Double major and minor?

Double major?

  • Yes

    Votes: 3 15.0%
  • No

    Votes: 17 85.0%

  • Total voters
    20

Carlin Irwin

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2015
Messages
11
Is it possible to to major in Computer Science and Management while minoring with foreign language? What if you have 3hrs. dual credit in Computer Science already?
What high school college courses can make this possible?
 
Oh boy...
I know someone who was going to double major, double minor, and play an IC sport...or so he thought, haha!

Generally speaking, double majoring will fill your schedule completely, if not require multiple 7-class semesters (aka BUSY semesters). Taking a minor with a single major will generally fill your schedule comfortably.
Trying to do a double major in unrelated areas is really tough, and adding a language minor to that will likely be near impossible to schedule...if you value things like at least 5-6hrs of sleep per night.
 
Oh boy...
I know someone who was going to double major, double minor, and play an IC sport...or so he thought, haha!

Generally speaking, double majoring will fill your schedule completely, if not require multiple 7-class semesters (aka BUSY semesters). Taking a minor with a single major will generally fill your schedule comfortably.
Trying to do a double major in unrelated areas is really tough, and adding a language minor to that will likely be near impossible to schedule...if you value things like at least 5-6hrs of sleep per night.
If I have college credit or AP credit before entering the academy ,will this allow me to double major and minor? If so, what AP courses would help leave space for a second major and/or minor?
 
My son went in to the Academy with 9 college credits in Spanish, tested into 400 level classes, and was able to get a minor. Just getting his one major and a minor with that many credits already was hard enough for him. In my opinion if you think that you can do two majors and a minor, you don't have a firm grasp on what your life will be like at USAFA.

Stealth_81
 
I entered with 25 credits validated. I comfortably filled my schedule with my major and a language minor. I doubt I could have double majored with a similar major and for certain there was not enough time to double major in completely different fields.

Frankly, even the geniuses among us were unable to accomplish that sort of feat. The people who were able to pull off a double major typically did Math and Physics.
 
My sons entered USAFA with 40+ college credits each. They still had several semesters of 27+ credits.

Quit worrying about this. USAFA will tell you what classes you've validated and you'll not choose a major till at least a year in, anyway.

A reminder to all: the Service Academies are not Local State U: you don't plan your way through it, though yes, there can be a generalized plan. For instance, y ou'll not choose your schedule. It's chosen for you. You'll not choose your foreign language; again, chosen for you You'll not decide "I took Calc 1 or AP Calc AB in high school so now I'll take Calc 2." Nope - they'll decide.

Let go of this "I'll work the system" thinking.
 
The first question that must be asked, is "why" do you want to double major? In the civilian college world, kids double major for a couple of reasons. 1) they aren't quite sure what their main area of interest is, or they feel they are being pushed into an area and they have other interests, So, they choose 2 areas. 2) some think a double major will make them more competitive in the work force finding a job after graduation. 3) others think it improves their chances at getting into grad school.

The truth is, unlike a civilian in college, you are already guaranteed a job. And except for a small number of jobs, your major isn't as important to getting a job. I.e. You can be a pilot, even with a major in English. You don't need a degree in criminal justice for a job in security, or a degree in political science for a job in Intel.

As far as grad school, it is actually more narrow and concentrated than the bachelor degree. So, a double major doesn't really help the cause.

And truth be told, if you're a civilian college student on the typical 5-6 year plan, you can do the double major thing and not hurt your grades or do it because you don't really know what you want. But the academy is 4 years. Do you think you'll have a better shot at grad school with a 3.92-3.96 gpa in a single major, or with a 3.84-3.86 gpa with a double major because you had so many classes to do in 4 years? You know the answer to that.

I've had plenty of kids who came into the academy who think because they had college credit coming in, took all the IB and AP type classes, that all that would have been a waste I'd they don't use those credits, and thus want to double major. Truth is, those college classes, AP, IB, classes weren't a waste. THEY are actually what helped get you into the academy. Leave high school behind you. Once you get into a grad program, no one will care that you had a double major or what you B.S. Was or where.

