Dual majors?

[Matt Adams]

Originally Posted by mtrawls

Like I said, the "toughness" of double or triple majoring depends on what you did during high school. Me, my high school schedule was "insane," so my college one won't have to be.

As a heads up, which I think every college student on these boards will echo... but no matter how fantastic your high school was... it's nothing compared to college. Period.

Hard work and good time management skills are great assets, but they're not going to make it so you won't have to work hard, or even work significantly less. I myself came into college with nearly 32 credits... thinking things wouldn't be so bad.

The AP classes in high school just replace the easy, introductory classes in college where a lot of help is provided for freshman. What makes college what it is, is the projects that require 80 hours of group work, not the 4 hours of calc homework you do each week. I too took Diff Eq as a freshman, and it was a big reality check for me. Instead of getting the whole college environment gradually set in, you're set up in classes with a lot of non-freshman who know a lot of the tricks of the trade, and you're behind the eight ball sometimes... be ready, and good luck!

Matt

[ngreen]

Yeah, high school by no means is a measure of college. Add in the whole new trying to figure things out your freshman year and throwing yourself into an intensive schedule and your putting yourself in a not great place. Coming back from winter break my floor lost around 10 guys and most were in engineering curriculum (like the math and science). That is how I got my own room.

[Mr. Lim]

Originally Posted by Matt Adams

As a heads up, which I think every college student on these boards will echo... but no matter how fantastic your high school was... it's nothing compared to college. Period.

Hard work and good time management skills are great assets, but they're not going to make it so you won't have to work hard, or even work significantly less. I myself came into college with nearly 32 credits... thinking things wouldn't be so bad.

The AP classes in high school just replace the easy, introductory classes in college where a lot of help is provided for freshman. What makes college what it is, is the projects that require 80 hours of group work, not the 4 hours of calc homework you do each week. I too took Diff Eq as a freshman, and it was a big reality check for me. Instead of getting the whole college environment gradually set in, you're set up in classes with a lot of non-freshman who know a lot of the tricks of the trade, and you're behind the eight ball sometimes... be ready, and good luck!

Matt

I transferred in about half that number of APs, and overloaded my schedule the first three years in University. I'd have to say my highschool prepared me extremely well, and I'm probably the exception in saying my 4 years of university were less difficult than my 4 years of highschool, but that isn't to say I disagree with what you're saying.

Especially the last paragraph in "getting the whole college environment gradually set in" as opposed to baptism by fire and being left behind.

If you're an overachiever, like most FIRST students are, there is a fair amount of potential to get burned by this. Believe it or not, my solution was to join a fraternity. I had no intention of doing so initially, but I scoped out greek life, and found the fraternity that worked the hardest, and got the best grades... and they also happend to be the fraternity that partied the hardest too, so it was a match made in heaven =).

As a Freshman, I was in mostly sophmore classes, as a sophomore, I was in junior and senior level classes. I always had upperclassmen fraternity brothers in all my classes to help me along the way - it was great because I don't think I could've even MET upperclassmen students while living in the dorms, let alone become good enough friends that I could depend on them and vice-versa.

Being the lone freshmen in a sophmore class SUCKS, especially when everyone knows each other already, and you get stuck with the dregs in the form of a craptacular lab-partner. But, I was never stuck with a weak lab partner, or with terrible group members since a fraternity brother was always there. Nor were there any classes or professors that a fraternity brother hadn't already seen before. There were no surprises... ever .

It seems a little backwards, but the fraternity really made it possible to be an academic over-achiever at my university. It's like having the deck stacked in your favour of being guaranteed the smartest lab partners and groups, no matter how far ahead in the field you are. Find yourself in a 200, 300 or 400 level class as a freshmen? No problem... I guess just as long as you pick the right fraternity =).

[Matt Adams]

Originally Posted by Lisa Perez

I'm ending my junior year and will begin applying to college soon. While looking up information, I found that a majority of my top choices do not offer dual majors for aerospace engineering and business management. I am curious - what colleges do offer this option?

Lisa-

Something that I would first ask myself... why do you want to major in those two fields? What career are you looking to find?

I'll take a stab that you have an interest in working with people and leading groups, but also feel like you would like to aquire a strong technical background to support your management so you're not managing a bunch of paper-pushers in an office somewhere.

The truth of the mater, as best I can tell, is that management skills (in general) are something that you can aquire over time. You're not going to be hired into any sort of aerospace industry and put into a management position on the spot. It's something that you'll only get with time, talent, and a bit of luck.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the reason you're having trouble finding schools with this comibination is because they're not closely related. They're two very different worlds. I'd be impressed to find a school with reputable programs in each that would get you out in less than 11 semesters. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

What I'd suggest is that you get a management minor. This shows that you have the education to get those management positions when they open up, and makes you more qualified than those without this minor. I think this is the edge you're really looking for. If you're smart, and depending on which school you attend, you should be able to get out in 4 years without any trouble.

Good luck!

Matt

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by Matt Adams

What I'd suggest is that you get a management minor. This shows that you have the education to get those management positions when they open up, and makes you more qualified than those without this minor. I think this is the edge you're really looking for. If you're smart, and depending on which school you attend, you should be able to get out in 4 years without any trouble.

To piggyback on Matt, an MBA would be even better then a minor. Like Matt said, even if you find a place with both good aerospace and good business, you're looking at quite a bit more time in college. For that extra time, you're better off getting one bachelors and one advanced degree, such as an MBA.

Also, what specifically attracts you to Aerospace? Is there something you want to do that can't be done with a straight ME degree (or ME with an option for aerospace, like we have here at RIT).

[Aaron Knight]

I believe my school (Syracuse University, http://www.syr.edu) offers such an option. Pretty much they'll let you major in anything you want as long as you pay for all of the credits... and unfortunately, the engineering core usually has way different requirements than any business core.

I am currently a dual major between Computer Science (Eng. and Comp. Sci. college) and History (Arts & Sci.) - but I believe that you can cross between as many as you want if you talk to people in the appropriate dean's offices.

[Lisa Perez]

Yes, I suppose it would be in my best interest if I did not overload my schedule with two majors - especially because I want to continue FIRST through mentorship .

I appreciate all of the first-hand college accounts - it's great to have a heads-up on how crammed college can get. Also, knowing which programs do offer dual majors helps as well.

I guess I wanted to dual major in these two fields just because I have such an affinity to both manage and work as an aerospace design engineer. I do not think I could live without one or the other - so I'm glad to hear that I can accomplish both my goals by getting a major in engineering and an MBA.