology and psychology as an undergrad. I didn't find it terribly difficult to do. The only difference I foresee between doing a single vs. a double major is that you may be unable to take as many "unique" classes as you might like. Because you must take a certain number of credits within each discipline but within the same time frame (I'm assuming 4 years), you will not have as many electives as you would like. If you are willing to sacrifice these, then doing a double major is great. If you want a diverse courseload, double majoring can present an obstacle. Also, we needed 120 credits to graduate. I graduated with 132 but unfortunately, I can't remember if this was because I double majored or because I took a extra class here and there because I was interested.

 

[baylor21]

Alot of it depends on what kind of student you are. Even if you have perfect SATs and a National Merit Scholar, I guarantee you wont be able to float by like you did in high school. As for myself, I'm not really a double major, but working on a major in electrical/computer engineering, a minor in chemistry, and a minor in mathematics, which is more than enough to keep me busy.

I could've graduated in 4 years with this courseload, but only if I did not have any extracurriculars or outside activities, which is NOT what you want to do, so its going to take me 5 years to graduate. By that time, I will have over 200 semester hours.

If you are really dedicated to working hard and strongly interested in both fields, then go for it. Don't do it just because you think it might look better, because it probably makes no difference at all in your admissions decision in the end.

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"There is nothing more powerful on this Earth as a man who has nothing to lose. It does not take ten such men to change the world--one will do." Elijah Mohammed

 

[japhy]

If you truly love both majors than I would recommend going for it. I agree with the earlier posts(most of which came from sci/nonsci double degrees)in that the workload is tough. But at the same time you get an experience out of college that most of my friends who are strickly science majors do onot get, and that is a lot more diversity out of your college years. I choose to do a philosophy/biochemistry double major. Inmy third year my school switched from quarters to semesters. thankfully both departments have been extremely understanding. I recommend talking to advisors from each department(if possible)and be prepared to use all your brain and really push youself. I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[docflanny]

Like the other posts before, double-majoring can be quite rewarding if you are sincerely interested in both fields. Since you will have increased expectations for your performance in the upper level courses of each major you'll be faced with additional stresses.

I graduated with a Bio and Spanish major and a chem minor in four years. On top of that I was extremely active in extracurricular organizations. I am very happy with the way things went in undergrad, but with one regret...I wish I would have taken five years to do it. Take another year if you decide to double major your life will be that much more balanced in the long run. You'll also have more time to spend doing non-academic things. I agree with Tim's post too, have an increased work load will better prepare you for the rigors faced in med school. Admissions committees also are more interested in diversely educated students, but usually not weighing more than very good numbers. Numbers tend to be the end all be all, so don't sacrifice a good GPA too much.

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Matt Flannigan
MSU Class of 2004

 

[tr]

I don't think that asking this question on a public board like this is a very useful endeavor, because (as is clear from the posts above) requirements and course difficulty vary so widely from school to school that somebody else's experience is practically useless to you. What you need to do is look at the requirements for each major and determine which classes you would need to take at what points in time in order to finish both. If the resulting program looks feasible to you and your advisor, begin it. You can always drop it in the middle.
I did a double major in chemistry and philosophy. Although I did study very hard, this was mostly due to the chemistry, as I found the philosophy, though fascinating, to be undemanding. I enjoyed both and am very glad I did the double major. The downside is that I felt I didn't get to take as many fun irrelevant classes as most of my classmates did; I was very tied down to fulfilling a lot of requirements.