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Guide for Advising Students Considering an M2

Advising a student pursuing a second major outside the student's degree college

Generally, students will find that completing two majors as part of a single undergraduate degree program—when that is an available option—is more efficient and less complicated than completing two separate baccalaureate degrees. Even this route, however, has its rules and complexities, and students should be carefully advised, to ensure they understand the requirements and to set clear expectations about the ins and outs of the two options, including the different recognitions in which each will result. 

Explain the differences between two majors and two degrees

  • Make sure that the second major the student wants to pursue is on the list of majors that can be completed across colleges, and help the student learn the particulars of what each option will entail. The general differences are as follow: 
    • Students who complete two degrees must complete all requirements for both degrees (this includes any additional General Education requirements; no overlap is permitted between the two majors; students completing two degrees will receive two separate diplomas 
    • In the case of students completing two majors/one degree 
      • The student must meet the requirements for each major as set by the department offering the major 
      • While overlap between the majors is permitted, each major must contain a minimum of 18 credits not included on the other* 
      • Overlap with General Education may be permitted where appropriate
  • If a student decides, in the course of meeting with the advisor in a second major, to switch the second major to the primary major, the new advisor should change the student’s program in the SIS and notify the other advisor, who will then become the secondary advisor. This is only possible if both majors are available as second majors. *The Council on Academic Affairs has agreed that “technical electives” and similar kinds of elective course work ancillary to a  major, though required to complete it, need not be considered as “on the major,” as long as the major includes at least 33 credits without those electives. 

In general, majors do not appear on diplomas

Most students earning a degree in the College of Arts and Sciences earn a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. Their major—English or Psychology or Physics—is not listed on the diploma; it appears as a notation on the transcript. 

In the case of some “tagged degrees,” a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, for example, the name of the “major” is incorporated into the name of the degree, but that is not always the case:  students completing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration will not have their area of specialization (Accounting, for example) listed on the diploma—it appears on the transcript. In no case will a second major appear anywhere other than a transcript, though students who complete one are entitled to list it on a resume or curriculum vitae. 

Graduation considerations for dual degree earners

  • Students who complete two degrees and plan to graduate with both in the same term will need to decide which college they want to march with at commencement (and will need approval from the other unit to graduate “out of residence” in the unit (see Rules of the University Faculty, 3335-9-30. B). Students completing a single degree with two majors will march with the college that offers the degree they are completing. 
  • If a student fails a course required for a second major in term of graduation, the unit should contact the student to determine whether or not the student wishes to graduate with the major/degree that has been completed, or would prefer to postpone graduation and complete the second major. If the student cannot be reached before the confirmation deadline for commencement (noon on Saturday), the unit should arrange with Special Events to pull the student’s diploma The diploma can be released after commencement (until the second Friday of the next term) if the student decides to graduate with only one major. 

Collaborate with major advisors in colleges offering second majors to students enrolled in another college

*The Council on Academic Affairs has agreed that “technical electives” and similar kinds of elective course work ancillary to a  major, though required to complete it, need not be considered as “on the major,” as long as the major includes at least 33 credits without those electives.