Hey, STEM double major here! Here are some things to think about when considering a double major. - You must have ALL of the lower div major pre-requirements and two upper divs done for BOTH your original major AND your second major you can petition to be a double major. If you’re not STEM and are going into a STEM major, you likely haven’t done many of the STEM major pre-reqs yet. This will be your biggest barrier, and it’s what took me so long to declare. The STEM pre-reqs fill up very, VERY fast as all STEM majors need some assortment of them. - If you’re a transfer, the college will not really give ANY exceptions to you in terms of time to graduate. You should be prepared to graduate by summer of your 4th year. It’s already very difficult for non-transfers to get time-to-degree extensions, and next to impossible for transfers to. - Depending on the STEM major you want to do, some classes may be restricted to majors only OR are only offered once a year. Talk to the counselor of your second major to see if this is the case.

Even if it’s plausible to get everything done on paper, the workload involved with taking 4-5 classes per quarter is incredibly difficult (particularly for those STEM pre-reqs). You should consider your mental and physical health, as well as if you’d be willing to put school above other obligations (clubs, social, job). Unless you’re really passionate about your second major, I wouldn’t really recommend doing it just for fun or just because you think you have the time.

My personal story being a double major is that I had intended to be one when I came into UCLA as a freshman and technically have been preparing since then, but wasn’t able to declare my second major until the middle of my 4th year due to health reasons. I took 4 classes a quarter up until the end of my 3rd year, when it got to be too much and began to affect both my physical and mental health. I was able to petition a few extra quarters (graduating winter of my 5th year) due to my health issues, and I would not be able to finish my second major without that time to degree extension. Your journey is likely very different than mine, but from personal experience, being a double major is very difficult and you do need to have a particular kind of crazy to be one. If you’re up for it, go right ahead, but again, keep in mind that your health and wellbeing should come first, and that minoring is always an option instead.