Can’t say I agree. For example, if you’re someone like myself who is interested in international human rights & bioethics, it makes quite a bit of sense to triple major in International Relations, Political Science and Philosophy. “A triple major is not for the intellectually curious.” ? What kind of generalization is that ? I hope no one pays you for your services.

Carly Fiorina herself double majored in medieval history and philosophy.

Some people triple major because one subject is related to the other. I attend 2 online schools (some courses have nothing to do with each other) and go to an on-ground school. I don’t double, (or triple) major because I don’t know what I want to do with my life. I do it because I know EXACTLY what i want to do. I’m not trying to get HIRED by some company. I’m starting my own. That’s why I triple major.

Although it is true that some employers are relunctant from hiring students with triple or quadruple majors, there is still a handfull of companies that would kill to have someone master three different disciplines related to their project. Furthermore, a lot of your claims sound like a blatant attack to people with triple majors. Do you have something against them? Your rational behind the claim that triple majors are for the timid is weakly supported by your own generalizations and fallacious reasoning.

I am going to have to agree with Jake here and hope you don’t get paid for your services.

All your arguements are severely weak and generally nonsensical. I am a tripple major: English, Philosophy, Psychology. I, as well, am going to major in History and Art History–this is generally easy to do when all one’s interests are within the college of Letters, Arts, and S.Sc. Majoring this way is something I have never regretted. Sure, there are social losses, but if you smoke a lot fo pot and are naturally more introverted–well, you can muster on through it. Not only have I been exposed to many very interesting fields–in a structured way that ensures I am getting a fully overview of the disciple–but I feel that I have sufficiently justified the huge waste of time and money that is college. So, what I’m saying then is that: You Are Wrong!

I’m not a triple major but I also think your arguments are weak at best. Your article appears to be more of a bashing of triple majors than a clear reasoning for future students shouldn’t do it. You label yourself a “careerist”- perhaps you are jealous of the potential advantage triple majors have in securing competitive careers? I don’t reall know.

Learn to write with an objective viewpoint or nobody will give your opinions much merit.

* * * * * *

Hi. This is not obejective writing. All the posts are my opinions.

-Penelope

I am triple majoring in sociology/anthropology/philosophy. I have decided to do this because I want to write books about metaphysics and there is not a degree offered in that area of research and it is hard to be considered credible. I hope that these areas of study will not only add to my credibility, but will challenge my ideas and raise my own standards so that I may truly be an inspired writer. Before I made this decision I wrote and produced my own original musicals, something that takes a lot of creativity. How dose your rant apply to me?

* * * * * *

Hi, Helene. I applaud your interest in writing a book. I wish you a lot of success.

–Penelope

I don’t just want to write a book, I want to communicate my ideas with as many people as possible and though I am sure I will have to answer to agents and publishers, I am more interested in what the people who read me think and what I think. I am planning on attending graduate school. I think it’s funny that you assumed I was not.

I think that anyone who wants to study hard and acquire degrees in more than one area should get advice from someone they trust who knows them and not from a columnist who thinks they have all the answers.

I think that in some cases you might be correct. Too often people are just looking for that extra line on their resume by getting multiple degrees in a related field. However, I am in my third year of college and have decided to go forward with a triple major. It will only require one extra year of study and I feel that it will better prepare me for the field of international business. My degrees of choice are Economics, French and Spanish. While I think that in some cases you do point to some real issues that come to mind with people who triple major, you neglect the possible benefits for a number of people by making such a broad statement. Nonetheless, this is an interesting post.

* * * * * * *

This is another good example of someone who should not be doing a triple major.

Penelope

A lot of triple majors are relevant, and useful. I’m going to triple in political science, history, and religious studies. I’ll still be able to graduate in 4 years because i’m staying under the max courseload. With that, it’d be foolish of me not to if I can.

I have BA and a MA bussiness, Accounting and Finance, as well as take many post graduate classes, It had very helpful to me

while growing up and in college is also learned to play harp and violin, and Irish dancing. I hope no one foolish enough to pay for your advice.

I’m double majoring in art and computer science. I know exactly where I want to work (a specific computer animation company in Hollywood) and to do a good job there, both of which will be very helpful. I was also advised to take all the math classes I could and so, I’m taking all the math classes I can. This has led me to consider a math major as well, and since I’m going to be taking the classes anyway, why not get that extra degree (it won’t have any other core req. since it’s the same college). As for the love of learning you cite, I know that with some universities, you aren’t allowed to take the really fun classes unless you are that major. So with art, I decided that the only way I was going to get to take the art classes that I needed and wanted, I would have to deal with a few semesters of spanish. As for a social life, I took 19 credits last semester, my second semester in college, and I did fine. I had more of a social life than I did my first semester, with 12 credits. I realize that your arguments apply mostly to people who want to go into the managerial/business aspect instead of the creative side of things, but you still should not discount triple and double majors like that.

