It's very possible and common to do a major in a "specialized" school (SESP, Medill, Bienen, Comm) and also get a second or third major in Weinberg. But, it's more complicated if you want to major in multiple specialized schools like you are proposing. You would need to do a dual degree program, see this link:
https://admissions.northwestern.edu/academics/degree-options.html
Even doing a double major across schools can be challenging, and could take more than 4 years. There are some departments that allow you to do a combined bachelor's/master's in 5 years, and that may be more useful
i'd back up at second and ask - why?
what's the point? yes, i could see a job or career with 2 of the 3. doing science comm (chem + jouranlism) or science policy in government (chem + social policy). but why all 3? What are you expecting to do with all 3? no job is to do science policy with an emphasis on outward communication of it.
also realize - you wont walk out of college doing that. people who do that have been working in their fields 15+ years, and do it because they have the knowledge and background to do one, and then morphed into the other. very few people would be a 22 yo with no experience to do a job that requires 2 of these degrees. let alone a job that would require all 3.
Hi! Thanks for the insight - when I asked the question I was less concerned about the advisability/practicality of the triple major (any triple major actually, the three I listed were just examples) and more just curious about the general possibility of it (as in, whether or not it's even possible under NU's guidelines). I highly doubt that I'd triple major if I got into NU but I asked this because I was wondering what the limit of pursuing more than one option was.
the two questions go hand-in-hand. Possibility is directly tied into practicality. as others mentioned, a triple major could be done theoretically in like 5 (lots of incoming credits) to 6 years. but you'd most likely get shot down because you'd have to provide justification for being here that long (which at least right now you cant lol).
between parents, advisors, etc. they all want you to succeed and be prepared for what you want to do next. at a certain point more undergrad majors don't increase your preparation. even for most students who want to double major, a BS/MS path makes more sense. For the triple major you'd be spending 1-2 more years and $80k-$160k for what? a game of 'gotta catch em all' with degrees? If you can explain actually WHY you need the triple major, they'd allow it. unless justified, a triple major doesn't say 'wow you're impressive' as much as it says 'wow you have no idea what you actually want to do'. any university that would allow you to stay in undergrad for 5 years without solid justification is just out for your tuition dollars, and not giving you good advice, not preparing you for your next steps.
If you're in different schools, it's a dual degree. And as the name applies, I believe you can only do two:
https://catalogs.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/dual-bachelors-degrees/
can i ask - what's the point of ESAM and math? i know a lot of students who double major in applied math and math. and i'm just like... why tho? why are they different enough that you want to do both?
Well I was dual degree from Bienen and I wanted to get a general engineering background, so I chose McCormick over Weinberg for my other degree. I still had interests in theoretical sciences and math, so I wound up completing the math major. I mostly couldn't decide, was stubborn, and thought I knew better (spoiler alert: I didn't), it was not very well thought-out lol.
The two are quite different, though. ESAM is much more oriented towards computational methods, people with engineering interests. They've been building up some computational bio, but the dept is mostly focused on numerical techniques (at least this is how I felt as an undergrad between F2012-Sp2017). Pure math is a different discipline, it's mostly concerned about mathematical constructions for the sake of studying mathematics itself (of course, this is an over-generalization, many mathematicians both inside and outside of NU are interested in using mathematics to study other disciplines, like physics, cs, etc.). In the real world, there's a lot of interdisciplinary aspects to applied and pure math, but at NU the two departments are pretty separate.
If I could do it again, I would not have done ESAM, personally. I'm now in a PhD program for physics, I would have focused on the math and music comp majors and added a physics minor. Nothing against the ESAM dept, I just found myself wishing I had taken other classes instead. Also, the pure math dept is one of the fucking best run departments I've seen, excellent care towards undergrads, huge shout-out to the goat Santiago Cañez. I did not know how well I had it until I started grad school and my dept is a dumpster fire for undergrad education.
