Dual Degree or Upper Division Courses?

[jeremmed77]

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I started college two years early while I was still in high school (I am eighteen right now in my third year). Since I have not taken all of my prerequisites I still would have to go to school for another two years, so I decided to go for the full three. Because of this, I have enough room to get a dual degree if I want to. However, I would like to know if it would look better on my application to just take upper division courses. My major is going to be a B.S. in Psychology, and I would get a dual degree in Anthropology (B.A.). What would you suggest I do assuming I would enjoy both routes equally? Thanks in advance.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

If anthropology interests you, then go ahead and double major. Just don't avoid hurting your gpa and if double majoring means taking an abnormally heavy load. Then you might want to reconsider.

 

[Doubtnichts]

I've been thinking about getting a dual degree too and the advice I've been told is to do what I want. In the long run anthro and psych probably aren't going to help you too much in med school or afterwards. But, I'm planning on getting the dual degree because I want to feel like that extra year or two was worth something. Mine's going to be bio/psych or bio/chem. BS in bio and BA in the other 🙂 That being said, I'm also taking upper level bio courses. I really enjoy the upper level classes because they pertain to what I want to do with the rest of my life. I'm hoping that the psych classes will raise my gpa and give me something that's not so intense..

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I've been thinking about getting a dual degree too and the advice I've been told is to do what I want. In the long run anthro and psych probably aren't going to help you too much in med school or afterwards. But, I'm planning on getting the dual degree because I want to feel like that extra year or two was worth something. Mine's going to be bio/psych or bio/chem. BS in bio and BA in the other 🙂 That being said, I'm also taking upper level bio courses. I really enjoy the upper level classes because they pertain to what I want to do with the rest of my life. I'm hoping that the psych classes will raise my gpa and give me something that's not so intense..

No degree is going to help you that much for medical school except the one you get the best grades in.

 

[jeremmed77]

No degree is going to help you that much for medical school except the one you get the best grades in.

I think this makes a lot of sense. I think that getting a dual degree in Anthropology would be my better option because it would help keep my gpa stay high. I probably would also enjoy upper level psyc courses, but it could have a negative impact on my gpa. So would getting a dual degree give me a competitive edge on other applicants or not? Thanks again for the help.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

An applicant with a single major with 3.7 > An applicant with a double major and a 3.5.
But it all depends really if you love the subjects and are good at it then you probably will do well in both of them. You might also enjoy using ratemyprofessors.com as well to make sure you're taking courses that won't condemn your gpa.