Your obviously very materalistic if you view it that way. I would just like to learn to learn, because I’m a curious person. So stop discuraging people to learn. And who in the world is someone who triple majors not creative. The more you know the more you can make is the way i see it. Your subconsious will give your creative ideas based on the things that you know. It combines them, rearanges them and gives a diffrent way to do something.
(Yes, and I know it is packed full of spelling and gramatical errors.)

I agree that 2+ majors are usually a terribly inefficient use of of time, money and effort, at least in terms of career. No job description ever written has a double major as a requirement. Don’t they still have things called “minors”? I graduated in three years with a major in math/computer science and a minor in music. The former was work, the latter was the time of my life. Stay another year, or even a semester, to get a music major instead? Utterly pointless. Need to be a major to get into a couple classes? Declare the major, take the classes, then drop the major. Five minutes total of paperwork.

I am proud graduate of Rice University having quadruple majored in Biology, Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Business, and Chemistry. After that I went to the MD/Ph.D program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Don’t crush the dreams of many aspiring students who just want to learn more. Anybody can do it.

I graduated on time and hold a BS in Biology, BSBch in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, a BBA in Business, and BS in Chemistry as well as a Medical Doctor and a Doctor of Philosophy degree.

Hi Marcus! This message is for you. I really want to triple major in psychology, engineering and computer science or architecture. However, everyone seems to discourage me. Also, With how things sounded, it seemed like you enjoyed what you did and I plan to do the same thing. Do you have any advice for someone like me who is aspiring to do what I have in mind?

Sorry, Trunk. People who triple major aren’t “conditioned to want something for learning.” They’re conditioned to want something for shelling out $100,000. I love to learn, but I’m not paying $100,000 for one degree when I could get three.

Hello Penelope, you have a beautiful smile. I am a quadruple major in quantitative fields: Com Science, Physics, Math and Econ.

In addition to that, I am the President of Toastmasters Club(Public-Speaking Club) and Vice President of Student Association. I run 2 business ventures as well.

I dont think I would be a management disaster. I think that your post is offensive to many people. Instead of making them agree with you,you actually offend them.

I have to say that your arguements a very unconvincing. I graduated with a triple major so my opinion may be slightly bias, but I think its very clear that yours are very bias. I applaud you for starting controversy because your article would undoubtedly recieve no attention without it, but before you give advice urging students to lower their goals and take “blow-off courses”; try to keep in mind that you can’t “blow-off” the college loan you took out for those wasted classes.
Obviously I do agree that college is an important time to strengthen the interpersonal skills you’ll need when you graduate, but throughout your career you will have to balance your social life while still managing to accomplish your own goals. In attempting a triple major someone is not choosing to pass on their social developement, but rather choosing to put extra effort into balancing it. Persuing a triple major is not easy. Having said that I think its fair to assume that their has to be sincere interest in all three subjects for you to successfully complete it.
I recieved a triple major in Communication, Media Study and Psychology. I started as a Double major in Communication and Media study. In my second to last semester my advisor informed me that I was only a couple classes from completing a Psychology major, so I simply added them to my last semester. And yes, my last semester was tough, but I made plenty of time for my friends and in the end; I think my senior year was my most successful and enjoyable.

Not only are your arguements weak, but it is clear from your use of intolerant and insulting language that you feel insecure about your own intelligence and feel intimidated by people who ARE creative and intelligent enough to have three majors. I myself am working towards a triple major in English, Psychology, and Anthropology. I am working on specific concentrations in all three majors (creative writing, clinical psychology and cultural anthropology) and intend to one day earn at least one MA and go to graduate school. I am extremely curious creative and intelligent and in addition I am also independent and ambitious. I desperately love all three subject matters and I feel that through this program of study I will be enriched as a person. My focus is self fulfilment, not impressing employers, and I feel sorry for anyone who wastes their precious education on something as meaningless as impressing others.

I hope that whatever students who happen upon this page and read your idiotic attack on people more original and intelligent than yourself have the good sense to scroll down and see what real people without convoluted agendas have to say about this so called “advice”.