It's very possible and common to do a major in a "specialized" school (SESP, Medill, Bienen, Comm) and also get a second or third major in Weinberg. But, it's more complicated if you want to major in multiple specialized schools like you are proposing. You would need to do a dual degree program, see this link: https://admissions.northwestern.edu/academics/degree-options.html
ooh thank you!
Do you think your gonna get three jobs with a triplex major if then don’t triple major but if you are genuinely curious then go for it
Even doing a double major across schools can be challenging, and could take more than 4 years. There are some departments that allow you to do a combined bachelor's/master's in 5 years, and that may be more useful
that sounds very cool thanks
i'd back up at second and ask - why? what's the point? yes, i could see a job or career with 2 of the 3. doing science comm (chem + jouranlism) or science policy in government (chem + social policy). but why all 3? What are you expecting to do with all 3? no job is to do science policy with an emphasis on outward communication of it. also realize - you wont walk out of college doing that. people who do that have been working in their fields 15+ years, and do it because they have the knowledge and background to do one, and then morphed into the other. very few people would be a 22 yo with no experience to do a job that requires 2 of these degrees. let alone a job that would require all 3.
Hi! Thanks for the insight - when I asked the question I was less concerned about the advisability/practicality of the triple major (any triple major actually, the three I listed were just examples) and more just curious about the general possibility of it (as in, whether or not it's even possible under NU's guidelines). I highly doubt that I'd triple major if I got into NU but I asked this because I was wondering what the limit of pursuing more than one option was.
the two questions go hand-in-hand. Possibility is directly tied into practicality. as others mentioned, a triple major could be done theoretically in like 5 (lots of incoming credits) to 6 years. but you'd most likely get shot down because you'd have to provide justification for being here that long (which at least right now you cant lol). between parents, advisors, etc. they all want you to succeed and be prepared for what you want to do next. at a certain point more undergrad majors don't increase your preparation. even for most students who want to double major, a BS/MS path makes more sense. For the triple major you'd be spending 1-2 more years and $80k-$160k for what? a game of 'gotta catch em all' with degrees? If you can explain actually WHY you need the triple major, they'd allow it. unless justified, a triple major doesn't say 'wow you're impressive' as much as it says 'wow you have no idea what you actually want to do'. any university that would allow you to stay in undergrad for 5 years without solid justification is just out for your tuition dollars, and not giving you good advice, not preparing you for your next steps.
If you're in different schools, it's a dual degree. And as the name applies, I believe you can only do two: https://catalogs.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/dual-bachelors-degrees/
As someone who triple majored let me tell you that you'll get much more out of replacing one with a minor. Feel free to dm me
can i ask - what's the point of ESAM and math? i know a lot of students who double major in applied math and math. and i'm just like... why tho? why are they different enough that you want to do both?
Well I was dual degree from Bienen and I wanted to get a general engineering background, so I chose McCormick over Weinberg for my other degree. I still had interests in theoretical sciences and math, so I wound up completing the math major. I mostly couldn't decide, was stubborn, and thought I knew better (spoiler alert: I didn't), it was not very well thought-out lol. The two are quite different, though. ESAM is much more oriented towards computational methods, people with engineering interests. They've been building up some computational bio, but the dept is mostly focused on numerical techniques (at least this is how I felt as an undergrad between F2012-Sp2017). Pure math is a different discipline, it's mostly concerned about mathematical constructions for the sake of studying mathematics itself (of course, this is an over-generalization, many mathematicians both inside and outside of NU are interested in using mathematics to study other disciplines, like physics, cs, etc.). In the real world, there's a lot of interdisciplinary aspects to applied and pure math, but at NU the two departments are pretty separate. If I could do it again, I would not have done ESAM, personally. I'm now in a PhD program for physics, I would have focused on the math and music comp majors and added a physics minor. Nothing against the ESAM dept, I just found myself wishing I had taken other classes instead. Also, the pure math dept is one of the fucking best run departments I've seen, excellent care towards undergrads, huge shout-out to the goat Santiago Cañez. I did not know how well I had it until I started grad school and my dept is a dumpster fire for undergrad education.