Minor in Physics?

I’m a mechanical engineering major who happens to be interested in physics. Minoring in it probably wouldn’t do much to help my career opportunities, but I’ve thought that it might be a fun thing to do. Is there any chance of it helping me in graduate school applications, or perhaps in getting jobs that are more computational/research based (as I intend to pursue)?

Would you recommend this option? I’d only have to take around 4 more courses + some pre-reqs, and I’m a rising sophomore.

(the alternatives are to minor in nothing, or in comp sci, perhaps a more pragmatic, if not more appealing option.)

The physics would be helpful if you went into materials or nano research.

Physics is a very good complementary choice for a Mechanical Engineer. Just make suer thatit does not cost you an extra semester to doit. If you can fit it all into 4 years, then it is definitely worthwhile.

@JustOneDad @xraymancs

Thanks for the feedback. Would it help for graduate school admissions at all? The conventional wisdom tells me that employers give it little to no credence - at the very least, the extra effort could easily be spent searching for internships or whatever.

It depends on what graduate program you are applying to. If it is an applied physics program then yes, if it is mechanical engineering, then it probably makes no difference.

If you do the minor in physics, you may want to choose those junior-senior level physics courses with the least overlap with mechanical engineering major courses (e.g. quantum mechanics, electromagnetism) in order to get the most learning in.