Double Major, or Major/Minor?

Question

I'm very interested in two different fields. Biotechnology, and Game design, or developing.
Should I do a Major/Minor in college, or a Double Major?
BTW I don't know which college i'm going to.

Answer 1

I am graduating with a double majors in accounting and international business and a minor in political science, so I know exactly what your question is.

Your fields are very different, and so it will really depend on what you want to do. You can declare a major at the start of college and change it later, or add or remove a major, by the way. You're not "stuck" with one, but changing your mind too late (say, last semester) might mean you stay longer in college, so it's usually good to have it figured out by halfway through junior year at least.

At this point if you know that you want to work in one or the other field, do a major in that field. If you are doing the second concentration for fun/intellectual challenge, you can probably do it as a minor, although you don't lose anything my making a major of it.

As far as I can tell, the primary reason that people get a minor in something is if they have an interest in doing it, but not so much that they want to commit to the full requirements of the major it entails (how I got my minor). If you plan to work in a field, getting only a minor in it probably won't set you up too great.

At this point, if you are not sure which field you want to do for a career, you can declare a double major in both, or a major in the one you feel a little stronger about. Start by taking courses. You might become more committed to one field or another as you progress in college. You may change your mind to another field altogether. Again, you're never really stuck, since you can conceivable stay in college as long as you can afford it, but you certainly want to figure it out before you are half or 3/4's done.

When I was starting college, I felt pretty pressured to choose something right away and stick with it. I did stick with it, and I like it, but even so, looking back I know that I had more options if I wanted to change my mind.

One last point - when choosing the school it is usually good to see which one has a better program in what you are interested. If you are not sure what you want to do, then a school with a strong liberal arts base might be good since it is likely to have decent programs in both. A school with a strong engineering program will be great for both field usually (because even if the biotech major is not under it, it will benefit from the strength of its engineering program).

Hope this helps and good luck.

Answer 2

You normally do not have to declare all your majors and minors upfront. You can start taking classes in your "major" classes but if do not feel like finishing the major, you can just make it a minor. Also it may be little too early to think about this now but if you are certain about a career, such as game developer, you should find out if it requires a major because some employers don't think a minor is adequate, especially in technical fields.

Answer 3

I would suggest to begin with doing a Minor. If you finish all the requirements for your minor and are still interested in taking more classes, then finish up the remaining requirements and change the minor to a double-major. Whatever college you choose to go to, be sure to talk regularly with your academic adviser and he/she will advise you as to how easy/difficult the process is to officially declare a double major, or changing a minor to a double major.

Answer 4

I suggest that if you plan to finish in 4 years, that you do a major/minor. With some combinations, it's possible to do a double major in 4 years, but only with a lot of course that double-count. With your two, I don't think there would be very many. And it would be a lot of work to do it.

Answer 5

I suggest a major/minor, with you majoring in the field you enjoy most.