Double Major vs Double Degree
There are students not satisfied with pursuing a single degree or a course in a college or university as they have varied interests and the capability to manage two or more subjects at a time. These students complete the requirements of two major or two degrees at the same time getting a double major or a double degree. Many students cannot differentiate between these two terms and thus cannot decide whether they should go for double major or a double degree. This article attempts to throw light on these two terms to enable readers to understand the differences between the two concepts.
Double Major
A double major is a course at the undergraduate or graduate level that leads to a single degree though you may have completed the requirements of two different majors either in the same college or from two different colleges. You can choose to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree from the same college or from different colleges undertaking different major such as sociology and psychology, or history and English. You still get a single BA degree though it is mentioned in the degree that you have done two majors. Different colleges have different requirements of credits for majors.
Major is the core of a course. You can tell others you are doing under graduation in arts or science stream, but it is the major that lets others know your specialization. You can choose to major in English, and you can also choose do your BA with another major such as literature or history to be actually doing BA with two majors. A double major is thus picking up another major inside the same degree. These could be majors closely related to each other or majors that are quite different from one another. However, the majors remain inside the same degree of arts or commerce as the case may be.
Double Degree
As the name implies, a double degree leads to a student getting two degrees. Thus, if a student chooses two majors that belong to different streams such as science and commerce, he is bound to receive a double degree. It all depends upon the interest areas of a student or, more importantly, his career options. If art is what he loves, but he knows his career options are better in science, he can opt to do a double degree that includes majors in science, as well as arts. You are passionate about history or French, but you know that your career takes shape and direction with physics. This is how you end up doing a double degree.
What is the difference between Double Major and Double Degree?
• Double major is taking up two different majors inside the same stream of study such as arts or commerce. A student ends up getting a single art or commerce degree with two different majors, indicating his competence in two different subjects to his prospective employer. A double major can be obtained from one college or two different colleges provided the student fulfills the minimum credit requirements of both majors.
• Double degree is completing the requirements of two different majors belonging to different streams such as art/commerce, or science/ arts, or any other combination. The strident ends up getting two different degrees in lesser time than it would take him to complete both degrees separately as college lowers its requirements.
• Both double major and double degree improve employability and diversity of the student.