I'm almost done with a BS Psychology at Excelsior and am looking at the double major option. It's worked out (without any planning on my part) that I almost have all the requirements for a General Business major. My question is this for anyone who might know: Does the second major have to be an Arts & Sciences major, or can I major in Psychology and General Business?
Hi sisterc, I too am working towards a BS in Psychology at Excelsior. I am purposely working most of the BS General Business requirements into my degree plan as well. So, by the time I have finished with the Psychology degree, I will only need four more business courses to complete the Business degree (plus six electives for a total of "30 new credits"). My plan is to enroll in the Psych degree and graduate, and then enroll seperately in the Business degree and graduate. I know that Excelsior will not allow a second degree within the same school (Eg, School of Business, or School of Liberal Arts). But they do allow you to obtain a degree in one school and then obtain a second degree in another school (Eg, BS Psychology from the School of Liberal Arts, and then BS General Business from the School of Business). Other than fulfilling all requirements for the second degree, the only stipulation is that you must complete 30 new credits (not transcripted on your first degree) in order to receive the second degree. I was not aware that Excelsior offered an option to complete a double major. Where did you find this option described? Can you provide a link to the applicable information on their site? Usually, you can avoid the need for "30 new credits" if you obtain a double major rather than two seperate degrees. It often also allows you to avoid paying TWO seperate enrollment and graduation fees. But, as I said, I don't know that Excelsior has such an option. I would be very interested to know for sure though. Can you confirm? Thanks, Beholdweb
I don't have a link, but it's on page 21 of the Liberal Arts catalog under the "Major Option" heading. I just don't know if you can have an Arts & Sciences major and a Business major or if both have to be Arts & Sciences.
Is it just me, or is the Liberal Arts Catalog not listed on the Publication Request page? I have seen a few people refer to this publication but have no idea where they got it from. I have the Liberal Arts Viewbook, but that only includes about 14 pages total, so I know you must mean something other than this. Any idea where I can get a hold of the Liberal Arts catalog?
It would appear that one can only access the program catalog of the school one is enrolled in. I say this because I can read the liberal arts catalog but none of the others. I wonder why this is.
Hi CoachTurner, It really does seem that Excelsior has a problem with the idea of keeping things simple. How many times on this board do you see people saying things like: "I'm not enrolled so..." "I'm not registered so..." "I'm not sure if that info is available unless you sign in..." "I have no idea where I saw it, but..." "I can't find it right now, but I once saw..." "I think that might only be accessible if..." Excelsior is my school of choice, and I am extremely thankful that such a school exists at all. But unfortunately, their web site stands out from the crowd as being THE most complicated and difficult to navigate of any other .edu web site I have visited. It's kind of sad really, because their site has all the bells and whistles. I just wish they would rethink things a little bit. Oh well! Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die! Beholdweb
Sisterc, I just received the Liberal Arts catalog in the mail from Excelsior. I could be wrong, but I think that your second (double) major would need to also be in the Arts & Sciences. The reason I believe this to be the case is that the School of Liberal Arts is entirely separate from the School of Business. Each school requires a separate enrollment form, separate enrollment fee, and has separate graduation requirements. For example, if you enroll in the School of Liberal Arts, and then later decide to switch to a business degree, you must enroll all over again in the new school and pay an additional enrollment fee. So, for these reasons, I believe that for a double major from the School of Liberal Arts, both majors would need to be in Arts & Science subjects. I am in the same boat as you: In the process of acquiring the credits for my BS PSychology degree, I managed to meet almost all the requirements for a BS General Business. I plan to proceed with my BS Psych (enroll and graduate), and then SEPARATELY enroll in the BS General Business program. To obtain a second degree from Excelsior the following rules apply: 1) The two degrees cannot be from the same school (Eg, 2 x Business, or 2 x Liberal Arts). 2) You must meet all the requirements for the second degree (obviously). 3) You must earn a total of 30 additional credits that were not part of your first degree. In my case, upon completion of my BS Psychology, I will only need 12 additional business credits. However, I must still earn an additional 18 elective credits to meet the "30 new credit" rule. With this in mind, I am taking additional exams now that overlap with exams I need to take, even though I will not apply them to my Psychology transcript. Instead, I will save them and apply them later to the 30-credit rule. Example: 1) Principles of Management (applied to my Psychology degree) 2) Principles of Supervision (content overlaps, so I am taking this exam now....but I will save it and apply it later towards my "30 new credits"). Hope that makes sense!
Take an old man's advice and do the second major as officially as possible. My philosophy "major" is not always listed as such, because the college where I began studies had different double major rules than my eventual alma mater. This inevitably pans out as people saying to me, "Wow, you have more philosophy credits than psychology credits!" but that comes AFTER I've sent my transcripts and answered lots of questions!
Hmm.. So what is the take on the double-major? Would people recommend doing a double-major or two degrees? I am contemplating doing a double-major at FHSU ( information networking and telecommunications & leadership ) - but have not yet made up my mind. I was also thinking of completing the Bachelors degree, then do an MBA in Leadership - would doing a double major in leadership and an MBA in leadership be of benefit as the Masters would go deeper into the subject matter? Thoughts / Opinions, Pros / Cons? BM
Hi fortiterinre, Sorry to hear about your troubles in this regard. I will hopefully avoid a similar fate by earning two completely separate degrees in two completely different subjects. If all goes according to plan, my BS Psych will contain 36 credits of Psychology courses (30 required). My BS General Business, in turn, will contain 58 business credits (45 required). I will need "30 new credits" and so I will be replacing most of my Psych courses with additional business electives. Thus, I believe that each degree will be adequately well-rounded and include more than enough credits, independent of each other, to preclude the type of questions you have had to endure. Thanks for the heads-up though, Beholdweb
