kmhuether

So, I'm pretty set on double majoring in Economics and French, which I know I could do. I've looked at the requirements and it definately would not be impossible. I'm also very interested in Philosophy courses, etc. If I don't major in Economics, there's an Economics and Mathematics major I'm interested in...

all that being said, do some people go on a "five year track." I'm doing my Independent senior project at a hospital, observing surgeries and assisting in the ER, and I'm now considering pre med.
Would double majoring and doing pre med be impossible at Barnard?
I'll be walking in with about 24 AP credits but I think those can only fulfull the QUA and LAN and elective requirements, which doesn't help me as I understand

Please correct me if i'm wrong

mardad

As you wrote double majors are quite common at Barnard. There was only one triple major this year. There are a number of young women who opt for an additional year after graduation to complete premed requirements.

kmhuether

Thanks, that was very helpful

A Persona

There's also the possibility of declaring a "special major." These majors don't really fit into a specific department but unite several areas in a more complex program. The benefit of such a major is that you may not have to complete strict double-major requirements. If you want a little more flexibility, I would recommend the Political Economy track of the Economics major, which allows the integration of Philosophy and various social science courses through the process of 'linking' (see the Barnard Econ website).

As for arranging your schedule so as to fit in two non-science majors and pre-med, it may be possible if you are very careful about which classes you take to fulfill the nine ways of knowing. This year's triple major was someone majoring in Dance, Physics, and Mathematics.

kmhuether

Thanks for your input. I saw a major also with economics and mathematics that interested me. But Pre med is alot of extra sciences, so I guess I'll just have to figure it out.

Do summer sessions help alot>?

A Persona

I understand the Econ major a lot better than I do pre-med requirements, so I can give you some useful links.

First, the Columbia bulletin describes every summer class being offered this year: CU Directory of Classes (it's not working well tonight because of some technical issues.) I know some people do them but they tend to conflict with internships, so a lot of people prefer to avoid them. Also, if cost is a concern, summer classes tend to get pricy.

Economics & Mathematics is a sort of joint major. It is meant for people who are essentially double-majors in Econ and Math but don't want to take such a huge amount of classes. It requires only a couple of classes more than the usual Economics major, but the requirements are pretty different. In reality, it is not really a track like the other 3. It is a unique major that contains both the Economics and Mathematics cores.

You can find more information about the major requirements here: Economics and Mathematics Major

Note, you can click the four dimensions to get detailed descriptions of the requirement. By the way, this site: Program Planning in Economics has links to similar explanations for all four Economics tracks.

This link has the commencement program, which lists every single major this year's graduates completed:Commencement 2009 - Barnard College . Note that there was one person who double-majored in Economics & Mathematics and Physics. There were also plenty of joint program, double majors, teaching certification, etc. graduates. It's a good place to look for ideas on what has been done.

Languages are really popular as minors, too. If being pre-med is a priority because you want to go into health administration or policy, then that's certainly something worth considering.