Hello, I’m highly thinking about double majoring in university. The subjects I would like to do this in are Biology and History. What good schools would you suggest that are relatively easy to dual major at, have good programs in these subjects? Currently I’m considering Northwestern and Cornell, thoughts? (Also I’m not looking at Harvard or the other uber-extreme-selective-colleges)
At schools with an open curriculum, like Amhert, Grinnell and Brown, it may be easier to double-major.
Here is a page with a list of schools with completely open curriculum, as well as another list of schools with more or less open curriculum. A lot of LACs:
@NavalTradition Thank you. So Brown would be the best choice?
Brown has great history and biology (and just about everything else) departments and virtually no core/gen-ed requirements, so it would make a high quality double major easy to do.
Use this list with caution. For example, St. John’s College has a core curriculum (“great books”) that is the entire curriculum. Rochester requires at least three courses in each of humanities, social studies, and science.
Grinnell is not truly open either, since it effectively requires breadth courses due to the limitation on the number of courses in any one subject and any division (humanities, social studies, or science), though it is flexible enough to make it relatively easy to take courses for two majors without other requirements getting in the way.
The schools in the link in post 1 appear to be an almost random mix with both schools with open curricula and highly structured (St. John’s, to a lesser extent, Reed) curricula included in at least the second part of it. Schools with actual open curricula are missing from the first part of it.
Nonetheless, the suggestion of looking into schools with flexible curricula is appropriate for you.
Thank you both @ucbalumnus @merc81 for informing me of these inaccuracies. @NavalTradition I only have 3.84 so I think I may not qualify, but if I do apply , do I only apply to the university or to the individual colleges if its their policy? Also are there any other good alternatives?
Sorry, I don’t understand the question. Would you mind rephrasing?
“do you only apply to the university or to the individual colleges . . . ?”
If you are referring to Cornell, or similarly structured universities, you would decide on a school and your application will be evaluated primarily by that school’s committee, I believe. You sound like an Arts and Sciences candidate based on your interests.
For a school with an open curriculum that is very strong in biology and history, consider Hamilton.
@NavalTradition Sorry for the miscommunication. I was trying to ask if you apply to the College you want to attend , or to the broader university at Brown? Like for Cornell you apply to the individual college.
[QUOTE=""]
My intended major is biology for pre-med.
[/QUOTE]
Why are you double majoring if you’re premed? If you love history, then be a history premed major. Don’t complicate things and jeopardize your GPA by double majoring.
At Brown, you just apply to Brown. Likewise with the LACs on the list. Not every institution of higher learning is as confusing as Cornell is. 
@mom2collegekids I really love history and science. I realize higher education does not treat people with more than one interest well, but once again I love history. I guess I’ll just do history. But my current schedule and extracurriculars are focused on Science, and with the emphasis on EC’s I dont know if colleges will understand why such a passionate science student is applying as a history major.
Applying “as a major” is often not an official part of the application process. Though you may be asked at an early stage to state your tentative interests, at many, and possibly most, schools you will still be able to select from all majors later.
For pre-med, this list is not a bad source for schools which are generally supportive of their medical school aspirants (available online): “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs.”
Schools are quite aware that many students with STEM-oriented transcripts/ECs love history enough to major in it or vice versa. Not unusual at all. (That’s why 40% of pre-meds, for example, are not science majors.) And what makes you think higher education doesn’t like people to double major? On the contrary, the ‘hot ticket’ these days is to find the intersection between subjects. These ‘hybrids’ are appearing informally at colleges all over the country - and being formalized in some places. Stanford, for example, has explicitly created an entire range of comp sci+humanities double majors. So, FinelyAgedPruno, you are adrift in the Zeitgeist…enjoy the ride.
Colleges won’t care if you have a “science interest” and apply as a history major. Most colleges just admit to the school, regardless of major chosen.
If you’re serious about going to med school (and realize that 75% of premeds get weeded out), then don’t handicapp yourself and risk a “lesser GPA” by double majoring.
Is there more than one person using this account? In some posts you say that you’re attending a top high school. In another you say that you’re attending a lowly ranked high school. In some posts it appears that you’re on a gap year, and in another you’re still in HS.
Sometimes my cousin goes on here. To address the high school thing I do go to one of the best high schools in the country according to US News, but I get frustrated with it regarding many things; like in that post about transferring I dont do it justice, but it is relatively bad in comparison to the other school. @mom2coIIegekids
If you want useful suggestions – instead of everyone simply throwing out their favorite schools (or selectively chosen online lists that contain their favored schools) – you need to provide your basic stats (GPA, test scores, class rank, APs/IBs/rigor of course load, etc.) and some preference in what you’re looking for in terms of size, location, setting, financial or merit aid needed, and so on.
There are many colleges, dozens if not hundreds, that are very strong in both biology and history and would be terrific options, so you have to narrow it down.
Be aware that Cornell and Northwestern are extremely selective. Over the years I’ve seen cases of people getting rejected by Cornell but admitted by Harvard; it’s not as uncommon as you’d think. Once you dip below a 10% admit rate (or arguably 15%), admissions can be extremely unpredictable.
Academic flexibility is one of the defining characteristics of the American college system. It’s pretty common in the US to have a minor or a second major. Some people even double major and minor or triple major, but that’s less common.
CC does not permit people to share accounts. Consider this a warning.
Though this is a good point, it’s perfectly feasible to double major at a wide variety of schools, even those with core curriculums. AP credits for the basic science pre-reqs (intro bio, intro chem, intro physics, calc) would help tremendously, of course.
Agreed. The history of science and medicine is one of the hottest subfields of history right now.
“you need to provide some basic preference . . . in what you are looking for in terms of size, location, setting . . .” (18)
Though the OP has not done this specifically, he has stated that 1) he is looking for schools strong in biology and history 2) may want to double major 3) may pursue a pre-med path and 4) is looking for specific college suggestions, and has implied 5) that he is a generally competitive candidate for selective schools. Most of the advice on this thread has taken these five things into account, often with sourcing, either stated or available upon further inquiry.