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Too much work?
I'm going to college next year for mechanical engineering, which requires about 100-something credits to graduate.
However, I've been thinking about double-majoring in Psychology. I think this takes 60ish credits.
Is this POSSIBLE or MANAGEABLE? What is the workload usually like for each course? How much studying and stuff does each usually take?
I already have some AP credits (in AB calc and psych). And I'm fairly used to doing shitloads of work (I go to a good high school and currently take 8 fairly challenging classes). I know that high school is pretty different from college, I'm just saying I'm not a slacker and I'm used to nerdy competition for high grades.
Anyway, do you think that I can manage all of this (AND still have a social life) ? Or is it just impossible?
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I wouldn't plan to do it within the span of 4 years, but if you wanted to double major in 5-6 you could do it easily.
You don't need anything to interfere with engineering. Trust me, I was looking into Mechanical, Aerospace, and Electrical areas, and no matter what you go into there's a ton of support courses like advanced calculus that will kick your ass if you don't have the time and energy to devote to them.
Plus, the first year of engineering is usually designed to flunk out people who aren't dead serious about pursuing it. I didn't flunk, but I wasn't serious enough to get better than Bs and Cs, so I moved on to other subjects of greater interest.
For engineering, take everything you've heard about college and throw it out the window. The coursework will become your life, and if you intend to do well is going to be far more than a 40 hour a week commitment.
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The problem that you would have is the difference between the two subjects.
Engineering tends to be more class and lab based - you spend about 40 hours a week in classes. Social sciences, like Psychology, are mostly reading and essay based, so a major would usually have about 15 hours of class weekly. Thing is, they have fewer classes because of the massive amounts of reading to do.
You won't get any allowances as a double major. You'll be expected to do the 20 hours of reading a week that comes with psychology, and the 30-40 hours of class work that comes with engineering.
If you were to minor in psych, then you might find it more manageable, since most engineering programs offer electives.
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For every hour you take, most colleges recommend you study about 3-4 hours outside of the class. Usually taking 15 hours per semester is about average, so that is 45 hours per week of studying right there. Obviously it depends on the college you go to, if its easier then maybe you wont have to study as much.
Taking more than 15 hours will be very difficult but still doable, but taking more than 20 hours per semester i would say is near impossible. Most people who double major are majoring in 2 things that require similar classes but need a few more to get the second degree. Psych and mechanical engineering are not going to require hardly any of the same classes except probably the basics. So yes, you could double major in these two unrelated fields, but dont expect to finish college in four years. That would probably take about 6 years I'm guessing. Financially, it wouldn't be worth it.
Also keep in mind that the average college student changes their major 3 times in college, so you don't have to decide anything now. Keep your grades up so its easier for you to change your major.
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