What is the benefit of double majoring?

Question

I am double majoring in Cultural Studies and Political Science. I want to know what people think of the two majors I am pursuing as well as just your general opinion about double majoring. (i.e. benefits of two degrees...)

Answer 1

The farther apart the two majors are, the bigger the benefit.  When people double major in Chemistry and Biochemistry, everyone knows you only needed four or five additional classes and your education really isn't any broader for it.  

In general there is a difference between a double major and two separate degrees.  You should check into that.  

What will you be able to say, in an interview, about what your two majors contributed to your education?  That seems to be the key issue.

Answer 2

I am double majoring as well - history and political science.. the benefit is that you get more out of it.. like for example what im doing is, im taking history courses that complement my interest in politics.. such as if im doing a third world countries development politics course, i take a history course about  a third world country.. if that makes sense? ie. poli sci course: politics in latin america

history course: latin american history, culture, and civilization.

and add a language there: spanish

[what im doing]

perfect if you want to go to grad school to study law, or development... or something in the international relations field

so the two complement each other, and gives you a broader understanding of what you are studying! only political science by itself wouldnt give you the historical background about a country which you are studying the politics of. you know?

and I dont think that you can do a double major in two majors that have nothing to do with each other...they have to be related somehow... like english and philosophy, or history and poli sci... like you cant do history and mathematics... lmao its not possible, and its not offered in most universities... you cant do two majors at the same time, you can only do a specialist, a major and two minors, or a major.

Answer 3

that you have two degrees.

Answer 4

One obvious benefit of double majoring, especially if they are from different fields, is to show your future employer that you have more knowledge and can take on more responsibility. However, if the two fields are too closely related (e.g., your decision to do the second major happened only after you realized that you were 3-4 additional courses away from meeting the requirements), then you probably won't impress too many people. Personally, if I saw someone triple majoring, I probably wouldn’t be impressed because, under normal circumstances, I would assume that the person was good at none of them, i.e. lack of focus. Perhaps, a better approach to triple (or even double?) majoring is to be exceptional in your one major and have a fair knowledge of everything else. As you may have already heard, "know a bit of everything and one thing really well."

Double majoring will get you only one degree, and getting two separate degrees is, well, getting two separate degrees. In my opinion, I don't really see the point of getting two undergraduate degrees, unless you really have time and money to spend (waste?). That is, if you are going to get one more undergraduate degree, isn't it better to go ahead and get a master's degree? It is not uncommon for people to do their graduate studies in fields that are totally different from their undergraduate background. Likewise, I don’t the point of becoming a “collector” of master’s degrees. I have a friend who has 3-4 master’s degrees; he admits that he still doesn’t know what to do with his life and is too stupid to go for a Ph.D.

My advice is to make sure you have a clear purpose before you invest your time, money, and effort. I’m not discouraging you from getting multiple majors or degrees. (I also had two majors in college and am thinking about getting a second master’s.) On the contrary, once you know what your goal is, go straight for it.

Answer 5

Double Majoring is for people who want a job that uses the skills and/or knowledge of both majors. It may also be good if you don't know exactly what you want to do when you graduate but are enjoying classes in two subjects enough to take many of them. Only do it if you are passionate for both subjects...not for any resume reason because it really is a lot of work.

Answer 6

I was going to do this as well but my counselor told me not to. It's better to have one major you can concentrate all your time on, and minor in something else. A minor carries weight just like a major. A double major just looks like you're taking on too much

Answer 7

I think double majoring is great.  It just seems to me like you get more of an education for your money.  Cultural Studies and Political Science are a good double major.  It bothers me when people double major in two things that are completely unrelated, like art and math.