How many subjects can I major in and minor in when studying in a university in the United States?

Generally, American universities don't specialize in the first year or two. All college students should study the basic courses of arts and sciences in these two years, and then determine their main direction. However, in order to avoid the premature specialization of undergraduates and enhance their adaptability to society, most schools adopt the major and minor system or the double-major and double-degree system (two majors, if similar in nature, are called double-major system; If they're not close, From different departments, called double degree system) and similar methods. Although some famous American universities have different regulations on minor system, it is not difficult to find that they have many similarities. Many universities provide students with quite rich minor majors, and most major majors provide corresponding minor majors. Cornell University School of Engineering offers students a minor in the field of 12. The College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania provides 50 major subjects and 665,438+0 minor subjects for students, of which 65,438+02 are inter-school minor subjects (the two colleges jointly provide minor subjects for students), namely, insurance mathematics, American public policy research, behavioral ecology and health service management, cognitive science, fine arts, Jewish studies and education, law and history, nutrition, histology and environment. The FuFoundation Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Science of Columbia University has offered 13 minor courses for undergraduates. Princeton University students can obtain certificates by completing one or more of the following courses besides their major courses: Jewish Studies, Language and Culture, Latin American Studies, Linguistics, Materials Science and Engineering, Medieval Studies, Music Appreciation, Far East Studies, Soviet Studies, Middle School Teacher Training, Drama and Dance, Visual Arts, Women Studies, and International Relations Studies. Students at UCLA can choose one of the 46 minor majors offered by different colleges (College of Art and Architecture, College of Engineering and Applied Science, College of Art and Science, College of Drama, Film and Television, College of Education and Information Science, and College of Nursing). In the United States, the departments of some schools require students to minor in their major. For example, the computer science department of Carnegie Mellon College requires all undergraduates in this department to minor in a major that does not belong to their own professional field (but belongs to the same department), and regards it as one of the requirements for obtaining an undergraduate degree. Some schools give students the initiative. For example, the University of Pennsylvania does not require students to minor in a major, but students can "choose a minor related to their elective courses to develop their second interest, cultivate their ability, enrich their knowledge and improve their professional study". The goal of setting up minor major for students in American colleges and universities is to "encourage students to maintain the continuity of their study outside the major, expand and supplement their study within the major" and develop their second interest. For example, the Computer Science Department of Cornell University provides a minor in computer science for engineering undergraduates. Summing up the educational objectives of this minor, the department pointed out: "This minor is suitable for students who think that computer science will play an important role in their academic and career." Berkeley Graduate School of Education provides minor education for students registered at Berkeley University. This minor can "provide students with an opportunity to systematically study a system that occupies a unique position in society and actually profoundly affects everyone, so that students can critically understand the relationship between education and social and personal development." Many colleges and universities in the United States attach great importance to the minor system, and the examination and approval of minor majors is one of the main tasks of the undergraduate Committee of the school. When universities offer minor majors, they all emphasize that minor majors should not be regarded as a burden. On the contrary, with the help of tutors, minor majors should be regarded as a part of students' graduation requirements. Therefore, in order to ensure the learning quality of major and minor, the university has made special regulations on the length of study for minor students. For example, Cornell University stipulates that if students majoring in minor can't complete the course requirements within eight semesters, they can extend the time, but the study time must be continuous and can't be registered separately. Universities have different regulations on what kind of minor students can choose and what kind of minor they can choose. However, the minor majors offered by many colleges or departments have strict restrictions on students' majors. Generally speaking, these universities require minor majors to be different from major majors in terms of professional nature and administrative affiliation. Students can't choose the minor major offered by their department, but the minor major offered by other colleges or departments is completely open to them. For example, the design department of Carnegie Mellon College pointed out: If you are interested in any minor in this department, you should remember that design students cannot minor in this department; Art College provides minor subjects such as architecture, architectural history, architectural expression and vision, architectural technology, art, residence, communication design, drama, art history, industrial design, jazz performance, music, photos, movies, digital images, etc. 13. Of course, students of art college can also choose