Dear Parents, please help me choose a minor to pursue

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I am a sophomore undergrad student at University of California, San Diego. I am a Biochemistry and Cell Biology major (it's a major but that's the entire name of it). My education plan right now after I graduate from UCSD is that I might go to a graduate school in the UK. </p>

<p>Well, I never really considered declaring a minor before since I was a little scared of not being able to finish school on time, but at this point I feel like I want to broader my horizon. I want to learn something that will be useful in my future rather than just graduating with a degree.</p>

<p>Right now, I have like 3 minors in mind which are:</p>

<ol>
<li>Economics</li>
</ol>

<p>2.1 Environmental Studies --"The Environmental Studies minor offers students from every major a basic grounding in the scientific, technical, social, and cultural issues presented by the interaction of human beings with their environment and the need to build a more environmentally sustainable future."</p>

<p>2.2 Environmental Systems --"A minor in Environmental Systems will expose students to the interdisciplinary approach necessary to address environmental problems. The program places a strong emphasis on a rigorous natural science foundation."</p>

<p>Ok so 2.1 and 2.2 are actually different minors but I would refer it as Environmental Science (kind of) since the descriptions for both are very similar.</p>

<p>For all the minors, I have to take about 28 units so I will pretty much have to spend the same amount of time in class.</p>

<p>As I have mentioned before, I am more likely to continue my education in a graduate school rather than just going into workforce. If I minor in Econ, then I have more options for my grad school, meaning that I can either choose to learn more about science or econ. Thus, at the end, I will have knowledge in a variety of fields that might be useful for my job.</p>

<p>However, if I minor in Environmental Sys. or Studies, then I will discover another area that will even provide me with further insight in science. Then for grad school, I might try getting a master degree in some sort of science instead. I am quite afraid though because in my opinion Environmental Science seems to be inferior to Econ in terms of its usefulness in daily life.</p>

<p>What's your opinion regarding both minors/paths? If you were me, which one would you choose? (For me, I kind of like Econ and Environmental Science equally)
Every suggestion would be very useful for me (because I am quite lost and inexperienced) </p>

<p>Thank You</p>

2

<p>Employers and grad school admissions committees don’t care about your minor. Choose one or not choose one based on your interests and capacity. You’re overthinking this.</p>

<p>Example:Let’s say you maj in B&BC and decide not to minor in anything else. But you take some good Econ/Business related courses. Come your Sr year, you hear of an interesting recruiting opportunity with a start up corporation.</p>

<p>The company will see that you’ve taken Acct and Econ and some other related courses. At the interview she’ll ask the depth of your commitment to working for a for profit company. Your answers will meet their inquiries and you advance to the next interviewing level. Your having or not having a declared minor in Econ won’t matter a bit.</p>

3

<p>If you are considering an economics PhD program, you may want to take more math and statistics courses: <a href=“https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/grad/admissions/preparation[/url]”>Preparation | Department of Economics;

4

<p>You can take elective courses (assuming there is room in your schedule) to explore other areas of interest. You do not have to have a minor at all. Many students don’t havre a college minor.</p>

5

<p>I would say don’t overplan and let things happen as naturally as is possible in this crazy world of ours. I have even read that overplanning may cause you to miss opportunities.</p>

<p>You are only a sophomore. It’s really great that you want to broaden your horizons and that you have room in your schedule to do it. Take classes that appeal to you in all kinds of areas, or take a few in each of the areas you mention, if that is where your real interests are. College is a chance to explore, and this exploration doesn’t always have to be geared to the future. You might also take a class that is life-changing, who knows. Maybe even try something in the humanities or arts!</p>

<p>Taking time off between undergrad and grad is often a good idea. The time outside of academia, working or interning or whatever, can often help focus interests and goals. You may go right after college, but maybe try to be open at this point because it is still pretty early in your college years.</p>

<p>I hope you can enjoy these years, and that your interests coalesce in the next three years. At the same time, be aware that careers often don’t match majors. It can be scary but also exciting that life can unfold in unexpected ways.</p>

6

<p>So from all the responds, it seems that having a minor doesn’t really help getting me into the job I want. I guess I am gonna just keep taking classes for my major and wait until the end of my third year. By that time, I think I’ll be able to see the possibility and necessity of declaring a minor because you know 2 years from now things can change and I might change my mind as well.</p>

7

<p>Econ is likely to be less useful than good business courses (though I don’t know if UCSD has those).</p>

<p>I don’t know anyone who ever regretted taking some courses in music or art history.</p>