Everyone hates this nag, especially college students, but seriously: Learn how to spell. Yes, in the real world it really does matter. Each error lowers your credibility in the eye of the reader. Fair or not, it’s true.

To the point, Penelope’s rant is needlessly provocative, and her specific assertions are questionable at best. But her fundamental point is valid. Triple majors do not help you in the job market. The dissenters make the oblique argument that college isn’t about getting a job. But unless your family is independently wealthy, it had better be.

Ive never seen a school that would let a person triple major…but if you do have excess hours to burn, why not?
we live in a information-knowledge based culture/society…

wow i have to agree with like 99% of your comments. not every one has to focus on one major, im working on law, fashion design, AND music thses are things that i love and cannot live without. and guess what? im NOT timid or uncreative. these are not the only things that i exccel in. i can sculpt, paint, cook, decorate cakes, design webpages, i both write music and play the cello, piano, bass guitar, and drums, and racked up alot of sience credits.
im not trying to say that you opinion is completely wrong there are people who just talk alot of classes so they can look good yet enjoy none of thier college life. a majority of your readers seem to agree that you points are weak and cannt be backed up. however that is just your opinnion and they cant judge you by what you bealive to be true.

Brilliant post, Penelope.

I’m in my final year of a joint degree in Anthropology / International Relations. But, because I’m in the UK, this is only going to take me three years, and - although the structure of my degree means that I get the opportunity to study two subjects in my final year - it does mean that I’ll have sacrificed the opportunity to take free modules in the last two years.

If I was in the US, I’d definitely have pursued a single major, supplemented with a bunch of courses that interested me on the basis of their own merit.

At the end of the day, I think the other commenters (is that even a word?) are missing the point that, at the end of the day, disciplinary boundaries aren’t ‘real’. As long as you can find a way of justifying it, you can find a way to study Shakespeare through the lens of History, Creative Writing, or Film. Mafia activities? Political Economy, Russian, or Criminology. The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis? Economics, Journalism, or Anthropology. And so on.

It’s hard to snap yourself out of the success/faliure worldview of High School, but - when it comes to college - it’s about choices, and opportunity cost. And the only person you have to answer to is yourself (and your parents, if you want to follow Ryan’s advice and move home after graduation!).

Craig said it the best. And yea, triple majors are crazy, and no, i’m not considering a triple major anymore. Maybe a minor. And besides all this, not every school is expensive. I’m lucky enough that I go to a cheap (not very prestigious) school and my parents have saved up for my education. Two extra classes for another major aren’t exactly going to set me back. Consider them my ‘blow-off courses’.

And by the way, I’m not sure Carly is a very good example of a wonderful CEO.

I just want more degrees than my classmates at graduation just for the sake of doing more. Plus, school isn’t really hard at the undergrad level, so I’d pretty much be a lazy asshole if I didn’t grab as many degrees as I could while I’m here.

depends if you want a job in the civil service a ppe is one well troden route

I am an undergrad in Florida State who will soon be transferring to the University of Florida. I am only in my second semester of my first year but am qualified as a junior according to my hours. I also participate in a panel that leads local and statewide events for Invisible Children. I help sponsor and mentor a NASA based high school international space settlement design competition stationed in Houston, TX with participating teams from Romania, India, Australia, Uruguay and Canada. I play trumpet and guitar. Soon I’ll be joining the marching band at UF and plan on starting my own space settlement design club. I’ve had a girlfriend for 2 and a half years, and am a level 45 Brigadier in Halo3 (meaning I play lots of video games). On top of this I graduated 10th in my high school class as VP of an engineering society, Treasurer of National Honor Society and member of Latin and Spanish Honors society. I know 2 languages and can pick up languages quickly. What I’m getting at is that I am on a course for quadruple majors in Physics, Astronomy, Mechanical and Aerospace engineering (with minors in Math and Chem)…I do this because I want to learn more, and specialize myself in many fields. You think that’s dumb? 4 personally known NASA rocket scientists/researchers confirmed with me that the more I know of those fields, the better. If my future employer tells me they love to see those things, I think it’s a good idea. Also, and lastly, your claims are horrible. Your argument is weak, and you overgeneralize. I intend on taking those 4 majors and cutting them down into 2 Masters in Aerospace/Mechanical engineering and astrophysics. I’ll write back to you once I’m directing the research facilities at AMES Research Center. It’s good to have high ambitions…the harder you work the better the payoff.

sociology, economics and psychology at the university of delaware. i’m doing that because i have an incredible interest in all three of them. plus, there is certainly a few overlaps here and there. socioeconomics is one of my career options, among many other fields. people attempt more than one major to have as many options as possible. life is about options. think about that next time before you write another article that makes little sense.

