To market, to market, to buy a fat irritation.

Just wondering, can i double major in commerce (marketing) and? psychology in 4 years? Or would it take longer? If it works, would I be attending UofT or UofT Scarborough ? Because it says nothing about double majors on the UofT website, but it does on the UofTS one. Last but not least, if I do double major, am I getting 2 degrees or just one?

———————————————

I won’t lie, it took me a while to decipher this query my friend. And I still haven’t really figured it out.

First, what is the Major in “Commerce (Marketing)” that you are referring to?

Scarborough offers a Specialist in Management & Marketing. St. George offers a Major in Commerce.

I guess I’ll just answer your question for both scenarios… (sigh).

Scenario 1: Specialist in Management & Marketing, UTSC

A 13.0-credit program that leads to a B.B.A. degree.

If you were enrolled in this program, you would strictly be a UTSC student. Sadly, you CANNOT enrol in 2 programs on 2 different campuses at the same time. The best you could do is to take all of your remaining electives (and no more than 10.0) as St. George Psychology courses – but those would never manifest as a Program on your transcript.

Of course, you could just take the Management & Marketing Specialist at Scarborough, and pair it with a Major or Minor in Psychology from Scarborough as well. This would be much cleaner, and you would receive recognition for both Programs. Since the Major requires 7.0 credits, it would be a tight squeeze to finish those alongside the 13.0 Marketing credits in 20.0 credits over 4 years. I’m not saying it can’t be done, and you can always take more than 20.0 courses doing summer school and whatnot. The Minor is much more reasonable.

Scenario 2: Major in Commerce, St. George

A 7.5-credit program that leads to a Hon.B.A. degree. It must be paired with at least 1 more major or 2 minors. If the other Major is a science program (e.g. Psych), you will by default get an Hon.B.Sc. degree.

In this case, you CAN complete both a Major in Rotman Commerce and a Major in Psychology, as a St. George student. Commerce requires 7.5 credits. Psych requires 6.5 credits. You need 20.0 credits to graduate. This still leaves you with 6.0 credits to blow on whatever tickles your fancy. (…did someone say “The Sun and its Neighbours??”)??

But listen up! The Commerce Major does not have an explicit concentration in Marketing. You may elect to take a bunch of marketing courses (e.g. RSM250, 350, 452, 458), but in the end it will still be the more general Major in Commerce.

Sound decent? Here’s the kicker. Rotman Commerce courses are hella expensive. Whether you are in the Major or one of the Specialists, beginning in your 2nd year you will pay a yearly “program fee” ($10,481 right now). This flat fee will cover all of the courses you take between 3.0-6.0 credits.

Compare that to the brand new Arts & Science flat fee, which covers 4.0-6.0 credit courseloads, of $5300-ish. And for all of this moola you would spend for Commerce, the Major still only entitles you to a B.A. degree not the B.Com that the Specialist will yield.

Scenario 3: Rotman Commerce Specialist (Accounting, Finance & Economics, or Management), St. George

I’ve added an additional scenario for your consideration. It is my suggested alternative to Scenario 2. You will still pay the high Commerce flat fees, but you will get a B.Com degree (wooooo). You can pair this with a Major or Minor in Psychology downtown. Which Commerce Specialist is best for you? Well, none of them really. You’ll notice that there isn’t a Marketing option per se.

I’m thinking that the Major or Minor programs in Semiotics offered through Victoria College, downtown, may have relevance to the field of Marketing. Maybe some Sociology courses as well?? I’m reaching now.

Okay finally. In response to your last question (and it should be obvious by now), you do not get 2 degrees for having a double major. You get one degree that will say something more generic like Hon.BA., Hon.BSc, B.Com, or B.B.A. To achieve that degree you must complete a minimum combination of Programs: 1 Specialist, 2 Majors, and 1 Major + 2 Minors. ?

Ps. The U of T Arts & Science website explains double Majors, and the like, in the 2009-10 Calendar, see “Program Requirements.” But I can’t blame you for not finding it. U of T websites are notoriously bloated with text and they navigate like a labyrinth, but without the prospect of discovering David Bowie’s bulge.