Attempting a Triple or Quadruple Major: Real Stories

[ehrenfest]

Has anyone pulled off a a triple or a quadruple major or do you know anyone who has? I heard about someone at Cornell getting seven majors but that seems farfetched.

 

[PowerIso]

I know someone who through the course of I don't know 12 years ended up with 5 majors. I just can't seem to justify anything more than two.

 

[Asphodel]

Three, a few. Four, not that I can think of. Eventually you run into logistical issues.

 

[mnnob07]

I know someone who triple majored in English/theater/psychology but that is much different than majoring in e.g. some engineering/foreign language/accounting. What I'm saying is that it would depend on the individual course loads and how much requirements and electives could overlap (also how much your university will allow them to overlap; at mine, the engineering electives specifically can not be obtained from the college of business possibly making some kind of business/engineering degree more difficult.)

I really don't see much benefit of a third major anyway; I'm just a student so obviously my word wouldn't carry as much weight as a guidance or career counselor (which you may want to schedule an appointment with about this if it is what you are considering) it seems a bit unfocused and it would be better to pursue some research, upper level and graduate level classes within your major's department if you have so much free time.

 

[cristo]

I really don't understand the point of 'multiple majors.' A degree is supposed to say that you have somewhat specialist knowledge in a subject, but if you take many subjects then your knowledge will surely be diluted. I find this especially strange if one plans on graduate studies: there is way too much, say, physics to learn during a degree anyway, so why try and learn more than one subject? Also, if youre thinking of taking multiple majors purely to show off, then I would advise you against it: as the previous poster says, when (or if) you go to graduate school, it will benefit you much more to have taken higher level classes, and will look better on your application.

 

[Asphodel]

A degree is supposed to say that you have somewhat specialist knowledge in a subject

On the undergraduate level, huge emphasis on the "somewhat."

There are a lot of interdisciplinary fields. I'm for the idea of studying whatever interests you and working from there...majors can give you a way to document it if you go that far into more than one subject. But the things you know are what may matter, the line on your transcript saying you have an extra major probably won't.

 

[Astronuc]

Has anyone pulled off a a triple or a quadruple major or do you know anyone who has? I heard about someone at Cornell getting seven majors but that seems farfetched.

I had a friend in college who got a BA degree in Pyschology, Economics, French and History (IIRC), and he did it in 4 years. Basically, his electives for one course were requirements for another. He spoke French very well and was knowledgeable in the others.

 

[Asphodel]

With that arrangement, he probably also overlapped a lot of general education requirements with the various major requirements.

 

[rocomath]

I had a friend in college who got a BA degree in Pyschology, Economics, French and History (IIRC), and he did it in 4 years. Basically, his electives for one course were requirements for another. He spoke French very well and was knowledgeable in the others.

Is he super rich now?

 

[Astronuc]

With that arrangement, he probably also overlapped a lot of general education requirements with the various major requirements.

Yes. He didn't plan it that way until his junior year, when he had to fill out some degree plan, and then discovered that most of his course met most of the requirements of 4 majors. He then added the remaining requisite courses - and voila - 4 majors.

 

[Astronuc]

Is he super rich now?

No - unfortunately. He's a programmer - doing well, but not great. I think he burned himself out early on.

 

[Defennder]

He certainly must be multi-talented. He did 4 majors in the arts and language and ended up as a programmer.

 

[Asphodel]

He certainly must be multi-talented. He did 4 majors in the arts and language and ended up as a programmer.

"Programmer" seems to be the educated equivalent of "food service worker"...

Alas, poor code monkeys...oh well, someone has to work under all the software developers and computer scientists and other highfalutin' titles for "I'm not just another code monkey." I wouldn't laugh about this so much, but sadly it's where a lot of physics students wash ashore.

 

[ekrim]

I know a physics/math/history guy.

Math is easy to tack on to physics, since physics requires so many math courses. The third major can be made up of a lot of the general education requirements.

 

[will.c]

Math and physics seems to be a popular combination, but I'm firmly with cristo on this one. If you're going to be a theoretical physicist or an applied mathematician it's a strong combination, but I knew people who did it and wanted to go into experimental physics - why not take all that time spent in math courses and exchange it for lab courses and doing experimental research?

 

[ks_physicist]

I know a guy who did a quad major, and I'm about 90% sure he did it in four years. He might have come in with some AP/IB credit.

Physics, mathematics, Earth science, physical science, and a minor in geospatial analysis.

There's a lot of overlap there, but still...

 

[Nick M]

At my school a Physics degree only requires Calculus I & II, Multi, Diff-Eq, and Computational and Statistical Physics which are taught in the Physics department.

A Mathematics degree requires a heck of a lot more - at least 10 more classes in the department within a specific area of focus the student chooses.

 

[cristo]

At my school a Physics degree only requires Calculus I & II, Multi, Diff-Eq, and Computational and Statistical Physics which are taught in the Physics department.

That can't be true: how can a university warrant giving a physics degree to someone who has taken 4 maths classes and one physics class?

 

[Nick M]

Sorry I should have been more clear. Those are the Mathematics classes required for the Physics degree. And Computational/Statistical Physics are two separate classes - so essentially 6 math classes for Physics vs at least 15 for Mathematics.

