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Double Majors 101

HDS welcomes double majors from any discipline!  The below steps outline how to go about preparing for and submitting an application for an HDS double major

 

The below guidance should simplify completing your double major petition. 
All steps need to be followed before submission

Please contact us if you have questions.

Step One: Understand HDS & Double Major Policy

Requirements for HDS

Please make sure you understand the program requirements for all HDS majors:

  • All courses taken for any HDS major must be taken for a letter grade. 
    (Any course, regardles of subject code.)

  • Students must receive a grade of C– or better in any course counted toward fulfillment of HDS major requirements. D grades are not accepted.

  • HDS 1, HDS 60,  HDS 181, HDS 191, HDS 150 are required courses of all HDS majors and must be taken in residence. No substitutions will be approved.

Please make sure you understand the prerequiste sequencing, content, and unit load for required HDS coursework: 

Course Minnimum Prerequisite When taken
HDS 1 (4 units) none 1st or 2nd year
HDS 60 (4 units) College Algebra 1st - 3rd year
HDS 181 (*6 units) HDS 1, HDS 60, HDS Core 3rd or 4th year
HDS 191 (*6 units) HDS 181 4th year (or 3rd if graduating in 3 years)
HDS 150 (4 units) HDS 181 4th year (or 3rd if graduating in 3 years)

*6 unit courses require a significant time commitment.  HDS 191 includes an internship.
Make sure you are not overloading your schedule during the terms you plan to take HDS 181 & 191.  

Please make sure you understand the special enrollment procedures of HDS 181,  HDS 191, and  HDS 150:

HDS 181, 191, and 150 require department approval to enroll. Enrollment in these courses are approved by individual seat, and are processed completely independent of the 1st/2nd pass enrollment system. If approved, enrollment will not be cleared until AFTER 2nd PASS.  Students use their 1st/2nd appointment time to secure other courses they need that term and/or waitlist other coursework.  Enrollment decisions are processed closer to 10th week.

Communications about how to enroll in these courses are sent quarterly through your UCSD email account to all Juniors and Seniors, as well as outlined in the following course webpages below. Please review these pages for more information:


Please make sure you understand the requirements for your chosen HDS major:

 

Overlap Limits

Regardless of how many classes can potentially overlap between two majors, there are Limits on Course Overlap for double majors.

  1. Lower division courses can overlap to any degree.
    (Don't know if a class is LOWER division? At UCSD, they are numbered 1-99)
    HDS Lower Division Courswork (BA has 7 classes, the BS has 8)
    HDS 1, HDS 60 Two Social Sciences
    1-2 Formal Skills Two Biological Sciences
     All lower division requirements can overlap with another major, where applicable

  2. Upper Division courses have limits on overlap.
    (Don't know if a class is UPPER division? At UCSD, they are numbered 100-199)

So how many upper division courses can overlap between two double majors? 

The simplest answer is--usually--TWO courses.

This is because 10 upper-division courses (40 units) must be unique to each major.
(in other words: 10 classes can't overlap--the rest can)

All majors have a minimum of 12 upper division courses, so... 

12 classes - 10 unique classes = 2 overlapping classes.

Example
Major 1
12 upper division classes		 Major 2
12 upper division classes
Course One Course One
Course Two Course Two
Course Three Course Three
Course Four Course Four
Course Five Course Five
Course Six Course Six
Course Seven Course Seven
Course Eight Course Eight
Course Nine Course Nine
Course 10 Course 10
Remaining courses
11th class (Course Overlap)
12th Class (Course Overlap)

The HDS Bachelor of Arts is a major with a max 12 upper division classes
So for the BA: only TWO upper division classes can overlap, max.

However, the correct answer  about overlaps is it actually depends on the double major combination.

Some majors have more than 12 classes, leaving more potential overlap courses.
  
The HDS Bachelor of Science has 13 upper division classes. So for the B.S...
13 classes - 10 unique classes = 3 classes that COULD overlap, if possible.

Example One: If the HDS BS major is combined with a major that has 14 classes:

HDS B.S. Major
13 upper division classes		 Major 2
14 upper division classes
Course One Course One
Course Two Course Two
Course Three Course Three
Course Four Course Four
Course Five Course Five
Course Six Course Six
Course Seven Course Seven
Course Eight Course Eight
Course Nine Course Nine
Course 10 Course 10
Remaining Courses
Course 11: 1st Course Overlap
Course 12: 2nd Course Overlap
Course 13: 3rd Course Overlap
  14th Course (2nd Major)

Example Two: the HDS BS major is combined with a major that only has 12 classes
HDS B.S. Major
13 upper division classes		 Major 2
12 upper division classes
Course One Course One
Course Two Course Two
Course Three Course Three
Course Four Course Four
Course Five Course Five
Course Six Course Six
Course Seven Course Seven
Course Eight Course Eight
Course Nine Course Nine
Course 10 Course 10
Remaining Courses 
Course 11 (1st Course Overlap) 
Course 12 (2nd Course Overlap) 
Course 13 (HDS only)


Time-to-Completion Requirements

Double majors must be completed within your normal time frame here at UCSD

  • within six quarters for transfer students 
  • within twelve quarters for first-year students

A common question is "can I finish on time?"  The answer is specific to each student, based on their personal academic history, schedule availability, and a host of factors.  But to begin to answer that question simply, lets start with a basic math exercise:

  1. Count up the number of classes you have left to take, from all requirements
    • 1st major
    • 2nd major
    • Minor
    • College/GE
    • Grad school prep

  2. Take this total and do the following two math exercises:

    • Divide the total number of classes by the number of classes you prefer to take per term
      This will show your preferred pacing: the number of terms it would take you to complete your double major at a pace that is comfortable for you.  