minor majors offered by other colleges of the school to make full use of the rich educational resources and opportunities provided by the school. In addition, some minor majors are only open to certain types of students, and such majors have certain restrictions on the conditions for students to major and study minor majors. For example, the Computer Department of Cornell University stipulates that engineering undergraduates are qualified to minor in computer. The College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Berkeley provides computer science as a minor major for all undergraduates of the University of Berkeley except those majoring in computer science (CS), electronic engineering and computer science (EECS) in the School of Engineering. Berkeley School of Environmental Design offers 7 minor majors for all students registered in the university, and 5 minor majors are open to students of all majors. However, the minor in architecture is only open to landscape architecture and civil engineering majors, and the minor in landscape architecture is only open to architecture majors. The other is that students can take another major in their own department (a department with two or more majors) as a minor, but this situation is not common in many universities and must be strictly examined and approved. For example, under special circumstances, students of Carnegie Mellon College of Art can choose a major that is not their own major as their minor. The Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Science of Columbia University pointed out that as long as the department agrees, it is allowed to choose another major as a minor in the department. However, the minor of the department should be approved under the guidance and supervision of the instructor. American universities give students plenty of choices, but the characteristics of universities' pursuit of high academic quality and training high-quality talents determine that this freedom of choice is limited by various conditions, and this freedom is based on ensuring students to receive more reasonable university education. Graduation requirements for students' minor major (I) Courses and credits A major minor in an American university generally needs to take 5-8 courses, with a minimum of 18 or 20 credits, depending on the school and major. These courses are generally divided into low-level courses and advanced courses. American universities often use numbers to indicate the category, level and difficulty of courses. The minor in electrical engineering at Cornell University requires students to take at least 6 courses (at least 65,438+08 credits). The specific courses are as follows: (65,438+0) Two compulsory courses (200-level courses-Introduction to Circuits and Integrated Circuits Experiments, Introduction to Digital Systems and Digital System Design Experiments); (2) two elective courses (from 3. (3) Another ELEE course is above 300- level (at least 3 credits,); (4) Another ELEE course above 4)400-level (at least 3 credits). The minor major in computer science at Carnegie Mellon College requires students to take five courses, in addition to two designated courses (level 200-basic data structure and algorithm, programming principle), and seven software design courses (six courses with level 400-compilation design, operating system design and operation, software engineering, database application software, computer network and computer drawing; Choose 1 course (level 300-automatic design program laboratory), and choose two elective courses for computer majors above level 300. Minor majors in some American universities also require students to take courses first. For example, the minor in architecture and the minor in drama at Carnegie Mellon College require students to successfully pass a compulsory course (introduction to world history and drama course respectively) before they are considered for minor. The minor in computer science requires students to have three prerequisite courses (level 100): object-oriented programming I, object-oriented programming Li, and mathematical concepts. The advice provided by the Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Science of Columbia University to students who minor in applied mathematics is that the students who are about to enter the school must refer to the requirements of the first and second grades of applied mathematics to ensure that they can meet the prerequisites for minor in applied mathematics. (II) Academic Performance Taking structural anthropology of Berkeley University as an example, this paper illustrates the comparison of courses and credit requirements as major and minor subjects. The requirements of anthropology as a major are as follows: three basic courses (prerequisites): Anthropology L (Introduction to Physical Anthropology), Anthropology 2 (Introduction to Archaeology), Anthropology 3 (Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology)/Anthropology 3AC [Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology (American Culture)1; Nine advanced courses: anthropology 1 14 (the history of anthropological thought), one from physical anthropology (100-12) and archaeology (121-6544). Choose one course and five other anthropology elective courses from social/cultural anthropology (1 15- 19, 137- 193). The above nine advanced courses should include at least one "regional" course (12 1- 124, 170- 188)[ e.g. 123d- East Asian archaeology] and one ". The requirements of anthropology as a minor major are: low-level courses: choose two courses from anthropology 1, 2 or 3/3ac; Advanced courses: any five anthropology courses. All courses must have written grades, with an average grade of C. The establishment of a minor college or department determines the admission of students and the issuance of certificates. After a student has completed his minor major and achieved the required credits and grades, the college or department offering the minor major shall notify the registration center and indicate it in the student status file.