(hopefully) useful for: CMU undergraduate students curious about getting more major(s)
For more specific and up-to-date information and requirements, inquire with your / the relevant academic advisor.
Outline
- Your buffet of options for academic pursuit
- Double-majoring: Getting an additional major vs. a dual degree
- Feasibility
- Flexibility in changing your mind
- Recommended considerations
- Me
- Additional resources
“I just want to do MORE academic things.”
You’re not limited to just getting more major(s), although you’re certainly welcome to do so.
See your many formalized academic options as an undergraduate student here, including getting a 5th-year masters or a salad of minors:
There are also many less formalized/structured options for academic pursuit, such as:
- Doing research: like through a CMU-supported summer research program, as part of your thesis for college honors, or just to explore different interest areas
- Participating in a myriad of competitions: like hackathons, the Putnam Competition, and many others
This section is just to provide some possibilities otherwise outside the scope of this document. You’re swimming in choice to appease academic appetite, so pick and choose whatever fits you best!
“I still want to get another major. I want to double major!”
Erm. CMU doesn’t have “double majors,” because it has…additional majors and dual degrees! (If you thought the whole units vs. credits terminology was confusing, I up you with this.)
“What the- What’s the difference between an additional major and a dual degree?”
In terms of what you get, an additional major will add a bonus line to your diploma (aka 1 diploma with both your primary & additional major listed), whereas a dual degree will get you 2 diplomas (aka 1 for each of your majors).
“Okay, so it’s more prestigious to get a dual degree. Let’s go then!”
Well no, not really. There are 0 practical differences between the two in terms of applying to jobs or anything external post-graduation. Everyone (except some CMU admin) will just lump both under a “double-majoring” umbrella, especially since this bifurcation isn’t standard at other institutions.
“Are the requirements different at least?”
Yes; it’s much harder to get a dual degree versus an additional major.
For an additional major, you just need to:
- Complete the major-specific requirements for your 2nd major
For a dual degree, you’ll need to:
- Complete the major-specific requirements for your 2nd major
- Complete the core curriculum (think: general education requirements) of the school your 2nd major belongs to
- Complete 90 free units (essentially raises the minimum number of units required for graduation by 90)
The first requirement is the same across both, and you might naturally collect 90 free units (likelihood rises with amount of AP/transfer credit), but completing the entire core curriculum of another program can be nigh impossible (and vastly unnecessary). Of course, if both of your majors are within the same school (e.g., both under MCS), this requirement is automatically satisfied. Otherwise, it’s absolutely pointless to attempt.
“Why would anyone even want a dual degree then???”
If you coincidentally fulfill the dual degree requirements upon completing an additional major, why not? You’ll get a bonus piece of paper, some personal satisfaction, and very niche bragging rights. This generally applies if you 1) have a lot of AP/transfer credit, and 2) are completing both majors under the same school.
The flow chart is simple: Get an additional major. If doing so automatically meets the dual degree requirements, get the dual degree. Otherwise, don’t bother. It’s just not worth it.
“Let’s say I want to get an additional major. How feasible is this?”
Bureaucratically, there’s very little stopping you. CMU has very low barriers for cross-disciplinary majors/minors/course-taking. You’ll just have to run this by your primary advisor as well as the advisor of your additional program, though the exact protocol may vary by major.
Practically, generally speaking, “it is possible to fulfill the requirements of both majors in four years by taking the course requirements of the second major in the elective spaces allowed by the first major” (“Additional Majors/Dual Degrees”). It is definitely viable to get an additional major (it will fit somewhat snugly into your schedule), but getting more than 1 additional major is a feat of head-scratching proportions (personally I haven’t seen anyone do this).
Workload-wise, how hard it is to get an additional major depends on 1) the rigor of the major in question and 2) how much overlap your majors have with each other so that you can double-count some courses.
“What if I no longer want to get an additional major, can I change my mind?”
Yes, very easily. It’s not a binding contract even if you officially declare a second major, and you can easily backtrack after communicating with your advisor(s). Depending on what you’ve already taken, you might even have completed enough of the requirements to get a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) instead of a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), or at least achieved a minor if not the major. Regardless of how far along you are or why you want to stop, many students find themselves changing their planned major(s)/minor(s), and you are very supported in doing so.
Please, feel free to change your mind as your academic journey evolves.
“I know I can get an additional major, but should I get one?”
It depends.
Pursuing an additional major may offer a nicely structured roadmap for holistically covering another subject while offering a formal recognition of completion. However, there are also many repercussions to consider.
Keep in mind that trying to get an additional major in an entirely unrelated field may very well eat up almost all of your elective spaces. This greatly restricts your ability to pursue potentially interesting courses that don’t necessarily fall under a specific major requirement. It also leaves little room for error should something go awry, as your schedule becomes less flexible with less elective spaces.
If this is a matter of skill acquisition, you can (more often than not) learn a specific skill set by completing relevant courses without going so far as to get an entire major. I’d go further to say that if you want a lot of depth in a specific area, the higher level (e.g., graduate-level) courses may not even be part of a major requirement, but still end up being massively helpful for learning.
In general, I’d recommend pursuing your interests and prioritizing individual courses over degree structures. And well, if interest and major requirements stay aligned throughout your time at CMU, then why not?
“Who even are you?”
XD For your reference, I graduated with a dual degree in Policy & Management (main interest area) and Chemistry (just for funsies). Yes, I chose a dual degree because I automatically fulfilled the requirements after completing the additional major requirements. No, that’s no longer possible since the interdisciplinary program that allowed for a central set of core requirements has been discontinued.
Now onto some lingering thoughts. I guess this is where the author’s note goes…
I would say that my “4-year plan” spreadsheet of planned courses, which I started the summer before entering CMU, changed every semester since as I found more things to add or figured out interests after taking certain courses. It really drilled home to me that “No matter how much you plan, it’s bound to change.” So plan away (after all, spreadsheets are fun), but expect and embrace all the inevitable detours.
CMU offers so many interesting courses, and I highly encourage you to try them. I’ve always liked film photography so I took Black & White I. “Human Intelligence and Human Stupidity” piqued my interest from the course name alone—how could I resist? And after playing a rogue in games for so long, I took a lockpicking STUCO. I genuinely feel like “If you try to do what you enjoy doing, you’ll always end up doing what you enjoy doing,” and it is my hope that you will find intrinsic joy in your academic pursuits. Be ambitiously happy.
Additional Resources
“Specifically, I want to get another major in Computer Science.” See: “So You Want To Transfer to SCS”