Don't know if I should keep my minor or not..

College Life
1

<p>Howdy! </p>

<p>I just finished my first year of college. I started out as an Engineering Physics major with a Neuroscience minor, and changed my major to Chemical Engineering midway through my second semester (keeping the minor). First semester, I did fairly well in all of my classes and ended with just under a 3.8. Second semester, however, was when I had my first neuroscience course: Intro to Neuroscience 3000. I actually thought that this would be my easier class because I was also taking a Calc II/III class, and engineering design project class, and a physics E & M class. (I was still an EP major so I signed up for that physics class; I would need it anyway to be a Chem E so I didn't really lose anything by taking it).</p>

<p>However, I was sorely mistaken. I ended up with a C in the class, my first C ever (hopefully last), which ended the semester with a 3.4 (not bad, but I want to do a lot better).</p>

<p>The way the class was set up was that there were 3 midterms, and 2 finals that you could take. Only the highest 3 were taken into account for your grade. So if you get As on the first 3 midterms, you don't even have to show up for the final.</p>

<p>Well, as you can probably guess, I did not do well on any of the exams. I took all of them, and I really tried everything I could. After the first exam, I decided to write up a 13-page study guide to use for the second exam; but it didn't help. After that, I tried writing a 30-some page study guide for the third exam, but that didn't help either. Finally, for the final, I used approximately 3 stacks of notecards to write down definitions of the key terms; but that just didn't do it either.</p>

<p>I get upset because I have friends who don't put nearly the amount of time that I put into it, and still end up with an A without even taking the final exams. I have learned that this is the way life works, so I don't know if I should continue on with this minor. Part of it has to do with the fact that my other 3 classes were honors classes and I also had to put a lot of time into studying them as well. But I know the main part is that, quite frankly, my short-term memory is awful. When I read the material, it makes perfect sense; but when the tests arrive, I forget functions of certain things such as the lateral geniculate nucleus. The tests were all multiple-choice, if that means anything.</p>

<p>I did much better in my math class, where learning rather abstract material such as Stokes' Theorem made sense to me. But I also really enjoy neuroscience. I don't want to continue with it, though, if my competition can easily surpass anything that I can do with 30% of the effort put in.</p>

<p>To be generous on my part, however, the professor who teaches the course has awful reviews on RMP. I still don't take this as an excuse, though, because there were obviously plenty of people who still got As.</p>

<p>Another reason for not continuing with the minor is that I'm pretty sure it will take me an extra semester to graduate. Fortunately, I don't think this will be such an issue financially; but I want to graduate with all of my friends who are in my class. Is this a trivial issue that I should just ignore, and continue with the additional semester?</p>

<p>Also, I know that my future Chem E courses are going to be a lot tougher. I'll work hard, but geez, I'm not a masochist!</p>

<p>Regardless of what ends up happening, I don't want to be sitting in an office all day. I shadowed an aerospace engineer for a couple weeks last year, and while he was a really cool guy and showed me some neat things, I just could not imagine myself sitting in the exact same spot for 8 hours a day, keeping mostly to myself. I need to be around people. My highest priority is improving the lives of others. Oh, and I am also, really interested in research.</p>

<p>So basically, I don't even know what I want to be doing in my life. Yay!</p>

2

<p>I don’t think paying for an extra semester is worth picking up a minor especially when you have a marketable major like Chem E.</p>

3

<p>I really don’t see the point in keeping a neuroscience minor, or really, any minor that you’re not really interested in. Barrk is right when he says you have a marketable major- if you’re going to do a minor, make it something fun (and not necessarily “useful”).</p>

4

<p>…But I am interested in it! Besides, I want to go to graduate school, so maybe the minor will help me stand out more so than somebody with a slightly higher gpa.</p>

5

<p>Your minor doesn’t matter. </p>

<p>Your minor may matter if you’re going to enter into the program. A lot of the programs I am looking at as a non-physics major say that I need at least a minor to get into the program and then make up the classes. So I am finishing my minor and taking more before I go to grad school. </p>

<p>Generally though no one cares about your minor.</p>

<p>The way you’re going to stand out is by stellar grades, excellent standardized scores, excellent recommendations, and research experience.</p>

6

<p>I hope to combine the aspects of what Chemical Engineers do that relate them to the brain, such as by making medicine and whatnot… But you guys are telling me I should just ignore it? It’ll make the C I got completely pointless.</p>

7

<p>^If you’re that inclined taking the minor then keep it. Everyone here is just telling their opinion like you’ve asked and if you feel the need to defend it then you’ve answered your own question.</p>

8

<p>I only feel I need to defend it because I want to be sure that if I don’t continue with it, then that is the right choice to make. I just don’t want to jump to a sound conclusion with uncertainty – I didn’t mean to imply that I don’t want to hear everyone’s opinions.</p>

9

<p>Getting a certificate saying you have a minor won’t get you any extra knowledge. Just take the classes within the minor that will help you learn what you’re most interested in and forget about the rest.</p>

10

<p>I don’t know about your minor specifically, but such deliberations seem to me like you have a fondness in the area. If you’re fond of it and enjoy it regardless of the grading and such grades motivate you to do better rather than dishearten you and burn you out, I’d say keep it. If not, then throw it away.</p>

11

<p>I generally don’t wish to bump threads, but I think more input on this matter would be beneficial. I’m not sure I’m as interested in the subject as I thought I was… I still want to do research with things related to the medical field, but I’m unsure if the minor is necessary, at least to get into a graduate program.</p>

<p>If I do drop it, though, then that is a C that I got for absolutely nothing.</p>

12

<p>If your considering working in a medical field, why don’t you just take some biology courses? There is a whole wide world of biology outside of neuroscience. Don’t continue to plug through a minor that you’re not particularly interested in, will likely not significantly boost your career prospects, and is hurting your GPA (and causing you unnecessary stress!). Take courses outside of your major because they interest you, and if you find that you really like a certain area and are doing well in the classes, consider picking up a minor. Unless that minor demonstrates that you have some sort of skill (fluency in a language, programming skills, etc), the minor in and of itself will probably not significantly boost your employment prospects (and I doubt it’ll look very good to graduate schools if it’s lowering your GPA).</p>

<p>If you’re really interested in neuroscience, but you don’t think you are very well suited for it, you could always take it pass/no pass. It wouldn’t contribute to your minor but it won’t hurt you either.</p>

13

<p>I see your point, thanks. I think I will replace my current minor course with something else that is related to my major, but maybe not drop the minor altogether just yet, as I have the decisiveness of a cat by a doorstep.</p>