I was wondering about double majoring - I don’t really think I understand it that well, to be honest
I’m not positive that I want to do a double major (I’ve seen the warnings), but I’d like to understand it better, at least.
I’m interested in the Central European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (CERES) major, as well as the Government and Politics major (GVPT). I was accepted into Letters and Sciences (I applied undecided), but I’m actually considering emailing admissions and asking to be considered for the CERES major.
Anyways, I’ve seen a lot of threads related to double/triple majors and one point that is often brought up is “overlapping requirements”. I’d like clarification about that (to make sure I actually understand it?)
On the CERES UMD website, (http://www.ceres.umd.edu/requirements.htm) and they give a list of approved courses that count towards the major's requirements (besides gen ed courses and foreign language). There are several GVPT courses on that list, so does that mean that those courses would count towards both the CERES and GVPT major requirements?
Also (this is kind of unrelated), what exactly do the terms "benchmark requirements" and "gateway requirements" mean? I was looking at some of the 4 year plans on the UMD website and those were terms that kept coming up. I think I understand the terms but I'm not actually too sure.
"To begin the process of changing to, or adding a major in, the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences:
Visit the department of your major to discuss the major requirements with a department advisor and to obtain the change/addition of major form or LEP application.
Register for an academic planning workshop, by going to the BSOS Workshops website.
Submit your academic plan and change/addition of major form to the Advising Center.
Once your plan is reviewed and approved, your major will be changed/added. You can find out the approximate review time for plans/major changes when you submit your paperwork."
The benchmarks are to measure progress on staying on track to earning your degree in each major, at the end of each semester or a certain amount of credits taken (30, 45, 60).
Yes, they’re in two different colleges. I wasn’t aware that people would have to go through a workshop, but I’m glad I know more about it now. Thanks for the help!
GOVT is also Limited Enrollment Program (LEP). Check out what is needed to be allowed into the GOVT major. http://www.umd.edu/catalog/index.cfm/show/content.section/c/1/s/119
If you start as CERES, certain prerequisites and GPA may be needed to be allowed to have a GOVT major as well. Definitely contact admissions and each college on how to coordinate a double major and which prereqs to take first.
@Hippobirdy Thanks! I was looking at some of the 4-year plans on the UMD website, and I was getting kinda overwhelmed by all the information - the link that you provided is straightforward and much easier to process.
And yes, I’ve seen the prerequisites for entering the GVPT program - I can clear some of the prerequisites through AP credit so hopefully that’ll help a tiny bit.
I wanted to start as CERES because they offer some Slavic languages for people who are in the program (but it has to be coordinated with the program director), which I’m interested in doing - it seems that if I start as a GVPT major, I can’t do that and instead I’d have to take German or Russian before transferring. I may have misunderstood that, though. I see now that I need to think this through a lot more and see if this is actually doable.
Is it actually ok for me to ask admissions or the specific colleges about that - even though I’m still in high school and I’m not technically enrolled at UMD yet? Do you have any suggestions for what I should say or include in the email?
Sorry for all the questions, but thank you so much for your help!
Government and politics is LEP, it would be ideal to be admitted as an entering freshman. Starting in CERES might not allow you to qualify to apply to GVPT.
What you have said here will work, you can send e-mails to BOSS and to ARHU. It may take five or six years to get two majors.
@Hippobirdy Hmm, yeah I should’ve applied to GVPT initially - instead of undecided, ugh. But I think I’ll have to really have think this whole thing over. But thanks for all your help - I have a better idea of the situation, now
@maryversity I said I don’t know if I want to do a double major, I just wanted to understand it better. And neither GVPT nor CERES are offered as a minor, so that’s why I never considered that.
I know I’m still in HS so I still have way too much time before I should even be thinking about pursuing a double major, haha. I’ll just forget the idea of a double major, I think I should probably do something else. Maybe I’ll think about minoring in a foreign language instead and hopefully find a part time job or internship or something like that. Thanks for your input
@Vctory Not really any that will help. As of right now, I can clear one Academic Writing course (AP Lang) for Gen Ed and a GVPT course (AP NSL), if I actually decide to do that major - but I think all of the others I have taken & passed/will take would only clear out electives. If I took more AP classes (and passed) a double major may have been more feasible, but yeah, I realize that I actually have to be realistic and not overly ambitious, lol. I may just try out a language minor b/c I like foreign languages - I think that will be more manageable
