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Someone explain this to me


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I think I understand "simple" college.

 

Go to college. Major in accounting. Take beau coop accounting classes and business classes and statistics and other bean-counter type classes, along with the English, math, science,humanities classes the college requires of everyone.

 

Four years later walk across the stage and get a piece of paper that says BA - ACCOUNTING.

 

 

But when it goes from "simple" to "complex" - Major in Accounting and Minor in English Lit, for example.

 

Does it take MORE than four years?

 

Do I graduate with a BA in accounting and a BA in English Lit?

 

Since the English is a MINOR, do I get a BA in accounting but only an AA in English?

 

I've heard the terms - major in this with a minor in that, or doing a double major. I just don't know how it works.

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If you want a double major it could take 5 years worth of credits. I say worth of credits because one who must pay for it himself would do it in four years, one who has rich daddy might take 5.

 

My diplomas don't say what my major or field of concentrations were.

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Just that, it was a minor course of study for you. Often it is a sidebar that is useful to the major. A physics major might minor in math. A geology major might minor in geography. Or, it might be totally unconnected at all just to give some relief. A math major might minor in music or pottery.

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A "minor" can also mean that when you took your "general ed" classes, you took a concentration in another field. Maybe not enough to have a full fledged degree in that field but enough so you were on your way. I have a BA in Business with a minor in Music. My Gen Ed classes were things like Music Theory, Literature, Composition etc.

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A "minor" can also mean that when you took your "general ed" classes, you took a concentration in another field. Maybe not enough to have a full fledged degree in that field but enough so you were on your way. I have a BA in Business with a minor in Music. My Gen Ed classes were things like Music Theory, Literature, Composition etc.

Exactly. I majored in English lit and minored in philosophy. Had I done it the other way around, I'd be able to think deep thoughts about being unemployed.

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My Sheepskin has BA Engineering ( ME ) and minor Computer Science. Of course computers were windup toys at that time in space and an apple was something that grew on trees.

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My diploma reads "Bachelor of Science in Education in Geography." That meant that I would spend the first eight years of my career teaching only literature, grammar, spelling, and anything else that was covered by my minor in English. The rules were such that both the major and minor fields were covered by the "in Education" part. Of course, I taught a number of other subjects, but had to have more than 1/2 my class load in the major/minor fields.

 

CS

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My degree say Bachelor of Arts in Geology. I had enough hours to say I had a minor in French and English Literature.

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When I went to the University on New Hampshire for my BS in Math, the requirements to graduate changed between the time I started (64) and the time I finished (71), big delay because of detour to US Army.

 

A BA in math would have been a total of 128 credits with something like 28 credits in Math plus a smattering of Liberal Arts courses. A BS was 32 to 26 credits. I was allowed to graduate under the old requirements or the new requirements but nobody really cared enough to supervise me.

 

I graduated with 134 credits total with 68 in math. A little over specialized.

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A minor is typically the "core" requirements for a major. For example, a business degree may require 24 core credit hours plus 16 additional controlled elective (i.e., advanced courses in business) plus some number of "general education" classes (such as freshman writing or literature or foreign language). Minors are paired with majors. When you are minoring in something, it's usually from a different part of your school. For example, a math major (in the school of science) might get a minor in accounting (from the school of business). Minors are often quite doable within 4 years without a lot of extra credit hours.

 

When you want 2 degrees, you're looking at what could be just a few extra hours, or a huge number of extra hours, depending upon how the core requirements and controlled electives match up. For example, a general business management degree matches well with an accounting degree, so there may be only a few extra hours to take. But an art degree doesn't match well with a science or business degree, so you'd have a lot of extra classes to take.

 

Many colleges allow you to take whatever number of classes you want if you are registered as a full time student, at no extra charge. My nephew regularly carries 18-20 credit hours per semester. He'll graduate in 4 years with a BA in accounting and an MBA in accounting with 150+ credit hours. My wife graduated with 3 separate undergraduate degrees and 220 credit hours in four years. I believe that's still a record at her University.

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It is possible to graduate with two B.A. or B.S. degrees in different majors.

 

I have a B.S. degree with a strong Psych minor. After I graduated and got into the real world I learned my Psych minor was more portable than my major.

 

My wife went back to college after I graduated. We learned from my mistake and she stayed in school a little longer and earned two B.A. degrees. All it took was being selective of the classes she took (i.e. no pot, er pottery classes). Her second degree was only a additional 6 hours of credits.

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Many colleges allow you to take whatever number of classes you want if you are registered as a full time student, at no extra charge. My nephew regularly carries 18-20 credit hours per semester. He'll graduate in 4 years with a BA in accounting and an MBA in accounting with 150+ credit hours. My wife graduated with 3 separate undergraduate degrees and 220 credit hours in four years. I believe that's still a record at her University.

 

 

HOLY COW! 220 hours.

 

Heck a Doctorate degree is only 200 hours.

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HOLY COW! 220 hours.

 

Heck a Doctorate degree is only 200 hours.

 

 

 

She's got one of those, too, but from a different school, so she had to do the full 84 credits to get it.

Doctorates are funny. it really depends on the institution and the discipline.

 

In my case, I was done when the committee said I was done. I know it was not 84 credits.

 

If the student has a truly brilliant idea, he can be done in a year at MIT or Stanford.

 

Other schools and disciplines require 6 years and a number of credits. It all varies.

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