 

[quantumdude]

A former PF Mentor named Another God did a triple major. It was microbiology, philosophy, and something else. Smart guy.

 

[Fearless]

My way of thinking about more majors than one, even two are simply this one line. "Time will beat us all, and with time we can beat everything". Which means that I will probably get a major in physics and a minor/BA in french during my five years towards the master degree. But I am also interested at getting a phd in physics/physics related research and a masters degree in mathematics, namely computational. The only thing I will really aim my sights on completing on time as scheduled is the physics major. Everything else I will take when it suits me. So in maybe 7-10 years time (from now) I will have all that other stuff. And why? the attentive reader probably asks, because if you don't learn anything new all the time, you get complacent and the brain starts to rot bad. Besides, I want to achieve something in life, not being one of the grey-jante-people-[insert favourite swearword here].

 

[cristo]

You don't need to work towards a degree in order to learn something new everyday. Personally, once I've got my PhD, I shan't try for masters degrees in other subjects: I just don't see the point!

 

[Fearless]

Cristo: I am a status-hungry beast. I work hard, play hard and most of the time study hard. Also, I like my knowledge to be put in print and on my CV.

But of course I have respect for people that want to live their lives differently from mine. Everyone should have respect for other people's lives.

 

[cristo]

Cristo: I am a status-hungry beast.

Ahh.. so you just want more letters after your name?

Besides, I want to achieve something in life, not being one of the grey-jante-people-[insert favourite swearword here].

I still don't get it: wasting time getting more degrees instead of starting out on your chosen career is not inducive to "achieving something."

 

[will.c]

One of the dumbest guys I've ever met had more letters after his last name than in it.

 

[Fearless]

Cristo: Now this thread isn't about me and my personal options, therefore I will send you a pm.

will.c: Yeah, the best thing to actually acquire isn't just the extra digits, zeros and letters after/before your name. It's passion. To actually want to be all you can be. Sure, getting the degree after the first one is practically pointless. But dreams are nice. In the ultimate end, everything is pointless. After a Msc and a Phd probably, everything else is just collecting stamps. Pointless for some, for some a worthwhile hobby.

It was rather dumb to write "I am a statushungry beast", that I will add. Although you didn't see my half-ironic smile as I wrote it.

But what are a man without dreams, ambitions and goals? I encourage people to dream, to have ambition and actually try to check off their goals. Being ambitious is very hard, because in real life and almost every instance other than that (internet etc) you should be quiet. Because somebody will always snap and try to take you down. Sometimes people may deserve it, although more seldom than often.

 

[tmc]

I would have thought that becoming a leading expert in a field would be a better dream or ambition than collecting as many pieces of paper as possible.

It appears we disagree.

 

[bomba923]

I am pursuing three majors at UC Santa Cruz, but they are all quite related* (pure math, computer science, biochemistry-molecular biology**), which can be completed altogether in four years (12 quarters), taking ~5 courses per quarter (recommended general courseload ~3 courses / quarter at UCSC). UC Santa Cruz allows different majors to share only 'lower division' courses (i.e., one cannot use an 'upper division' course to satisfy any two different majors...not that it's a problem for my set of majors)

Questions:
-Just for comparison, what is the general recommended undergraduate courseload per quarter/semester? (at least, across the US...)
-Do most schools allow any course required for two majors to count towards both (i.e., for a single student pursuing both)? Or, is only a certain set of courses usually allowed to count towards multiple (or some maximum amount of) majors?
-When some school is said to be "better" for a certain major than some other school, is the difference usually due to course requirements? Research opportunities? (Internships?)

*More so than, perhaps, French literature and physical chemistry
**both constitute a single major at UCSC

 

[will.c]

I would have thought that becoming a leading expert in a field would be a better dream or ambition than collecting as many pieces of paper as possible.

It appears we disagree.

This is silly. There's no such thing as a "better" dream. Just the one you prefer to follow. Plenty of people will gladly think you're a fool for idling away for academic wages on some obscure bit of knowledge that, as happens to the great majority of "leading experts," will be later proven to be an ill-founded dead end.

Moral superiority is such an odd trait for so many people in science to share.

 

[Choppy]

-When some school is said to be "better" for a certain major than some other school, is the difference usually due to course requirements? Research opportunities? (Internships?)

I've found more often than not it has to do with whether or not the speaker is from or planning to attend that school.


With respect to the original question, I don't think there's anything wrong with pursuing multiple majors. I'm not sure I would have done it myself thought. I enjoyed what few electives I had and with a cirriculum heavily weighted towards physics and math it was nice to switch gears and take some completely unrelated classes.

One disadvantage to mulitple majors is the need to "overload" - or take more courses per semmester than what is considered a full course load. Some people thrive on this kind of challenge - and power to them. But I've found that the vast majority of students who do this have the potential to end up overwhelmed and do not have the time to concentrate on areas with which they are having difficulty. Further, overloading cuts into time for extra-cirricular activities. Some of the most valuable experiences you can have in university come through volunteer work, part-time jobs, and organized social activities. In fact these can often be what get you hired out in the real world because they translate into solid practical experience.