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What factors should I think about when deciding if I should double major?
Hi! I am a current junior in high school right now and am wondering what I should think about when choosing whether or not to double major. I am interested in business and psychology. Film too, but business and psychology is on top of my list.
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Kelly’s Answer
Hi Christie! Thanks for your question. When thinking about your major, try to think about what gets you excited, curious and passionate. College is for exploring options, trying new things and expanding horizons. You may take a class that is required and absolutely fall in love with the topic. Try to keep an open mind.
Here's the thing: you don't need to declare a major, or a double major now. Minors are available and that might fit the bill as well.
And for total transparency, I went to undergraduate twice for two different things! I now teach Film Production at a Conservatory and I love it!
Here's the thing: you don't need to declare a major, or a double major now. Minors are available and that might fit the bill as well.
And for total transparency, I went to undergraduate twice for two different things! I now teach Film Production at a Conservatory and I love it!
Thank you, Ms.Donnellan for your response. I appreciate it!
Christie
Absolutely! Happy to help ☺️
Kelly Donnellan
Updated
Joseph’s Answer
Before considering a double major in business and psychology at a typical four-year college, think about the time and effort needed for each major:
- Total Credits for a Degree: 120 credits
- Average Credits per Semester: 15 credits (to graduate in 4 years)
- Weekly Class Hours: 15 hours
- Total Class Hours in 4 Years: About 1,800 hours
Not all 1,800 hours focus on your major. Typically, 30 to 60 credits (450–900 hours) are for major-specific courses. The rest cover general education like English, Math, and History, plus electives.
Classroom time is just part of the commitment. The common rule is to spend two hours studying for every hour in class.
- In-Class: 15 hours per week
- Out-of-Class Study: 30 hours per week
- Total Weekly Commitment: 45 hours
Treating college as a full-time job means you'll devote about 5,400 hours over four years for each major.
- Total Credits for a Degree: 120 credits
- Average Credits per Semester: 15 credits (to graduate in 4 years)
- Weekly Class Hours: 15 hours
- Total Class Hours in 4 Years: About 1,800 hours
Not all 1,800 hours focus on your major. Typically, 30 to 60 credits (450–900 hours) are for major-specific courses. The rest cover general education like English, Math, and History, plus electives.
Classroom time is just part of the commitment. The common rule is to spend two hours studying for every hour in class.
- In-Class: 15 hours per week
- Out-of-Class Study: 30 hours per week
- Total Weekly Commitment: 45 hours
Treating college as a full-time job means you'll devote about 5,400 hours over four years for each major.
Thank you, Mr.Aseo for your informative response.
Christie
Updated
Andrew’s Answer
Hi Christie!
Sounds like you are in a proactive mindset where you are thinking about the future and how to set yourself up for success. I double majored in college in both MIS (Management Information Systems) and healthcare management. My main focus going into college was on training myself to be a manager, but quickly realized that I am not likely to get a job in management right out of college as "how can I manage someone in an area in which I do not have those skills?" This got me thinking and adding MIS as a double major as the focus of the major was in IT hard skills. Here are the quick items that I would think about when wanting to pursue a double major:
1) Cost and time (for me it was an extra ~30 credit hours but I was luckily able to get out in 4 years but only because I took between 18 and 21 hours each semester, which was a heavy workload when trying to balance work, friends, and classes)
2) Do they compliment one another? (in my case it was healthcare as the industry but IT is everywhere, including in hospitals)
3) Do they build both your soft and hard skills? (hard skills get you initially noticed and can be directly written on your resume when applying for jobs; soft skills help you during the interview and help to keep you in your job and help provide advancement opportunities)
4) College is designed to help build foundational skills that enable you to get your first job or two. After that, it really is about what is on your resume and the places you worked and what skills you developed at each of those places
One of the phrases I remember when entering college was "our goal is to train and build you for jobs that do not exist today". I think that phrase still holds true as I graduated over 10 years ago and the foundational hard and soft skills I was introduced to back then still apply today to my role, which is not in either IT or the healthcare industry :)
I wish you best in your journey!
Sounds like you are in a proactive mindset where you are thinking about the future and how to set yourself up for success. I double majored in college in both MIS (Management Information Systems) and healthcare management. My main focus going into college was on training myself to be a manager, but quickly realized that I am not likely to get a job in management right out of college as "how can I manage someone in an area in which I do not have those skills?" This got me thinking and adding MIS as a double major as the focus of the major was in IT hard skills. Here are the quick items that I would think about when wanting to pursue a double major:
1) Cost and time (for me it was an extra ~30 credit hours but I was luckily able to get out in 4 years but only because I took between 18 and 21 hours each semester, which was a heavy workload when trying to balance work, friends, and classes)
2) Do they compliment one another? (in my case it was healthcare as the industry but IT is everywhere, including in hospitals)
3) Do they build both your soft and hard skills? (hard skills get you initially noticed and can be directly written on your resume when applying for jobs; soft skills help you during the interview and help to keep you in your job and help provide advancement opportunities)
4) College is designed to help build foundational skills that enable you to get your first job or two. After that, it really is about what is on your resume and the places you worked and what skills you developed at each of those places
One of the phrases I remember when entering college was "our goal is to train and build you for jobs that do not exist today". I think that phrase still holds true as I graduated over 10 years ago and the foundational hard and soft skills I was introduced to back then still apply today to my role, which is not in either IT or the healthcare industry :)
I wish you best in your journey!
Thank you, Mr.Emerson for your insightful response and for sharing your own experiences!
Christie