      Does this pace fit with the number of terms you have left at UCSD? If yes, then completing a double major should fit well with your academic plans.  If not, try the next exercise

    • Divide the total number of classes by the number of terms you have left at UCSD
      This would give you the number of classes you would have to take each term (on average) in order to finish a double major on time.

      Is the average more than 4.5 classes per term? If yes, you should reconsider if completing a double major is feasible, or what you can do to lower that average, such as taking classes during summer school terms.

Obviously, this does not take into account all of the other things can can further complicate a quarter-by-quarter plan, such as schedueling conflicts and prerequisite sequencing.  But it gives you a starting point to reflect on--if the math doesn't add up here, then it's probably better to consider a Major-Minor combination rather than a double major. 

 

Course Exceptions for HDS

Frequently, students ask about exceptions to HDS requirements based on completing a double major.  Below highlights the most common questions:

Step Two: Begin Course Planning 

Choose Classes for HDS

Using this worksheet

Start choosing classes you would like to use to fulfill your preferred HDS Major: 


In each major requirement, list the class you plan to take (or have already taken) to fulfill it.
Note: each class can only fulfill ONE major requirement.  If a class appears in more than one area, you can choose where it applies, but it only counts once in the major.

For requirements that have a list of options rather than a single class, note your top 3 course choices to fulfill the requirement





highlighpick 3 classes

 

 

 

 

    1.  

Review When Course are planned

 

  • Academic Planning Worksheet (click link to copy a Google Sheet): Lay out your remaining coursework for your existing __ major and minor, and once those are laid out, count up how many empty course slots you still have left for each term until your desired graduation date (keeping in mind your preferred course load per quarter).

 

To begin planning for your double major, please schedule an advising appointment here http://hdsciences.ucsd.edu/advising/appointments.html

Prior to the appointment, you should become familiar with the following documents, and begin work on completing them (if you haven’t already):

  • A Double Major Petition (fillable PDF).
  • Your current academic plan on this Academic Planning Worksheet (Link to copy a Google Sheet) Note: previous UCSD coursework should be included on this. Please include all terms completed since your first term at UCSD.
  • Complete a Statement of Purpose.

Complete these to the best of your ability and then we can go over them and make any corrections during the advising appointment.  If you feel you will need significant help in creating your academic plan, please let us know, as then we may need to block off more time for your appointment.

 

 

 

 

 

Obtain and complete a Double Major Petition.

    1. Complete a Double Major Petition (PDF).
    2. Prepare an Academic Planning Worksheet (Link to copy a Google Sheet):
      • List all requirements for both majors as well as college and University requirements.
      • List all courses, including completed, in progress, and proposed.
      • Write a brief Statement of Purpose explaining your reasoning for completing two majors.
    1.  

Begin your application


 

To begin planning for your double major, please schedule an advising appointment here http://hdsciences.ucsd.edu/advising/appointments.html

Prior to the appointment, you should become familiar with the following documents, and begin work on completing them (if you haven’t already):

  • A Double Major Petition (fillable PDF).
  • Your current academic plan on this Academic Planning Worksheet (Link to copy a Google Sheet) Note: previous UCSD coursework should be included on this. Please include all terms completed since your first term at UCSD.
  • Complete a Statement of Purpose.

Complete these to the best of your ability and then we can go over them and make any corrections during the advising appointment.  If you feel you will need significant help in creating your academic plan, please let us know, as then we may need to block off more time for your appointment.

 

 

 

 

 

Obtain and complete a Double Major Petition.

    1. Complete a Double Major Petition (PDF).
    2. Prepare an Academic Planning Worksheet (Link to copy a Google Sheet):
      • List all requirements for both majors as well as college and University requirements.
      • List all courses, including completed, in progress, and proposed.
      • Write a brief Statement of Purpose explaining your reasoning for completing two majors.
    1.  

Submitting you Double Major Petition for approval

Once both majors have reviewed your double major form & academic plan (and made any corrections/revisions), you will then need to route these documents for signature in this order: First major, second major, college.

To get a signature from HDS after we have reviewed your documents, please email them to us using the below address and format, and we will send them back to you.

Use the following email address and subject line:
Department email address: HDSciences@ucsd.edu 
Email Subject: HDS Form Submission: Double Major Petition; Lastname, forstname

3. Submit the petition.

    1. Submit the Double Major Petition, Academic Planning Worksheet, and Statement of Purpose to major departments/programs for review.
    2. If approved by both departments/programs, submit all documents to your college academic advising office for final review.

4. Check the status of your petition.

    1. Your College Academic Advising Office will notify you regarding the status of your request via the Virtual Advising Center.
    2. View your Academic History to confirm that both majors appear online. Allow five working days for processing after approval by the college.

You must submit your double major petition and have it approved by both departments, and your college, in order for it to be official. 
  1. Please review the Academic Senate policy on double majors (A-3) for more infomation.

HDS Double Major Submission

To submit your double major petition to HDS, make sure you are signed into Google with your UCSD account for this process

Submit your DM Petition here