<p>I am a rising high school senior interested in pursuing an Electrical Engineering major in undergraduate school.</p>
<h1>What are common minors for Electrical Engineering majors?</h1>
<p>I've read that it's better to minor in business-related subjects or economics; is this true? And if so, why?</p>
<p>Most Engineering majors do not select a minor (though they are free to do so). Instead they take electives that focus on specialization or engineering breadth.</p>
<p>The following link can be used as an example. Notice how UF’s lays out the elective requirements for EE’s. This is typical of most engineering schools.</p>
<p><a href=“https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/1213/engineering/majors/electrical-engineering.aspx[/url]”>https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/1213/engineering/majors/electrical-engineering.aspx</a></p>
<p>If another subject interests you, feel free to take those courses (my DD wants to take Asian language/culture course, while I took anthropology/history classes), but don’t feel that you need a minor to be competitive in the market place.</p>
<p>Would a double major or minor become a disadvantage considering you did not go in as deep as some others for grad schools/employment?</p>
<p>It could (lots of unknown variables), as taking a few specialization course could prove to be a better usage of your time. As an EE for example, a recruiter may not be impressed by your second degree in Math, but he may need someone with who has taken Computer aided graphics/design or Linear Control systems.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re going to invest a lot of time in a second degree, you should instead think about investing your time in a MS degree.</p>
<p>A very popular choice from what i see is minor in econ. I know someone who went straight to finance with that. I think it gives you more options just in case you found out you dont like working as an engineer…</p>
<p>Thank you for all of your thoughts.</p>
<p>If I do decide to pursue a minor, then I think I’ll select something in physics or chemistry. I have also considered pursuing a master’s degree, but it’s still to early for me to decide such a path.</p>
<p>How about econ minor? I would assume that having a clue about how the economy is theoretically described to work and what kind of political or system theoretic models/frameworks there are, as well as learning a thing or two about “real world financing”, would be good for an engineer, especially if you’d work in product development, startups or even your own business.</p>
<p>You can study science to your heart’s fullest in any case, because you may have the aptitude to do so after your engineering studies. But would you study economics voluntarily?</p>
<p>Reactor, I think that studying economics is a possibility for me, personally. I enjoy reading about the theory and science behind any subject. And economics is one of the subjects that’s piqued my interest ever since a recent internship at a power utility company. It’s truly interesting.</p>
<p>Math is extremely important in EE. If you have the aptitude you should talk to your advisor about what classes are most useful when you start your degree. Personally I’d say forget the double major as it’s rare you’ll find a job that makes full use of both, so you’re better off taking select courses in your area of interest. Furthermore liberal arts and science degrees often require the student to take more general education courses, which are credits that would be better spent trying to pick a specialization in your area of interest.</p>