Hi
I am a high school senior going into my local university next year. I have done many CLEP and AP tests and have done classes at a local community college this semester and will be doing more in the summer. In sum, I will be entering university in my first year as a standing junior with just under 80 college credits.
I’ve done a lot of research regarding the specific university that I am going to go to and I’ve boiled down my major choices to two paths. I really want some outside advise to help me have a better perspective about which path to take.
Some preliminary info: my primary major will be Accountancy. Because of how many credits I have, I want to graduate in three years and then do the Master’s program at the local university in my fourth year (that way I can take advantage of the scholarship they are giving me). Also, I am not too keen on minors or certificates, because I think a full-on major is more advantageous.
So here are the two paths:
Option 1.
Double major in Accountancy and Actuarial Science
Pros:
- Actuarial Science is a super legit major and will make me lots of money if I so choose that route
- If I don’t choose a career in Actuarial Science it is a good fall back option during hard times
- I like applied mathematics and that is what Actuarial Science is all about
Cons:
- Accountancy and Actuarial Science are in two difference colleges within the university with different graduation requirements so I have to do extra “general” classes to adjust. I will have to overload a few semesters and do courses over the summer between by first and second years in college.
- Actuarial Science is intense
- I don’t want to get a career in Actuarial Science
Option 2.
This might seem crazy: Quadruple major in Accountancy, Supply Chain Management, Computer Information Systems, and Business Data Analytics. Instead of Supply Chain Management, I might do regular Management (it’s a lighter load and perhaps more practical).
Pros:
- Lots of majors that coincide with each other
- Not as math intensive, but there is still a nice amount of math
- Practical computer stuff
- All these majors are in the business college so I don’t have to do any extra classes. I did my research and with this plan and the credits I will have before college I don’t ever have to overload or take summer classes after this summer.
- I get to say I am quadruple majoring
Cons:
- None of the other majors are as legit as Actuarial Science
- Not as concentrated as the first path
- Maybe this is too “business-y” for me, I’m not too sure
It’s not a matter about “if” I can do any of these options, I know I can (working really hard before college is helping me out a lot). Rather, I just want some different viewpoints on the two options. I like to be as open-minded as I can so I’ll entertain any alternative suggestions as well.
Thank you very much for your advice!
If I were you I would go for option 2. You don’t have to overload and you get to say you’re quadruple majoring. That’s frickin cool
Why do you think so? Second majors generally aren’t useful, as most employers will be looking to hire you for one thing (based on one major), and the other major will not help you, though it won’t necessarily hurt, either. This is especially true if you plan on completing a Master’s, as whatever area you specialize in for the Master’s degree will be more important than your undergraduate majors. Furthermore, if you plan to do a Master’s, it might be more useful to choose one major, then take additional upper-level courses in that department to improve your odds for gaining entry to the graduate program. That said, a double major in Actuarial Science and Accounting is not a bad idea if it will not require you to spend a longer time on the degree and if you want to have a backup option, like you said.
It seems crazy because it is. Collecting majors is like collecting rocks: it might be personally satisfying to you, but it’s of little real value (and you can’t sell your major collection on eBay when you’re in need of cash!). Everything I said above about 2 majors largely holds true for any number of majors. Nobody cares if you double, triple, or quadruple majored. Employers will be looking to hire you for one thing, not four. On occasion, some combinations of 2 majors can be useful if they are in very different areas and add overall depth to the degree for jobs in an interdisciplinary field where intimate knowledge of two disparate areas can be useful. But 2 or 3 or 4 majors in which the course requirements are so similar that you wouldn’t have to take extra classes to complete them all? What’s the point? What does major 2 or 3 or 4 really add to major 1? Not much, in this case. At best, having multiple majors won’t help you. At worst, it can make you seem like an indecisive jack of all trades and master of none.
However, all of this is getting away from the most important piece of advice, which is: stop worrying about it! It’s good that you care about your future, that you’ve done some planning, and that you’ve done some research. But you don’t need to have it all figured out right away. Choose one major. Start college. Get a feel for what the college workload is actually like, figure out whether you would really even benefit from having an additional major or whether it would actually be feasible, then make changes as necessary. Generally, the advice given here is that you don’t have to major (or minor) in everything that interests you; you can major in one thing and just take electives in the other areas. It’s oftentimes the most practical and useful solution.
First of all, it will likely not actually be possible to quadruple major. Just because they’re all in the business college doesn’t mean you won’t have to do extra classes; although those majors overlap, they don’t overlap enough that you wouldn’t have to take crazy classes. Many colleges don’t accept CLEP towards major requirements - they’ll only count towards GE and electives. Supply chain management actually has a lot of stats/math principles in it and, depending on the college, some IE/OR coursework. And being able to say you’re quadruple majoring isn’t a good thing; to employers it’ll signal that you can’t make decisions and settle on something, and/or that you put in unnecessary effort for little gain.
Personally, I think you should just major in accounting/accountancy. You can take a couple of extra classes in some of the other fields if you are interested to gain some skills that could be useful. There’s also nothing wrong with minoring, so if you wanted you could minor in one of those fields. Although if you don’t want a career in actuarial science, why would you minor in it?
Go for accounting major and see if you can fit EITHER scm OR actuarial science into your 4-year plan. Since you’ll get advanced standing, that may be doable.
Don’t forget to take classes for learning’s sake here and there, too. Those will likely be the ones you’ll remember with the fondest memory when you’re an adult.