What to Know About Double Majoring

By Robin, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor

Peruse the academic offerings on any university’s website, and you’ll encounter everything from the more “traditional” psychology, math, business, and English majors to several intriguing potential majors like neuroscience, Slavic, and Eurasian Studies, public policy, astrobiology, and data science. Suffice to say that one of the most exciting aspects of pursuing a college degree is that you finally get to focus on an academic area that genuinely intrigues you and ignites your curiosity.

For some students, however, pursuing a single academic major simply won’t suffice, and they choose to double major in another academic area of interest. Double majoring can be an exciting intellectual union that celebrates a student’s unique interests, and some students might be contemplating a double major even as they are filling out their college applications.  However, there are several things to keep in mind when considering whether or not to double major.

Understanding What Exactly a Major Is 

Before we discuss double majors, let us start with the basics. Simply speaking, a major is an academic area of specialization a student chooses to focus on while earning a bachelor’s degree. Some universities might use the term “concentration” instead of “major.” Students must take a specific number of required courses to officially graduate with a bachelor’s degree in their major of choice. Universities often list this information on their websites. All course requirements for majors at Yale, for example, include details on which classes students must complete in order to fulfill the degree. the  Students who choose to double major pursue two areas of specialization and must fulfill the course requirements for each.

Sharing Your Intention to Double Major on a College Application

When students complete their college applications, many universities include a question that asks students to indicate their intended major. In some instances, the university might allow a student to indicate a secondary area of interest. Based on the major a student selects, the student often has the opportunity to expand on why they are interested in that major in a supplemental essay for that university. If a student has identified two niche areas of interest, then the supplemental essay will allow that student to discuss the intersection of those two disciplines. The applicant’s ability to clearly articulate the connection they see between the two academic disciplines is important. This is an opportunity for the student to highlight their intellectual depth and their ability to synthesize different disciplines. For example, English and history are two academic disciplines that complement each other quite well; a student interested in how historical events influence the literature of a particular time period might enjoy double majoring in those two subjects.

This is not to say that an applicant MUST express an interest in double majoring. If the interest in double majoring is genuine, then it is worth mentioning in the application, but an applicant should not try to force the matter, nor should an applicant make the mistake of expressing interest in too many academic subject — doing so might actually lead the admissions officer to infer that the student lacks academic focus or that the student would be biting off more than they can chew within that university’s academic environment.

As students are researching specific colleges and specific majors offered, they should be on the lookout for interdisciplinary majors that combine different academic fields. For example, bioinformatics is a major that combines biology and computer science, and PPE is a major that explores philosophy, political science, and economics. These types of interdisciplinary majors can allow some students to merge their various interests in an intellectually satisfying way without the student needing to double major.

What to Consider About Double Majoring

In most instances, students do not declare their major until their second year of college. It is not at all uncommon for the student to declare a major that is completely different from the one they indicated on their original application—in fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 80% of college students change their major at least once. When determining whether or not a double major is feasible, students should consult with an academic advisor at the university. Each academic major has a required number of credit hours needed to fulfill the major—not to mention the fact that students need a total number of credit hours to graduate from college. Additionally, students often need to take specific classes to meet curricular requirements at the university, which are often referred to as core requirements. Meeting with an academic advisor sooner rather than later will help a student determine whether or not pursuing a double major is feasible given the various credit hour requirements. In some instances, fulfilling the course requirements for two majors might delay the student from earning their undergraduate degree in the traditional four-year timeline. Undertaking a double major is a serious time commitment and one that should not be taken lightly.

Keep in mind that some majors, due to the number of required courses needed to complete the major, may not lend themselves to being combined with another academic subject. For example, many music performance majors cannot double major due to the specificity and requirements for the performance major.

Another factor to consider is whether or not the university allows for students to double major if the majors they’re interested in reside within different schools at that university. As students do their initial research about colleges, they should investigate whether or not they could double major with psychology in the arts and sciences school and child development in the education school, for example. In other instances, the university may not offer the option to double major at all. Princeton, for example, does not allow for double majors; however, students can complete “certificates” in additional areas of study.

Minors:  Alternatives to Double Majors

When I was in college, I began taking Spanish my sophomore year, and I fell in love with the subject. I had already decided to major in English, but when I saw that the requirements to fulfill a Spanish minor consisted of only six classes, I was sold.

Similar to a major, a minor also consists of required classes and credit hours. However, those requirements are typically less than what is required of a major. For some students (like myself), a minor allows them to pursue a secondary interest that may or may not complement their major. I can recall a friend from college who majored in biology and minored in theatre simply because she loved to act. A minor can be a low-stakes way to maintain an intellectual connection to a subject you care about but don’t necessarily intend to pursue as a profession.

Your early years in high school are an ideal time to begin to identify what academic areas and topics captivate you. Don’t be afraid to explore seemingly different academic interests; instead, be curious about ways in which those different interests might actually intersect and complement each other.

At IvyWise, our counselors work with students to help them uncover their academic interests and find their best-fit majors and schools for those interests. Contact us today to learn more about how IvyWise can support you in your college admissions journey.