I am an incoming college freshman and I am going to study computer science. I really want to make myself more employable to companies, but I can’t decide how. Should I study I double major between Computer Science and Business Management or study multiple minors in areas such as mathematics, statistics, and biology. I feel that the double major would give me more options for employment. However, I REALLY want to study a lot of things. I am really interested in the sciences like Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, and I want to move further along in mathematics too. I’ve heard that minors are also helpful with employment too, but I just can’t decide what to do?
In college, you study more than just 1 field.
Undergrad is more about breath than depth… if you attend a US college that is
Anyways, for double majors or minors…
are they useful?
Short: No.
Long: Maybe…depends… but generally, no.
I’ve seen vast numbers of job descriptions, but never one that called for a minor or a second major. Employers care about courses relevant to the job they’re hiring for, but they don’t care whether these are encased in a minor.
The only advantage I can see with a double major is that you could apply both for jobs in major #1 and jobs in major #2. But I think you should see how hard one major is before launching yourself in two.
As for minors I wouldn’t tie yourself down to the additional structure. Take electives in useful fields other than your major that interest you or become interesting to you as you go along.
Course work in another field may be helpful for some specific types of CS jobs. Art, physics, and social studies can help in computer gaming. Math like algebra and number theory can help in cryptography. Economics and finance can help in finance applications. Etc.
I’d recommend some background (not a full major) in physics, electrical engineering, and/or mathematics. A lot of the very interesting applications of CS are in those fields.
A minor can be a good way to demonstrate that you have a skill set by having that credential. In most cases, I don’t think a double major is worth it, especially if it will cost more, delay graduation, or force you to take an overload (which could end up hurting your GPA).
In my case, I took a CS minor because it was very flexible and let me take classes that I wanted to take anyway. I didn’t do a math minor, but took a lot of math classes beyond my major that would help me with my research and prepare me for the field I want to go into. The “best option” can vary a lot depending on the situation.