<p>I am doing right now an aerospace eng. major. As all engineering students know, we are two classes away from the maths minor. I have been trying to get a "good" review about this on google, but some say it is a good idea whereas some say it is useless.
If I was doing this minor, it is in the expectation that it might be a plus in my career ? What do you think about this minor ? Is there any other minor that might be useful ?</p>
<p>Also, I am thinking about doing the mechanical/aerospace dble major. Good or bad move? Is having too much degree a bad idea ? I am french, and in France, when you are too qualified, it is not easy to get a job.</p>
<p>Let me know what you think about these two.</p>
<p>I’d like to know the same. Since I’d only have to take a couple classes for a math minor, I was recommeneded by my dean to do it…as a little more math can only get you further. I head chem was also a good minor. Maybe business?<br>
Yes, I’d like to see what others have to say as well :)</p>
<p>(i have to say that i have to pay the out of state fee as an international student, so every class I take has to be really useful for my degree^^ I don’t want to spend money on something useless…)</p>
<p>Minors are worthless from an employer/grad school’s perspective for precisely the reason you mentioned - it takes very little additional effort to get them and everyone knows it. Even if your college is the exception and has hardcore minors, the prevailing practice (and hence perception) is to have ~20 or fewer hours for a minor, making them a joke. It’s even less for math/CS/phys for an engineering major and hence looks even weaker. I guess the only argument for them is that they’re not bad, per se. Although when you count in opportunity cost (i.e. more useful courses that you could have taken instead), they might be. My suggestion: do it only if you have genuine curiosity about the minor area or if it fulfills some program/honors requirement.</p>
<p>Double majors: also largely a waste of time. Sure when you look at it from the outside it seems nice - two is better than one, right? And it must make you look smart? Doesn’t work like that in practice. Rather than giving the freedom to explore two areas, you’re highly constricted and forced to take classes that count twice so that you can actually graduate in time. And you have to skimp on the higher level electives because you were too busy fulfilling two sets of core requirements instead of one. The number of classes utterly irrelevant to your future career also goes up.</p>
<p>Example: you’re EE working in semiconductors. You decide materials science or physics would be a good double major. There are some nice overlaps: electronic materials, crystallography, quantum mechanics, solid state physics, etc. Result: you only get in a handful of non-intro courses before graduation and you wasted time/money taking classes on polymers/ceramics/biomaterials or relativity/particle physics/astronomy classes that were required for your other major.</p>
<p>The lesson: if you’re in an interdisciplinary area, just read some books for the stuff outside your major. Courses aren’t the only way to learn. (Obviously if you’re not in an interdisciplinary area and just have a personal interest in another major, then the question of usefulness isn’t relevant and you can even just not list your other major.)</p>
<p>^ I’ll take the other side of the argument, which GShine actually mentions.</p>
<p>If you have an interest in two fields, minors and/or double majors can be a good idea - and certainly aren’t a waste of time. That being said, I agree that they are largely not worth it in terms of future employment (except in some special cases, but there are exceptions to every rule). When deciding whether it makes sense or not to double major, I would recommend considering the following:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Are the two fields of study distinct enough to require separate studies? For instance, some people - OP included - seem in love with the idea of double majoring in very similar subjects, such as MechEng and AeroEng. This is silly because the curricula differ relatively little, and where they do differ, a few judiciously chosen electives and self-study can make up the difference. Doing both would likely result in a good deal of overlap anyway, and you don’t need to learn the same thing twice.</p></li>
<li><p>Do you actually have an interest in both subjects? This may seem like a stupid question. However, a lot of people - Math and Physics majors especially - seem to double major in things they see as more profitable. This seems like a waste to me because you’re preparing to do things you don’t even like, won’t be as good at, etc. Double majoring (or dual-degreeing) is appropriate when you have approximately the same level of interest in two subjects, and minors are more appropriate when there is one field you clearly prefer.</p></li>
<li><p>There’s a point in choosing programs where you should realize that some things make you look like a show off. Generally speaking, multiple minors, or even (sometimes) a double-major and a minor - looks pretentious. Not to mention the people who are triple-majoring or triple-minoring. Give me a break. That’s what people are thinking, and they are likely right.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>So I guess that I would agree that minors and/or double majors are a waste of time if they aren’t done for the right reasons. However, there are right reasons for doing a double major. Academic interest, specific interdisciplinary career goals, etc. can all be good reasons for seeking varied exposure. If you aspire to academia or research positions, rather than hurting you by limiting the advanced coursework you can complete, it actually helps you by giving you a broader base upon which to build future study. In fact, if you anticipate going to graduate school, the arguments given against double majoring or minoring aren’t nearly as damning. Time enough in graduate school to specialize.</p>
<p>My roommate was a double major in electrical and computer engineering. I majored in Mechanical Engineering Technology. Today, I make more money than he does and have a cooler job.</p>
<p>Extra majors and minors =/= extra pay or cool positions.</p>
<p>Well…I think we have a thread where Globaltraveler and AuburnMathTutor agree.</p>
<p>My major (computational mathematics) is basically a “dual major” of both math and computer science. I cannot say I am too fond of “double” majors because of the extra courses one would have to take in order to get two degrees but if you can get two majors within the same 120 semester/180 quarter credits (dual major)…I say go for it.</p>
<p>For me, I wanted options to go the pure mathematician route to support either business, engineering or statistical positions (not requiring advance stats knowledge) while also having the software industry as the “backup” career path. It turned out that I had to use the backup career path (well not HAD to but my parents were not going to keep supporting while I “find my math dreams”).</p>
<p>I did the same thing in graduate school by emphasizing systems engineering and information systems. I have a few years working (as recent as 2008) as purely as a systems engineer. I did not touch a database (my expertise is Oracle) during that time. My employer had a need and did not have a database project requiring a senior database person so I did systems engineering (CONOPS, requirements and the rest of the lifecycle).</p>
<p>Many colleges offered the ECE degree (“a five year major crammed into four” - me) when microprocessors were first coming out, as it was a natural extension of the EE field. Most have separated it now I believe.</p>