Considering a Double Major? Read This.

Double majoring can be a strategic and affordable way to get the most out of your college education. In fact, research shows that pursuing a double major almost always predicts greater earnings than pursuing a single major alone.

US News recently spoke to experts on what college applicants need to know about double majors, and how students can effectively plan their career early on.

TYPICAL REQUIREMENTS

A typical bachelor’s degree consists of about 120 credit hours. A double major can usually also be accomplished within those 120 hours.

Typically, universities allow for students who are double majoring to take courses that would potentially count towards both majors.

“When students are looking for a second major, that’s the kind of thing they might want to look for so they’re not spending extra semesters in class,” Neil Ralston, a journalism professor and academic adviser at Lindenwood University in Missouri, tells US News.

CONSIDER THE INVESTMENT

A double major, while rewarding, isn’t for everyone. Double majors typically are best for students trying to develop a new skill or open up doors to more employees. Taking the double major approach, experts warn, will require extra work.

“So they have to really think, ‘What are you getting out of this?’” Colleen Paparella, founder of DC College Counseling, a college admissions counseling firm, tells US News. “If it’s going to require you to stay an extra year or extra semester, what’s the return on that investment, and is it worth it? Sometimes it’s not.”

“If there is a downside to double majoring, it’s energy, stress and time in your young early-career moment,” Conor Williams, an education researcher and writer who majored in government and Spanish while at Bowdoin College in Maine, tells US News. “Frankly, that’s when you have the energy, so why not invest heavily? Why not do the extra major when you’re young and can handle staying up late and getting a little bit of extra work done? It’s going to be a lot harder to pick up those skills in your 40s.”

WAIT UNTIL SOPHOMORE YEAR TO DECLARE

While some colleges allow applicants to declare a double major during the application season, experts recommend waiting until after you’ve started college to declare.

“What you think a certain career is going to be like when you’re a teenager might be so different from what that actual career is like, for better and worse,” Paparella says.

Sources: US News, Columbia Economic Review