Am I Insane for Pursuing Two Degrees and Two Minors?

[leright]

Be honest...an I utterly insane?

Ok, I am going for a dual major in EE and CompE, which is 155 credit hours. This is not too big of a deal, as many students do this. However, I did take some chemistry classes, as I was a chemistry major for a brief while (I took uchem 1, uchem 1 lab, uchem 2, uchem 2 lab, ochem 1, ochem 2, ochem 2 lab). I am 3 credits away from a chemistry minor. However, recently I have been considering taking quantum mechanics, contemporary physics and solid state physics, to obtain a physics minor. Am I absolutely insane? Is 2 degrees and 2 minors ridiculous? I do plan on going with the graduate school, and would like to study applied semiconductor physics, or maybe photonics.

I am not doing this for the sole purpose of getting the degrees and minors, but because I simply enjoy school and learning. Also, the more education, the better, when it comes to applying to graduate schools. During the summers I also plan on getting co-ops or REUs.

The total number of credit hours for al of this is 183. This will be over a 5 year period of time. I have checked with my university, and they do give out multiple minors.

Am I alone, or has someone else here taken this many classes? The reason I am thinking about pursuing the physics minor is because I enjoy studying the subject, and it would give me a deeper understanding of semiconductors and I would have a formal foundation in physics.

 

[leon1127]

in my degree plan, i am going to take all maths classes with all options including stat, applied, pure maths. plus i am going for EE options. that makes about 160 hours... and i am planing to finish it in 4 years.

 

[leright]

in my degree plan, i am going to take all maths classes with all options including stat, applied, pure maths. plus i am going for EE options. that makes about 160 hours... and i am planing to finish it in 4 years.

Well, the time it takes isn't what is important to me. It is the financial aspect. It costs $610/credit hour here.

 

[mattmns]

I can't speak for the financial aspect, that is up to you. But I think if you want to take the classes for fun/education then you should. Personally, next semester I am taking 2 math classes that will not count toward my degree at all, but I think they will be fun/educational, so I am taking them anyway.

 

[lynxman72]

No I don't think your insane I think that's perfectly normal actual and I don't know why more people don't go for it like that (of course though people tell me I'm crazy since I am in the middle of doing my school's whole 4 year undergrad math major in 1 year and taking 2 to 3 grad physics classes per semester on top of that this year)...why would you ask people to tell you you're crazy why wouldn't you just go ahead and do it?

 

[Manchot]

Just out of curiosity, why are you majoring in Comp. E? It doesn't sound like you want to go into anything in that field.

 

[leright]

Just out of curiosity, why are you majoring in Comp. E? It doesn't sound like you want to go into anything in that field.

Well, I would like to work for a company like AMD or Nvidia and while I would like to work more at the semiconductor physics side of the spectrum, knowing something about digital logic and computer architecture would be an advantage. Plus this subject also interests me.

 

[Jelfish]

Am I absolutely insane? Is 2 degrees and 2 minors ridiculous? I do plan on going with the graduate school, and would like to study applied semiconductor physics, or maybe photonics.

No you're not insane. Many people do this, many people have succeeded, many people have failed. YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL!

Just Kidding! If that's what you want to do and you're driven, I say, more power to you! And even if you decide to change later on, you'll have a very good idea of what you want and don't want to do. It's a lot to push yourself into, so don't be unwilling to allow change if you find something isn't as interesting to you as you thought. The worst thing ever is to waste 4-5 years of your life convincing yourself that you should learn to love a certain field of study. Find your passion!

 

[dicerandom]

I think it might depend on whether you're on quarters or semesters, unless credit hours is some standardized way of comparing units between the two that I'm unaware of (which is entirely possible ).

I figure, three quarters per year over four years is twelve quarters, so 183 units is 15.25 units per quarter, on average. That's not so bad, but nothing ever works out that smoothly so you'll really have to take a look at your planned course schedule over the entirety of your four years to make sure you don't end up having to take 26 units one quarter or something. I know people who have done 26 unit quarters, and it's not something I'd want to do. I find that 16-18 units is about my upper limit for having a courseload that doesn't completely dominate every aspect of my life.

Edit: Oh, you said five years. Well that's even better then, you stand a good chance of being able to do it while still holding onto your sanity I'd say.

 

[leon1127]

Well, the time it takes isn't what is important to me. It is the financial aspect. It costs $610/credit hour here.

if you really care about money, you should finish it regardless of what major it is. In your situation above, it seems like that money isn't a large problem for you.

Money is the largest problem for me. I go to school full time and i work 50 hours a week. And i can barely pay for my school even though it is not good at all.

 

[Genecks]

well.. if you have fun learning.. you've got to remember something..

What is knowledge? What is contemporary? What is here today? What is gone tomorrow?

I stopped computer science, but it has it's contemporary usage in bioinformatics and things such as that. CAD/CAM etc. There are many uses in additive technology for computer science, when it comes to rapid prototyping.

Learning is fun, knowledge is power, but the ability to apply everything you know allows for it all to be useful.

Knowledge is useful. I suggest learning useful knowledge that will do what you want to use it for.

I'm going to become Washu! The greatest scientific engineer mind ever!
Simply said, "You're not crazy."

..but I do have washu as my current desktop.
Hmm.. crossplay is in order