I am 4th year, non-graduating senior at NCSU studying Textile Technology, meaning that I will graduate in 5 years (2016). I am interested in pursuing a minor, but I’m not sure if it is worth doing at all.
I have two minors of interest: International Studies and Graphics Communications. For both minors, I already have one course fulfilled and need to have 12 more credits. However, I need to fulfill the foreign language proficiency requirement FL 202. I took the foreign language placement test and got placed into FLS 202, but I don’t think I actually fulfill the requirement until I take FLS 202, which is an extra class I have to take. I have an increased desire to learn more about international studies from working with the International Cultural Leadership Project (ICLP) by NCSU’s GTI and getting to know international students and their respective cultures. If I decide to pursue this minor, I end up having to take 5 3-credit courses (2 in fall 2015 --> 16 credits total [including core classes], 3 in spring 2016 -->16 credits total [including core classes]). I feel like this is too much work, especially for my 5th year, senior year.
For the Graphics Communications minor, I only need to take 4 3-credit courses (2 in fall 2015, which makes 16 total credits and 2 in spring 2016, which makes 14 total credits). I was looking at the grade distributions for the electives and they don’t look too bad (GC 320, GC 330, GC 340, TDE 230,…). I really enjoyed GC 120 when I took it last semester and want to continue with more GC courses, but I’m not so sure.
For my current course plan, I have 3 core classes and 2 PE’s in the fall (12 credits) while in the spring, I have 2 core classes and 2 electives (13 credits). Should I keep with what I have or make the effort to pursue a minor? Completing a minor could be good but I don’t know if it will be very beneficial in the future (finding a job). Will it look bad to employers that I completed my degree in 5 years with no minor?