Double Majoring

Skyhawk

USAFA '26
Joined
Feb 4, 2022
Messages
91
Wondering if anyone knows, is it possible to double major in both aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering? I’m pretty interested in both, and will most likely focus on aero, but I was wondering what the possibility of this was? And of course I will also talk with the departments on majors night. I will be able to validate a couple courses I hope, so that should give me a boost. How difficult would this be?
 
It could be doable, but certainly wouldn't be easy. If you had a full schedule of AP/IB courses, did sports, volunteering, and found you had extra free-time in HS, you might be the type to do this. You might also realize you were a big fish in your HS pond. (E.G. I'm smart and HS wasn't that hard...but then I met actual genius-level people).
 
Possible - but very hard unless you validate a ton of classes (not just 2 or 3). @raimius is spot on as usual. If you find yourself at USAFA having validated a large number of classes and absolutely crushing (as in getting an A- is pretty easy, getting an A with a little effort is totally doable for you) ALL the classes you are in first semester even though they are more advanced than many of your peers because you validated so many, then you know you can likely handle the double major.

Whether that’s a good idea or not is a different question. I definitely regret my double major. I would have been better off doubling in computer science and physics or just adding some helpful and interesting comp sci or additional higher level physics classes than doing the math/physics double major. I did fine, but I stretched myself thin enough that I didn’t learn the material as thoroughly and deeply as I would have liked, and I paid for it in grad school
 
It could be doable, but certainly wouldn't be easy. If you had a full schedule of AP/IB courses, did sports, volunteering, and found you had extra free-time in HS, you might be the type to do this. You might also realize you were a big fish in your HS pond. (E.G. I'm smart and HS wasn't that hard...but then I met actual genius-level people).
OH how this resonated!

I was the "4.00 GPA, unweighted in HS...three sports, after school job off-season, CAP, coaching youth soccer, etc..."

On my second attempt at USAFA...I got in.

And spent FOUR LONG YEARS wondering "how the heck did I get HERE with THESE people?!!!"

AC PRO Ace...well, there are 80 folks that graduated after me...so...I'm a DG from USAFA!

DID graduate!
 
Wondering if anyone knows, is it possible to double major in both aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering? I’m pretty interested in both, and will most likely focus on aero, but I was wondering what the possibility of this was? And of course I will also talk with the departments on majors night. I will be able to validate a couple courses I hope, so that should give me a boost. How difficult would this be?
Yes, it is technically possible; however, the average Cadet will not validate enough courses or take enough overloads to make it happen. To double up a major a Cadet will have to create opportunities ("holes in his/her schedule) to take additional courses. Taking an additional course each semester (known as an "overload") can create say seven openings. I say "seven" because I don't recommend that any Cadet sign up for an overload as a Doolie/fall semester! Each course validated creates an additional opportunity to take a course for the second major.

Given how common AP courses are in high schools today, the best shot for a Cadet that wants to be a double major would be to attempt validation of a few courses based on either testing or the AP credits. Another situation where a Cadet that might find it possible to complete a double major would be those that received their appointments after completing one or more years of college before arriving at USAFA. The potential for validating courses should be much higher for such a Cadet.

Personally, I started as an aero/astro double major. However, at one point, I became so disappointed with the quality of instruction from one specific officer in the Astro Dept that I decided to leave the astro major and make aero my primary. In the end my second major was mathematics. Eight years after I graduated, I was teaching in the Aero Department after a stop at Purdue University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for graduate degrees.

In my Cadet days, I averaged eight major courses per semester (plus the usual PE, Military training course, etc.). In the end, I had two slots to spare for additional courses after completing both majors. A normal load for an upperclassman was seven courses. The normal load for a Doolie was six courses.

Hope that this helps. Good luck!
 
You don't need to validate a lot of classes to do this. It'll make it easier, sure, but I only validated language classes, and my double major single minor schedule has about 22-24 credit hours a semester. I'll have to see if I can keep it up, but it is definitely at least possible even without STEM validation.
 
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