<p>I've read from different places that minors don't really mean anything, that it might now really help on anything. I've heard double-major (although spending more than 4 years in school) is the way to go. Can anyone clarify this?</p>
<p>from what i've heard, minors are more for you and your education rather than something to put on your resume. it's something that could potentially help you do a better job at work (i.e. an econ minor would help you make better and more educated decisions in business) and therefore indirectly lead to more success, but nothing that would get you the job itself. in other words, if your school didn't offer an econ minor, you could theoretically take an assortment of strategically chosen econ classes and be just as attractive to an employer as the guy who technically can say "i minored in economics" because his school did offer the minor.</p>
<p>In technical fields it is better to simply concentrate on your major subject than try to squeze another major in. Minors are meaningless as far as entry level jobs. As el duque mentions, minors are for you, not your resume.</p>
<p>If you're likely to go to grad school you should most definitely concentrate exclusively on your major field - the only extra thing should be gaining control of a research language. So, if, like many undergrads today, you AP'd out of college language requirements, make sure you're still on top of your HS language (if its appropriate) or study one that is.</p>
<p>bumpers..........................</p>
<p>For the most part if you're just going to be looking for a job, they don't mean much, unless your minor is particularly applicable to the job your doing. For example, I have a friend who majored in communications, and got a minor in public relations (since there wasn't an actual major offered in public relations). Several of the jobs she sought were for PR positions, and as such, this was of at least some benefit. </p>
<p>The only other time is in applying to graduate school if your major doesn't necessarily match up very well with the "typical" applicant. For example, I was a sociology major going to medical school. In order to show that I wasn't completely deficient in science, I picked up minor in Biological Sciences. By no means did this change my major from a possible liability into a strength, but was just a means to lessen the impact if someone thought sociology was weak. </p>
<p>Other than that, most minors don't really matter.</p>
<p>They are only really there for your education. And i think they are also valuable if you are going to grad school and the your major is somewhat relevant to the program but your minor is competely relevant.</p>
<p>Like say if you are a Chinese major with and International econ or IR minor and you are applying to an IR masters program. Chinese is a great thing for international anything really, but not the focus of a study at an IR program usually. IR or international econ though at least gives you a foundation before entering an IR program, so there is probably a better chance of you getting in than someone with a completely different knowledge set because they might not have the international communication skills (chinese) or the internation knowledge (IR minor) that you have, and thus won't appear to be a somewhat skilled candidate in the area if study.</p>
<p>It's kind of like how a chemical engineering major would probably have a really tough time trying to get into an Art history PhD program or something like that.</p>
<p>While I never disagree with WilliamC, I do have to make one addendum to his post based on some reading I've done of graduate program sites. If for example you were a comparative literature major interested in medieval lit you might want to take some history courses. If you're interested in classical, there are some special graduate programs that are available only to those with some background in philosophy. So while focusing "almost" exclusively on your main field is an excellent idea, there are situations where a minor (or maybe even more appropriately just a selection of suitable coursework) in another field may be beneficial.</p>