What Exactly Is a Double Major?
Double major means completing another major to the first major. In the case of SMU, during the major choice period in June and December, students can choose all majors except, Department of Le Cordon Bleu Hospitality Management, Division of Education and Division of Pharmacy. Kim Il-hyun Academic Affairs Services Team Manager said, “The exception of some majors is because of the specialty of those majors. The Division of Le Cordon Bleu Hospitality Management needs many practical exercises and it can’t accommodate too many students. Also, the Division of Pharmacy is a 6-year systems so it’s difficult to approve other majors’ students.” Until 2010, students of division which has intensified major courses, had to do double major or connected major, if she doesn’t complete her major’s intensified major courses. However, from 2011, completing a double major or minor is selective.
Conditions Needed for Double Major Graduation
Also, there are some conditions required for a double major. On graduation, students need to satisfy related majors’ compulsory credits, acceptance of a graduation thesis, and passing of MATE. When double major students can’t satisfy compulsory credits of the first major, it does not matter if they have satisfied the second major’s compulsory credits. For example, if a student of the Division of Business Administration wants to double major in the School of English, the student needs to satisfy both majors’ compulsory credits, acceptance of both graduation thesis, passing of MATE and information certification.
Changes from Last Year
Firstly, the choice of the first major was changed last year. Until 2010, before fourth semester, students could freely change their first major through the Internet during a certain period of time. Also, choice of double major and connected major was freely changeable until the seventh semester through Internet. However, from 2011, students can’t change their college, major, and division of entrance. Also, compulsory credits for first major and double major have increased. Regarding this, Kim said, “Actually this is related to overall change of the university. From last year, we changed from a division centered system to a department centered system. Strengthening first majors’ competitiveness and capability became a major goal of the university this year.”
What about Other Universities?
In SMU’s case, students don’t need any qualifications to apply for a double major. However, many other universities have qualifications. Qualifications are generally related to credits and grade point average (GPA). In Korea University, students who have over 102 credits and a GPA over 2.5 can apply for a double major. The application term is around March and September and double majoring in the college of Law, College of Medicine, and Academy of General Education is not allowed. There are also limitations for a fixed number, and this is decided by each college considering the education environment. For some ajors, a double major between the Anam Campus and the Sejong Campus as possible. In Yonsei University, a multi major system co-exists with a double major system. There are also limitations for Medicine, Dentistry, nursing, and Music. Same as Korea University, for some majors, double major between Sinchon Campus and Wonju Campus is possible. The fact hat there are no qualifications for applications of double majors is good in many aspects, but it is true that it causes some problems. Kim said, “It is lso a dilemma for the school whether to limit double majors or broaden the hances for the school despite the hard conditions. Until now, the university has tried to give as many chances as possible to students. However, giving more separate classes or putting importance on a few majors results in ignorance of other majors. So we have to bring this burden.”
The Differences between Double Major, Minor, and Connected Major
Many Sookmyungians often ask how double major, minor, and connected major are different. For those who still don’t quite understand about their differences, SMT has interviewed Lee Ji Yeon and Kwon Oi Sook, officials of Academic Affairs Services. Lee Ji Yeon explained the main differences between double major, minor, and connected major and briefly gave additional instruction about them. “When you choose another major to do a double major, your second major is treated exactly the same as your first major. You need to complete the required number of credits of the appropriate major and you also need to pass the graduation thesis if that major requires. When you fulfill all the requirements of the graduation condition, you will earn two bachelor’s degrees of both your first and second major. Now for your minor, you do not need to write a graduation thesis. You only need to have about 30 credits regardless of the required or optional courses of the appropriate major to fulfill your condition of undergraduate graduation. However, only one bachelor’s degree will be awarded. You also don’t need a graduation thesis for a connected major, but you need to have a few more credits in order to fulfill your condition of graduation. About 36 credits are needed to complete a connected major. The unique thing about the connected major is that it offers majors SMU doesn’t have.” “SMU wanted to give Sookmyungians a chance to encounter new majors that can not be affiliated to any other current majors we offer. Taking this opportunity, the connected major program was created with such a purpose. You can change your subject for double majors and minors any time until your seventh semester,” Geon Oi Sook added. For basic information about double major, minor, and connected major, you can visit the Academic Affairs Services homepage at http://haksa.sookmyung .ac.kr.
We Asked Sookmyungians
Rather than interviewing few students, SMT did survey to total 568 Sookmyungians to find out some difficulties they are facing in double major programs. According to survey, 214 Sookmyungians out of 568 were doing double major. However, only 65 Soomyungians out of 568 knew the changes in double majoring program in our college. On survey paper, some students wrote notes saying, “No information is given to us. I know if I’m interested, it is my job to search information, but still I think some basic information such as time for application should be known easily. I was considering having second major but when I decided and searched, the applying period was passed and it was too late for me to do double major as it is recommended to start it before when sophomore ends.” The survey also included questions asking difficulties they are facing over double majoring. Lee, the junior in College of Law stated, “Registering courses is too hard because there are not so many lectures are offered and when we apply, professors usually chose students who are taking it as their first major. So students doing double major are often cut from the classes.” The majority of students answered the same and some other students wrote, “Some majors like law and business management require more credits and therefore it is harder to fulfill all the requirements when doing double majoring. This narrows down our choices when choosing our second major.” Moreover, for the question asking the reasons for taking double major program, the majority 138 students our of 214 students answered that it is to help their career in the future. ‘To help my first major’ came next with 37 students and there were 11 students with ‘because I was not sure about my first major’ as reason. Only one person checked ‘recommended,’ and 26 students checked the box for the ‘other reasons.’ The other reasons included ‘because it is required to take double major in School of Global Service,’ and ‘personal interest.’ The pie chart for this survey is drawn down below to help you with clearer demonstration.
A Chance Given to You to Try Other Things
Double major, minor, and connected major programs are still changing in progress to offer Sookmyungians with variety chances to try and learn new things. Take you changes and find out what you most like to do in the future. Make the chances yours to find out how fun it is to learn new things. Who knows? By taking these chances, in the future you could be the pioneer to create one other study that can be applied by students in those programs.