I can see Penelope’s arguments being valid in some cases - such as business degrees - but many of the science fields require that you have quite a bit of knowledge of other science disciplines. Someone who just says, “I’m going to be a biology major, take a bunch of blow off courses, and mainly focus on one major so i can impress employers” is often going to have a harder in that field than someone who majors in business and wants to get out into the field.

Take biology for example - this field often requires that the individual has some knowledge of physics, chemistry, etc. Most science students aspire to going into research and medicine, which requires a vast knowledge of science related topics. I feel for the most part, your whole post mainly pertains to those going into the business field - I mean, references to management problems, etc - while there is significant oversight for scientific ventures, most people going in those fields NEED a lot of education. Last thing anyone wants is someone working on a cure for aids or cancer who just got 1 degree and took a bunch of blow off courses.

Creativity is important, but I feel for certain fields, you need a base that your creativity can spring from. I mean, how many people have heard of the person who only had a high school education and started some successful business? I’m sure there are plenty of stories out there - but on the other side of the coin, how many people have heard of the person who just took blow off courses and focused on getting out of school and trying to impress employers, within the science field - going into research and becoming doctors? Would you want this kind of doctor operating on you?

All I can say is wow. New Zealand’s Universities sure operate a lot differently to colleges, it seems. Im currently in my third year of a Linguistics and Philosophy double major, and I was looking to get advice on taking a triple major. They are seriously almost unheard of here in New Zealand. I have only a few ideas as to why.

Firstly, I hear you can take multiple majors in a field and have them crosscredit eachother. This is not possible, at least at my University (Otago). As it stands, my double major requires a heck of a lot of extra work to gain, and adding a third major is just going to be an insane amount of work.

Secondly, although related, some people have suggested reducing majors to minors and have them crosscredit eachother. Again, this isnt possible here. It’s actually quite stupid, really. It is not actually possible in a single undergrad degree to take Linguistics as a major, and TESOL as a minor, due to this “no crosscreditting of papers across majors and/or minors” rule. Its a real shame, and quite possibly a flawed system in some people’s eyes, but my main reason for ranting about this is to say that at least here, a triple major is considered prestigious. Theres simply no question about it. Taking three majors is a hell of a lot of work, and graduates of triple majors (of which I know of -very- few) are absolutely praised for their hard work.

I see some people talk of taking Quadruple majors. Wow, kudos to you all :) Thats an insane amount of effort you are putting into that degree, and I hope it takes you where you deserve to go - far. :)

Anyway, just giving you an idea of my views on people who triple major. Im very very tempted to take up Japanese as a major, shift my linguistics major to a language and linguistics major, and keep my philosophy major. Its going to be tough; but itll be worth it :)

/rant :)

Jaysen, I’m doing some research with a professor who taught at Otago for a couple of years and has a research project that’s half there, half here. I’m very interested in possibly going over there for a summer (your winter) to work on it. Here’s my email, I’d love to get in touch with someone who lives and goes to school there. If you ever see this comment, that is.

Thanks!
Sarah

cranberrytuna (at) hotmail (dot) com

triple majors perhaps obsessive, however from a good school (as in top 100 universities), double majors with minors or even triple majors get the big jobs in business. Even more double / triple major with good extra circulars blow any single major out of the water.

your argument like stated above is weak at best, and you were probably one of the kids who was undecided until their junior year, spending all your parents money because you could not decide what you wanted in live. so leave these ambitious kids alone and stick to your day job

I am not quite sure how you can say that a triple major is not a good idea if it what you want to do. I am triple majoring (in 4 years) in Math/Econ/Statistics, and I feel as though my degrees complement each other very well and provide more tha adequate preparation to go into the business world. Certainly moreso than a humanities degree, which is an area I find more enjoyable to learn about. Is there really a high demand in the business for someone who knows about the Roman Empire? I highly doubt it. Furthermore, my majors will allow me to take some grad classes in Econ, which would be undoable without a fair amount of quantitative skills. It also seems as though you are missing the point that someone who triple majors is quite motivated and able to see difficult challenges through. Instead you are saying those that do extraordinary things are really no different in the eyes of a possible employer than those who do ordinary things. I also have participated in research in all three areas so that kind of ruins the intellectually curious argument. Undergrad work is not really “deep,” the truly curious would explore graduate work not a handful of undergrad classes.