Getting a Degree in History and Economics
- Filed under: College Advice
- Date: Feb 17,2008
If you are curious of how to obtain both a degree in history and economics, you can follow me along my journey of obtaining the degrees. I will be getting a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Economics and Public Policy and a Bachelor of Art Degree in History.
Because I am getting two degrees it will be required of me to go beyond the normal amount of credit hours. This will have been my first year in college; however, during high school I took Advanced Placement courses and I received college credit. I am ahead of the game. According to credit hours after my first semester of college I am a Sophomore. If all goes as planned I will be able to graduate with both degrees in a total of four years. Doing so will require taking about seven courses during summer semesters.
What is the difference between a B.S. and a B.A.?
If you are new to the college world you may be asking what is the difference between the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree and the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree.
The differences of the two degrees will vary depending on the University you attend. Both degrees will require some sort of General Education requirements. These will consist of course in all fields and generally will be 100 level courses. In both the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) the General Education requirements are very similar. The differences at my university consist of the Bachelor of Arts requires an additional science course and also requires four semesters of a foreign language.
What’s the difference between a degree and a major?
The terms degree and major are used interchangeably; however they are different. If I were to say I am getting a degree in History, that is incorrect. The degree is the Associate of Arts (A.A.), Associate of Science (A.S.), B.A., B.S., Masters, or Ph.D. The major would be History. I am actually getting two degrees, which is different than a double major. (An example of a double major would be a B.A. in History and English.)
The biggest difference between a Degree of Science and that of Art is that a degree of Science has more focus on the major and there would be less elective courses.
So for me, my B.A. in History will actually require less history courses than my B.S. in Business Economics will have in business and economics.
How do you go about getting two degrees or a double major?
Getting a double major is really not difficult and it should not keep you in college for a longer duration of time.
The reason being is that every degree requires you two do three things: complete all General Education courses, complete the requirements for the Major, and take an amount of elective courses.
In the case of a double major, lets say History and English, you will complete the General Education courses, you will take History Major courses, and you will take English Major courses. Your English courses will count as electives for your History Major, and your History courses will count as electives for your English Major. Chances are you will not exceed the required amount of total credit hours that everyone must complete.
The Pros and Cons of a Double Major
Pros
- It sounds good. Saying you are getting a Double Major sounds intimidating, and it sounds as if you worked very hard to achieve that goal(and makes your parents proud).
- It gives you two fields that you have mastered. In the future this will give you two specialties when it comes to finding a job.
Cons
- You do not take electives; therefore, you can not take that philosophy class on John Locke, or the biology course on evolution, or the course on Buddhist Monks.
- If you decide to change your major late in the game, your junior year, then you will not have many of your new major requirements completed, because you did not take electives that could have counted toward your new major.
I’ll Keep You Updated
I will continue to update you on my degree progress. If you are getting a similar degree and wish to share with me I would greatly appreciate it. My education is very important to me and the greatest part about being educated is being able to share your knowledge with others. If you doubt that sharing your education can be fun, I bet I can get you to enjoy it.
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