Frequently Asked Questions

From academic point of view, an extended major should be tied to the student’s primary major, i.e. (Major1+X) + Major2, on condition that Major1 is an approved major under the corresponding "Major+X".   Double major students who want to declare extended major should first obtain consent from the departments offering Major1 and Major2 before applying for Major+X. 

The students should seek advice from the major department/program on the feasibility of transferring to a major on the approved major list under “X” by Year 1 Spring.  The transfer request should be made as soon as possible in order to start and finish the “Major+X” requirement in time.   Students should choose their majors based on their interest, but not solely because of the opportunity of taking “X”. 

Student cannot enrol in Major+X extended major program if Major1 is not an approved major under this Major+X extended major program. 

The student can consider swapping Major1 and Major2 (i.e. Major2 becomes the primary major and Major1 becomes the additional major) and enrolling in (Major2+X) + Major1.  The swap of majors requires the permission of departments offering the two majors.   Requests should be made as early as possible due to the complication of study pathways, and such request will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  Normally, this kind of request will not be entertained after the end of Year 2 Fall.     

Example: EVMT is not an approved major under Major+AI extended major program, and an EVMT student wants to declare QFin as second major and AI as extended major.  Such request will be handled on a case-by-case basis.   The student would need to present a workable pathway and seek approval for switching QFin as Major1 and EVMT as Major2, as well as enrolling in Major+AI, from ENVR, FINA and SBM, and copy to EMIA.

As Q2 mentioned, the student should seek approval from departments offering Major1, Major2 and X for (i) flipping Major1 with Major2 and (ii) declaration of +X.

Students are normally NOT allowed to declare more than one Extended Major during their course of study at HKUST in view of the challenges in timetabling and course registration, as well as the heavy workload.

As agreed by Schools/IPO’s representatives at the IPO Undergraduate Studies Committee (IUSC), an Extended Major can only be tied to the BEng or BSc degree offered by SENG or SSCI respectively, which is defined as the primary degree in the T&M Dual Degree Program.

The FYP/capstone projects of Major1 will have strong elements of X.  When deemed appropriate by the project supervisors, the FYP/capstone project could also include elements of Major2.

It would be the same as students doing single majoring.  Among the courses taken to fulfil the requirement of (Major1+AI) + Major2, there should be 20 unique, single counted credits in Major2.

Example: Students declaring (MATH+AI) + COSC must complete at least 12 single-counted credits in the curriculum of AI, plus at least another 20 single-counted credits in the curriculum of COSC.

When Major1 and Major2 are of the same degree type (e.g. both BBA), the conferred degrees will be “BEng/BBA/BSc in Major1 (with Extended Major in X), and in Major2 with Honors”

Example: BACHELOR OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT IN FINANCE (with Extended Major in Artificial Intelligence), AND IN MANAGEMENT with Second Class Honors, Division I

When Major1 and Major2 are of different degree types (e.g. BSc and BBA), the conferred degrees will be “BEng/BBA/BSc in Major1 (with Extended Major in X), and Additional Major in Major2 with Honors”.

Example: BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING IN CILVL ENGINEERING (with an Extended Major in Artificial Intelligence) and Additional Major in Quantitative Social Analysis with Second Class Honors, Division I