How much do minors & ECs matter for grad school?

Graduate School
1

<p>Short version of question:
What can I do outside of maintaining a high GPA, getting good test scores, and having solid work experience to help me get into a top grad program?</p>

<p>Long version of question:
In a few weeks I'm leaving for Cal Poly SLO to study Construction Management. I'll probably get hired out of school as a project engineer and don't really <em>need</em> grad school, but I had way too much time to think and read this summer, so I started looking for grad programs. I know it may be too early to start thinking about this already, but I want to take every opportunity to utilize my time in school to the greatest potential. </p>

<p>Stanford's M.S. Sustainable Design & Construction (SDC) is calling my name and looks perfect for me. I want to do everything I can to get into this program. So far, I know that work experience is extremely relevant for admissions to this program, and of course, great GPA and test scores never hurt. I'm wondering what else I can do to increase my chances (that's why I'm on College Confidential, of course).</p>

<p>Starting with minors, I'm choosing between three right now:
-Integrated Project Delivery
-Sustainable Environments
-Architectural Engineering</p>

<p>Integrated project delivery would have me take more classes in Design-Build management, which would directly translate to my career (I want to work in a design-build firm). This requires 16 additional units.
Sustainable environments seems like it would be a great compliment to construction management for the Stanford program (Sustainable Design & Construction). Requires 12 additional units.
Architectural engineering requires a few more structural design and analysis classes, and also requires 12 additional units.</p>

<p>So, I could complete one of those minors, but only will if doing so has an effect on my job prospects and/or chances for grad school. Also, will gearing my GE classes towards sustainability help?</p>

<p>Next - extracurriculars. I've heard from many people they have absolutely no effect unless they're directly related to your major, and even then they aren't very important. I found a few that look great, including:
-Associated Students of Construction Management
-Design Build Institute of America, Student Chapter
-Emerging Green Professionals
-Power and Energy Society
-Sigma Lambda Chi (international construction honor society)</p>

<p>Would joining any of these be beneficial for getting into Stanford SDC, or should I just pick a few if they help me network for employment opportunities? </p>

<p>Thanks so much for the help.</p>

2

<p>Short version:</p>

<p>-Write a good personal statement, and get good strong letters of recommendation by cultivating relationships with professors that lend to that goal. But really, other than that, not much else.</p>

<p>Long version:</p>

<p>-Don’t concentrate on any one graduate program yet. You may change your major; you may discover new interests; you may take your work in a different direction. You also don’t want to gear your education towards getting into one particular grad program, as you may miss opportunities that are perfect for <em>you</em> but go in a different direction.</p>

<p>-Do minors help? Eh, not really, with some exceptions. If the program is interdisciplinary and your minor helps weave in another discipline, then yes. For example, if you were interested in an environmental health program and you were an environmental studies major and a public health minor, that would help. If you are interested in med school and you’re a biology major and an art history minor, then no. In your case, the sustainable environments minor could potentially be a really good complement to your construction management major, and show your longstanding interest in sustainable design.</p>

<p>However, if you only want to do the minor because it can help with a job or grad school, don’t do it. I think you’re going about this in slightly the wrong way. You’re supposed to let your interests guide your path, not the other way around. If you are interested in minoring in sustainable environments (because you really want to learn about how to construct sustainable built environments), then do the minor. If the idea bores you to tears, don’t do it.</p>

<p>-Yes, taking extra electives that emphasize your interest in sustainability will help. Again, only do them if you really are interested in sustainable environments and construction in general, not because of this one particular program.</p>

<p>-

</p>

<p>They probably wouldn’t matter much, but again, I think you are going about this in kind of the wrong way.</p>

<p>ECs in college can, sometimes, be helpful for networking for employment…occasionally. But most of them are not designed that way. They’re designed to give college students with similar interests a platform to work together to develop those interests. You do them because you enjoy that kind of stuff, not because you think it will help you get into grad school. I’m not sure what any of these groups do, but the equivalent in my major was the Psychology Club and Psi Chi, the honor society in psychology. Psych Club used to organize ice cream socials for psych majors, career panels where we heard from alumni who majored in psych, and lectures from psych professors. Nothing about that was directly helpful for jobs or grad school; it’s just…because you’re interested and enjoy psychology.</p>

<p>Likewise, the only thing Psi Chi did that was probably directly relevant was that they had an undergraduate journal you could publish in, and publishing is important for academic PhD programs (not for professional ones like the one you want). But I don’t think you had to be in Psi Chi to publish in the journal, and even if you did there are other undergraduate journals you could publish in if you didn’t make Psi Chi. Other than that, Psi Chi largely did what Psych Club did, just more frequently and with more resources.</p>

<p>So again, if you WANT to do these things because you want to hang out with likeminded college students and think about shared interests, then go ahead! Do them! They can be fun. But if you’d rather play intramural field hockey and join the debate team, you can do that too and nobody will care.</p>

3

<p>@juillet thank you! That cleared so much up for me. I appreciate it!</p>