Whether you have crazy varied interests, are still searching for the ideal degree plan or want a great way to impress future employers, you're uniquely you and want a college degree that reflects your strengths, skills and dedication. Double majoring will offer you the versatility and real-world application you need a college degree—and you'll never have a boring day.
1. Double majoring lets you create your perfect course of study.
Think of double majoring as creating your own personalized degree plan. Regardless of preset degree plans or advising sheets, you are ultimately in control of what you study. When you declare a double major, you choose to pursue two fields you fell equally in love with. Whether it's athletics, art, music, business, optometry, psychology or ichthyology, your interests are undoubtedly varied and totally unique to you. Shouldn't your college education be the same?
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2. Double majors can be surprisingly complimentary.
Yes, there are the obvious ones, like business and accounting or biology and chemistry. But any experience you have outside your primary field can look great on a resume and broaden your employment horizons. Say you love your theater major and wouldn't change it for anything in the world. Adding a business major would give you the administrative experience to begin your own production company or run your own show from the ground up. Similarly, pairing marketing with art design would give you the tools to professionally sell your designs or convince a potential employer that you'd be a great new hire.
3. Having two degrees sets you apart from other candidates.
In 2016, nearly 2 million students will graduate college with a bachelor's degree in the United States. That's a lot of competition for only a few new jobs for college grads.
You know you're awesome and unique. Why not show potential employers your dedication, drive and forward thinking by going above and beyond and making yourself the best possible candidate for any job you apply for? A second major, especially in a specialty or high-demand field, can really up your chances for your resume being pulled to the top of the "potential employee" stack.
4. Double majoring allows you a wider range of professional opportunities once you leave college.
You wear the mortarboard, walk across the stage, shake the college president's hand, pick up your diploma and boom! You've graduated and your dream career field isn't hiring. With the second major you added in sophomore year, you now have a fallback plan to keep you afloat (and out of the fast food industry) until the right opportunity comes around. So you might be doing some accounting before your big break in musical drama shows up. This temporary position may not be the job you imagined as a teen, but in the adult world, there's something to be said for a stable, well-paying job that lets you chase your dreams while still paying the electricity bill.
5. Double majoring keeps you focused while in college.
Everyone has that one friend who's a seventh-semester senior because she's changed her major 18 times. When you commit to a double major, you commit to a fairly fixed course of study so you can graduate while still under that golden financial aid dome of four years. Plus, let's be practical.
If you're a little tired of your first major, ease off and focus on taking some classes towards your second major for a semester or two. Oftentimes, that little bit of a break can remind you why you chose your major in the first place and give you revamped energy to complete it—rather than starting the time-devouring process of changing majors (again).
In conclusion, don't think of double majoring as giving in to mom's demand that you "study something more practical." Double majoring doesn't have to look practical if you don't want it to. Want to pair art history and women's studies? Go for it! Exercise science and English? Sure, why not? The bottom line is, you are in college to improve yourself through education, hands-on application and professional development. Through double majoring, you can create a college experience that's exactly right for you. And who knows? Maybe you'll even land a great career path while you're at it.
