I’m currently a rising senior senior, and I’m interested in going on the pre med track. As such, I want to major in Biochem or Biotechnology and apply for medical school. But my parents are concerned that since the job prospects for bio majors are so low apart from med school, that a minor in CS would prove useful if medical school doesn’t work out. If I don’t get into medical school, I think a CS masters would prove useful in securing a job. Does doing a minor in computer science effectively prepare a person for their masters? Also, would the workload (major in biochem or biotech and a minor in CS) be too intensive for someone with no prior programming experience? And if anyone is familiar with bioengineering or biotechnology, is it a useful major for medical school?
I was a neuroscience major who minored in computer science (with no previous experience) with initial plans to go to med school, so it sounds like I was in a similar position to you.
For medical school applications, the CS minor won’t be a benefit; they don’t particularly care what your major or minor was (unless perhaps it’s a particularly relevant useful skill like a Spanish minor or something). So I wouldn’t worry about the major too much either, as long as you fulfill all the pre-med requirements with your courses.
As a bio-related major, CS is a HUGE benefit; you have a lot more power in what you can study and research when you have technical programming skills. It also opens up a lot of job opportunities. I had a co-op that was funded through a state grant, so I had to upload my resume to a database for internship employers; I got contacted by half a dozen companies and researchers who were really excited to see programming/technical skills in a bio-related major. Whether you get a masters or not, a CS minor definitely provides marketable skills. As for getting a CS masters with just a CS minor, things get fuzzy here; you most likely wouldn’t meet all the requirements for masters programs aimed at CS majors, but there are also a number of professional masters aimed at people without CS degrees. And if you have other experience, things can get mushier. For example, I was also a TA for CS, did a 6 month co-op in a robotics research group, and another co-op at a rehabilitation robotics company, and I will be starting a PhD in computer science in the fall.
In terms of the workload, look at the requirements for your major and minor and lay out what you’d have to take when to see if it would all fit. Meeting with your academic advisor could be really useful here. The amount of work and required courses will vary a lot from uni to uni, so it’s hard to give particular advise. If it turns out that a minor isn’t feasible or requires courses that you don’t think will be useful, taking CS courses without the minor can still be beneficial. In most cases, potential employers or grad schools will be less concerned with the minor on your transcript and more concerned with what courses you took and (most importantly) what skills you have.
All that said, don’t minor in CS if you don’t like it. You said you don’t have prior experience, and that’s fine. But if you take your first class and absolutely hate it, don’t feel obligated to make yourself miserable for the sake of possibly improved job prospects.
Also, have you considered research as a career path? In addition to med school and going into a more professional technical career, it’s another good career option.