Double majors / double degree / major minor / accelerated / etc.

[yanshuo]

Originally Posted by patryn33

in US, nothing is impossible. I have to agree with DukeBlue, Departments are very accommodating. So long U can convince the prof teaching the class, U can sit for a special exams and "pass" (pass here don't mean 50% might be 90% depending on Prof) to get those credits transferred

Originally Posted by DukeBlue

Yes, in some schools the rules are just "guidelines." Some of my fellow ABD scholars who are math geniuses took PhD Math classes in their freshmen year(!). They basically bypassed the undergraduate Math requirements entirely, and started doing graduate-level stuff. So I think if you show true merit, the departments might be willing to accommodate you, as it's also in their best interests to have their students be the best they can be.

That's heartening. I will definitely be looking at these options. Thanks for replying, and do post again if you can think of something else that would be useful for us to know

[spencer]

DukeBlue, has there been a significant cut back in BB (eg JPM, Goldman, CS, MS, etc) recruitment for the NY side this year? So what you friends are doing?

[DukeBlue]

spencer: Yes i-banking is heavily cut in the US. A few of my friends still managed to get jobs with Goldman etc; I presume it was harder to get in this year so they must be super-bright. Most others just look for jobs elsewhere that they would not ordinarily have considered: regional banks, Teach For America, and smaller and less famous companies.

A friend explained it to me this way: In a recession, top-tier jobs get more selective, so top-tier students may get pushed down into second-tier jobs, second-tier students get pushed down to third-tier jobs, and so forth until the barely-employable students get pushed down to...having no job (unfotunately). Therefore, a student from any top-10 school is sure to find a job in America if he's not picky about prestige and is willing to accept a job that is one tier below what he would normally get.

[spencer]

Originally Posted by DukeBlue

spencer: Yes i-banking is heavily cut in the US. A few of my friends still managed to get jobs with Goldman etc; I presume it was harder to get in this year so they must be super-bright. Most others just look for jobs elsewhere that they would not ordinarily have considered: regional banks, Teach For America, and smaller and less famous companies.

A friend explained it to me this way: In a recession, top-tier jobs get more selective, so top-tier students may get pushed down into second-tier jobs, second-tier students get pushed down to third-tier jobs, and so forth until the barely-employable students get pushed down to...having no job (unfotunately). Therefore, a student from any top-10 school is sure to find a job in America if he's not picky about prestige and is willing to accept a job that is one tier below what he would normally get.

Wow getting into Goldman is very impressive indeed, I presume it's front office (like M&A, or S&T rather than operations). This year is really hard pressed, I know of friends who got offers from BarCap, and another one from Citi. The rest are just internships at CS, MS, JPM, one at UBS, one at BNPP, not too sure about DB. Quant side is doing slightly better. Tech remains very simple, with most almost all of my friends who applied got in. I know people at LSE are just piling into the consultancies like Booz & Co, because they can. The engineering/maths/physics guys are having a easier time than those doing econs/finance (other non-hard core subjects) of course. [EDIT: I just notice that you are doing econs so I better take my comment back...)

But defintiely, no more like 10+ offers from investment banks like last time. (A friend of mine 2 years ago got 12 offers for M&A, every bank except Goldman and MS. )

Teach for America?! Gosh!

[groovy_newborn]

Hi, im new here
just want to ask does anyone know unis that offers double degree (BA and BEng), especially looking for those that have political science/international relations or other similar programs for the BA, and Mechanical /Aerospace engineering for the BEng. I only know of Lehigh cos they explicitly have it on their website. Anyone know bout other unis?

[redsky1302]

Perhaps you might want to explore other interdisciplinary options besides double degrees. I'm not familiar with the US universities, so I'll just share some info in UK universities.

For example, you might want to take a look at oxford's engineering, economics and management (EEM) course. It offers a professional MEng degree while giving you pretty decent knowledge of econs and management (or "business" as they call it in sg).

I believe some cambridge engineers also opt to graduate after their 3rd year with a BA in Engineering (as opposed to the MEng if they had stayed for all 4 years) and take the management studies tripos in their 4th year. Don't know what they graduate with though.

For imperial, there are the Engineering with Management options which are listed in the undergraduate courses section of their website.

I know I didn't really bring in political science specifically, but I hope you get my point.

[DukeBlue]

Originally Posted by groovy_newborn

just want to ask does anyone know unis that offers double degree (BA and BEng), especially looking for those that have political science/international relations or other similar programs for the BA, and Mechanical /Aerospace engineering for the BEng.

In the US, double majors are really common, the main issue I think is Aero Eng--not every uni offers those. My advice is check which schools have Aero Eng and then check if they have polsci/IR, and then if they let you double major. Checking in that order will probably save you the most time.

[spencer]

Navier-Stokes!

[sputnikmuffin]

So, wait, just let me get this straight right...you decide on doing a double major or degree AFTER you get in right? Are there any special requirements you have to fulfill to take double degree? Or do you simply indicate your interest?

[DukeBlue]

@sputnikmuffin: Yes--at least in the US. In the US you "get into" the school itself, not into any particular department. So you're free to switch majors or even double major within that school. Just note that in many US universities, such as Duke, the "Engineering School*" is separate from the "Everything Else School*". If you're an Engineer, it's generally easy to second-major in something from the "Everything Else School". But if someone from the "Everything Else School" wants to major in Engineering, he has to transfer to the Engineering school and be an Engineer, then second-major in the non-Engine subject.
Incidentally, it doesn't matter exactly which is your first or second major, purely an aesthetic difference only.

*The exact name will, naturally, vary.