Student Combines Interest with Dual Majors from Whitman, Maxwell

Even amid uncertainty fueled by the pandemic, undergraduate student Divya Gada ’24 was able to discover her place at Syracuse University. As a dual major student, Gada is pursuing both finance at the Whitman School of Management and international relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in a unique program not offered anywhere else.

As a graduating high school senior in 2020, Gada had to choose a college to attend that fall in the middle of the COVID pandemic. In high school, Gada took a few finance classes and fell in love with business. As a passion project, Gada also took an interest in international relations, so she knew that those two subjects were something she would be interested in studying further. Fortunately, Syracuse offers a dual major program to students, so she could study both her interests.  After speaking with a neighbor who had recently graduated from Syracuse, Gada decided to attend Syracuse that following fall.

“I liked the idea of having a structured program to pursue both of my interests because it's really difficult to find other institutions where you're able to major in more than one school on campus,” she says.

As both an international relations and finance student, Gada has been able to use knowledge from both schools throughout her courses at Syracuse. Her primary area of interest is in the global political economy, which gives her an upper hand in Whitman classes like SOM 354: Managing in a Global Setting.

“When I was taking my economics classes for Maxwell, it was so helpful to understand the macro environment. When I walked into my finance class, and we discussed finance in the news today, it was helpful to have that world view,” Gada says. “I'm able to tackle any business issue from two perspectives and really think about it from a global mindset.”

Studying both international relations and finance has also opened Gada up to new and emerging job opportunities. This past summer, Gada interned at Lincoln International in NYC, an international investment bank, and worked on international mergers and acquisitions, which is a field that she says she would have never known about without the dual major program at Syracuse. Following graduation, Gada will be heading back to Lincoln to continue her work in international business.

Although she recognizes the hard work that it takes to major in two areas of study, Gada urges any student who has considered a dual major to jump at the opportunity. She says that being a dual major is more manageable than many students realize and that it comes with a high payoff, both while in school and post-graduation.

“The benefits pay off infinitely because as a dual you get two academic advisors, you get two career advisors, you get all the benefits of two schools on campus, which are all for the taking once you're a dual student,” Gada says. “If you feel like a dual program is something that you're interested in, jump for the dual program, and challenge yourself.