<p>There is always so much talk about a student's "major". Let's talk about "minors".</p>
<p>What do you think a minor should be? How important is that choice? Should it complement the major? Should it be similar to a major or somehow related? Or is it not so important and could instead reflect an interest a student has?</p>
<p>A "for instance". My D's major is Public Relations. She could choose marketing, adverstising, business, or another comm selection as a minor. But she is also becoming more interested in art - history, design, etc. Not enough that she would consider a major, but she just "likes" it. </p>
<p>I think minors exist primarily as good marketing for colleges because they relieve some of the student's burden of having to choose between multiple interests. Some schools offer no minors - Harvard didn't offer them prior to last year. They're of no particular importance, though to some employers a PR major might look appealing in a resume with some marketing or advertising background. From a student development perspective, I'd go for the art minor myself. It sounds like a great way to broaden out a pre-professional major.</p>
<p>There is so much talk about "majors" because every college that I know of requires each student to declare a major (or a "concentration" at some schools like Brown). </p>
<p>I don't know of any schools that REQUIRE a minor, and I suspect that many, if not most, students don't even bother with a minor.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science does require a minor. (I don't think the rest of CMU does though.) Their thought is that computer science is an applied science and it might be good to know a bit about something else to apply it too., though they are quite happy to also just let it be an opportunity to be well-rounded too - they are quite proud of their student who minored in bagpipe performance. Most students the minor in the obvious stuff: robotics, math, physics, human computer interaction.</p>
<p>Any accredited communication school requires that students either choose a minor or double major outside of the school of communication....there are a few schools of thought on this...some say it is best to minor or double major in an area of interest that has nothing to do with your major; others say that a complimentary major/minor (like marketing) reinforces your PR background....I don't think there is a right or wrong answer; rather what your child has strong interests in...</p>
<p>But I've never met a single person who cared what another person's Minor was. (Am I just running with the wrong crowd???) So I think it's safe to chose a minor based on interest alone, as rodney suggests.</p>
<p>I'll be contrary here...of the folks I know who had minors, the major tended to reflect the realities of "I need something that will get me a job..." and the minor was "...but this is what I really love." </p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is another school that requires a minor -- and it has to be in a non-science field. S1 really liked that idea.</p>
<p>For me it was the opposite. My major was what I was really interested in -- literary theory. My college didn't have "minors", but there were enough economics/accounting courses on my transcript (6) to communicate that I had a practical side, too, and some depth of engagement there.</p>
<p>D developed an interest in Womens Studies while she was a Music History major.She did enough classes to get the Minor,noted on her diploma. It also helped her solidify her area of interest for her PhD in Musicology , which is Women and Music. She's now TA'd the undergraduate course twice and her dissertation topic is centered around a specific woman's contributions.</p>
<p>Minors aren't that important - getting one, not getting one, complementing the major or not - I wouldn't worry about it. If she wants a minor (meaning: if she's interested in a subject besides her major to take many classes in it), she should go for it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'll be contrary here...of the folks I know who had minors, the major tended to reflect the realities of "I need something that will get me a job..." and the minor was "...but this is what I really love."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>My thoughts exactly. </p>
<p>Who says a minor has to be important?!?! For me it was purely for fun. Something I enjoyed. Who cares if it's employable? (Turned out mine were, but that's beside the point.)</p>
<p>Criminy. Everything on CC is all about "How can I get in?" "What will make me look good?" "Which is better: X or Y?" </p>
<p>Stop. Breathe. Get a minor because some semester its course could be the only bright spot of all classes. </p>
<p>(BTW, my major was PR, too. I minored in Spanish and Business...just for fun.)</p>
<p>Abasket, my daughter has four minors. Freshman year she became inebriated on all the options, came home at Thanksgiving and told me that she didn't want to ever have to choose an actual major; what she really wanted was 100 minors. Initially enrolled in the college of arts & sciences, she found her way into the schools of education, architecture, engineering, computer science, music, you name it, and she fell madly in love with at least one or two courses in each school. </p>
<p>We had a talk :) - several, in fact, well into sophomore year. But she still just hated having to commit to what turned out to be two degrees, and of course the four minors. Why do I need to actually graduate with a degree??? she would ask me. LOL.</p>
<p>I ended up with a classics minor because I loved the classes, and just happened to take enough of them that I ended up with one.
S1 may end up doing the same thing, but with history.</p>
<p>My son's major is what he really loves and his minor (if he winds up doing it) is to look better on the transcript. He would double major but he's trying to avoid an advanced math course that would be required. He's still working it all out. I think he needs to figure out what will cost the most money! :)</p>