Double Majors / Major & 2 Minors??

Question

How difficult is it to complete a double major at a school like Boston University or a school like USCalifornia? How much advantage does a double major give you after college? What would be the advantage of doing 2 minors instead of a second major?

All answers are appreciated!!

Answer 1

I don't think it would be that much of an advantage for your career later on.  If your interested in several subjects, I'd suggest:

A) get a minor in a differing field (Humanities/Social Science/Natural Science/Applied majors).  That'll show that you have breadth.  

B) get an internship in a field you think might interest you as soon as you can

C) Get good grades, Consider joining a club.

Answer 2

Once you are out of college, not one really cares what you did in college.  They care that you graduated and that's about it, unless of course you plan on going to graduate school.

Answer 3

The difficulty in double majors isn't in the material you study, but in the extra time it takes to complete it.  The time to complete double majors depends on which two majors you are looking to complete.  Certain majors will have greater course overlap than others.  Common combinations of this are Physics-Mathematics, Electrical-Computer engineering, Computer Science-Electrical/Computer Engineering, Physics-Mathematics, Mathematics-Economics.  Because of this overlap schools often offer programs of study to do combined science programs.  

Humanities double majors are typically easier than science double majors.  Most of the courses overlap, so much so that it is more common than not to see Philosophy-History double majors.  To do a double major without doing summer/winter courses you are typically looking at least an additional year of study.  

The advantage to double majors is that you will have more breadth in your education and be versed in a wider range of fields.  This will translate into having more job opportunity when you leave school.  However, don't expect your double major to garner a large boost in starting salary.  You will however be more attractive to graduate schools.  My two cents is if you are going to put in the effort of a double major, do an accelerated BS/MS or BA/MA instead.

I would advise against a minor, unless you are doing it out of pure interest.  Minors aren’t regarded very highly in the job market.  From my perspective in Engineering I have seen peers obtain minors in business administration, and get to the job field only to be told their minor is useless (what a waste of a year).  

Answer 4

I used to work as a tutor as USC, and many of my co workers were USC students... it was not unusual for someone to tell me that they are double majoring.  One guy was even quadruple majoring! I guess he handled it fine because you have to get approval from the deans to even double major. Needless to say, he had no life outside of school.  In the long run, I don't think majoring doubly matters as far as jobs are concerned.  There is no difference in double majoring (or more) and getting subsequent degrees at a later date (unless they are for a higher degree).