Point being, to decide on doing a double major, must ask oneself first, WHY do you want a double major. The majority of reasons a civilian college student might want a double major simple does not apply or is conducive at the academy. It will actually hurt in more ways than help. Again, most jobs don't care what the major is, let alone a dual major. Second, one you have a masters or PhDs, your bachelor actually no longer matters. And one of the most important requirements for getting accepted to grad school, is your major and gpa. Easy when you have 6 years to complete your bachelor degree. Difficult to hold that high gpa when you must do it in 4 years, non-waiver.
 
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I was a Political Science and Economics double major. I came in with 9 credit hours from AP tests and still had to take 7 classes in 5 semesters. You just can't get around a lot of the core and majors requirements.

There are a few majors that overlap well enough to make double majors possible:

Economics/Operations Research
Economics/Management
Math/Physics
Computer Science/Computer Engineering

I think I was the last Political Science/Economics double major... The option isn't in the course catalog anymore and it took a couple waivers from the Economics department.

The easiest way to do a language minor would be to do a summer immersion trip and get one of the 6 classes required for the minor donen in the summer.
 
A reminder to all: the Service Academies are not Local State U: you don't plan your way through it, though yes, there can be a generalized plan. For instance, y ou'll not choose your schedule. It's chosen for you. You'll not choose your foreign language; again, chosen for you You'll not decide "I took Calc 1 or AP Calc AB in high school so now I'll take Calc 2." Nope - they'll decide.

Well not so much. I was able to choose my schedule with my academic advisor for my upper three years. Not a whole lot of choices due to class constraints, but still an option that most people had. I got to choose my foreign language, as most did. Once the validation tests/process were complete and I knew what I could and could not validate, we had options. You could 1) decline validation and take the course anyway, 2) validate and move up to the next level of coursework, or 3) validate and not take any more classes in that area if you met the criteria for your major (i.e. validating chemistry and not taking any more chemistry)
 
Hornet, maybe it was different for my sons due to the constraints of DI sports? Not sure. I do know that they essentially chose nothing, until their 2* year.
 
Since the DI sports take up the later periods of the day, then yes, I would expect them to have virtually no choices.
 
I'm a double major with a double minor; however, my majors are closely related. Comp Sci, Econ, and a language minor would be extremely difficult if not impossible.
 
i am thinking of double majoring in aerospace engineering and mss with no minors would this be a good idea and what AP/IB classes should take for high school (im in 8th grade)i was only going to major in aerospace engineering then i found out you can double major and mss is a major (i am very good at strategy so i feel that mss will be easy)
 
Just my personal observation. I double majored in college (not a SA). Nobody cared after graduation, including me, and I cannot say it helped me in any regards professionally. What it did do was keep me from exploring some electives that I may have really enjoyed, and kept me from traveling abroad on exchange program as no upper division classes available in one of my majors.

At the Academy, you will already have a full plate of general ed, extracurricular, sports and military duties/training. You do not need to declare (may not even be permitted) until junior year -- get your core classes out of the way, research, talk to people and figure out what really interests you and what you want to do in the military and pick the academic path that fits those goals - and focus on that.
 
I really think OP is putting the cart before the horse. This is why you have academic counselors. You have required classes your first year or two (depending on credits you bring in & placement tests.) Your counselor will discuss with you your options, what makes sense & evaluate based on the grades you're currently getting. Let's face it, there are brilliant kids going to USAFA and many of them still struggle with their academics. Not because they can't do it or they aren't smart enough, but often times it has to do with time constraints as BlueBlood mentioned.

So my recommendation (which is worth as much as you paid for it) is to do your best now, then speak with your counselor once you get there & have a semester under your belt. You won't be able to declare a major, or two, until the end of your 2nd year anyway.

Actually, my DD declared after 1st semester of her 3 deg year. She didn't take AP tests but was placed out of several classes based on placement tests. That got her to the point where she had to declare to determine if she went the STEM route or not.
 
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