8

<p>Are you planning on grad school in your major or considering other options? If looking at grad school in your major, I’d recommend a wide variety of other courses so you get a truly liberal arts education. If you enjoy economics, those courses may be fun for you, but UCSD will have so many options. Stretch yourself. Try things you don’t know much about. There’s enough specialization in grad school.</p>

9

<p>Right now I am not really sure if I want to go to grad school with the same focus I have now. When I was searching for college in England, there was one that offers a graduate program in finance and on the webpage it says the candidate should have graduated with a Bachelor degree in “a highly quantitative discipline such as mathematics, engineering, economics, finance or science.” So this is why I mentioned in the beginning that a minor in econ might be useful. Of course, I know that I cannot use my minor to apply to a grad. program, but I suppose Econ. is somewhat related to finance. I thought maybe I can at least get exposed to this field during undergrad years before I try applying into a grad program that doesn’t have anything to do with biochem.</p>

<p>And I also feel like anything can happen to me in the next 3 years so maybe I’ll eventually hate biochem so much that I don’t want to go to a grad school for this. Or maybe I’ll really like biochem that I decide to continue it in the next level of education.</p>

10

<p>Why do you want to go to grad school in the UK?</p>

<p>Please realize that if you don’t have UK or EU citizenship, it’s usually very expensive to go to grad school in the UK. Few PhD programs in the UK offer direct admission. You usually have to go through a master’s program first and apply to the doctoral program while enrolled in the master’s program. If you aren’t in at least the top half of your master’s program, it’s unlikely you’ll be accepted to a doctoral program. </p>

<p>It’s not that hard to get into the master’s programs, but the master’s programs are “cash cows” for Oxbridge.They are very expensive. The cost of living is also very high. </p>

<p>There are some scholarships available–the Rhodes, the Marshall, the Gates, Fullbright, etc. However, these are highly competitive. </p>

<pre><code>If I were you, I’d do a lot more research about grad programs in the UK before making any course selection decisions based on the assumption that you’ll go to grad school in the UK unless you have lots of cash to attend without receiving any funding.
</code></pre>

11

<p>I am already an international student in the US so I don’t plan to stay here after graduation. My family is encouraging me to study abroad in the UK because in my country getting a Bachelor’s isn’t enough. My cousin also is studying in a college in England right now.</p>

12

<p>

</p>

<p>Keep in mind that it can be difficult to pursue a graduate degree in a field unrelated to what you did in undergrad. Getting into the program may be more difficult, and you may not have sufficient coursework or background to pursue a higher degree. Most graduate programs will expect you to have a thorough working knowledge of (at least) all of the basics that they will build upon in grad school, and taking a couple courses in econ will likely not prepare you for a graduate program in finance.</p>

<p>I’d recommend that you not worry too much about a minor now, and instead, try to explore different fields. If you find that you love econ more than biochem, try to see if you can switch your major. Also, try to get some research experience to see if you’d even be interested in a grad program in biochemistry. I’d recommend that you start exploring fields you’re interested in now, outside of the classroom, in addition to taking courses of interest. It may give you a better feel for what a graduate program would be like, and it can give you some valuable experience. Perhaps, you could consider trying to enroll in grad classes (when you are prepared for them) as a non-degree seeking student.</p>

<p>Also, the bio department at UCSD does have a contiguous BS/MS program, where you get an MS after one additional year of study at UCSD (+4 years undergrad). I don’t know if it would be feasible as an international student, but it could be an option if you are interested in pursuing biochemistry and are interested in a master’s.</p>

13

<p>Math provides critical thinking skills and high on lists for employers</p>

14

<p>You don’t have to minor in anything. You can just take a few classes in each one that sound interesting to you and learn the skills that you want.</p>

<p>A minor isn’t going to get you into grad school. Economics MA programs are very competitive because they are lucrative, and they are likely going to require more than a minor.</p>

<p>I also want to mention that you don’t choose a graduate degree this way. You get a graduate degree because there’s a specific job or set of jobs that you want to be eligible for and that graduate degree is necessary to break into that career/job field. I would say if you are independently wealthy or someone else is paying for it, sometimes you get a graduate degree because you are deeply interested in some particular problem or field and you don’t mind the opportunity cost of spending a few years thinking about that problem and working on solutions. But you don’t just get it just to get it.</p>

<p>I find it hard to believe that in any country a bachelor’s degree isn’t enough to work, since the vast majority of people never get one/don’t have one.</p>

15

<p>I think you are going about this backwards.</p>

<p>Taking it as a given that you want to get into a master’s program in the UK, I think you should be asking someone affiliated with one or more of the universities where you might like to study what you need to get into such a program and/or searching the websites of UK universities to find out.</p>

<p>It’s probable that the application procedure is entirely different than it is for US graduate programs.</p>