<p>I've been looking at the degree audits for my two sons who are currently in college. Son 3 starts in the fall. Son 1 could graduate by the end of summer in broadcast journalism. He would be 3 classes shy of a minor in mathematics. </p>
<p>From a practical, get a job point of view, that a mathematics monor could 1)set him a little apart from the rest of the kids with just the journalism major, and 2) open a door or two in a different career path should a broadcast job not be there. (it's a TOUGH industry right now).</p>
<p>So, if he pursues the minor, he graduates in a year. It's only one extra semester, but it's one semester that we would have three in college. It will probably cost about $5000 for tuition and housing etc. for that minor.... </p>
<p>Any financial aid? Would that allow you to reduce your EFC with three in school? Can he pick up one of the needed classes in summer school whilst living at home?</p>
<p>The math minor seems like it might be attractive on a resume in situations where readers would not be aware of that focus otherwise, yet I am not sure it is worth $5k</p>
<p>I think the minor is definitely worth it. My son is in a similar situation. English major who could graduate a semester early, but can get a minor in economics with one more semester. He's getting the minor. I'll never be able to retire anyway!</p>
<p>Mini recently mentioned that his D was accepted in a highly competitive PHD program due to her minor in Italian studies along with her major in Musicology.</p>
<p>I think I'm hearing what I thought I'd hear.</p>
<p>I'm the one who kinda suggested the minor in the first place, for all the reasons I listed. There are lots of math phobes in the world who just think you must be really, really smart to do math (when I was teaching French, most of the foreign language teachers thought I was some kind of freak to have gotten a math degree). It doesn't hurt to have people think that.</p>
<p>With state schools, even split among 3 kids, I don't think our family's EFC will net us any aid. We'll just do what we have to do, I guess....</p>
<p>Add me to the list supporting the minor. DW has two majors - finance and math. On at least two occasions she received interviews based on one major and then was offered a job based on the other.</p>
<p>My initial vote before I read the post would have been no, but in this case it is a good idea to have a math minor. It'll give him a lot more flexibility. You could easily get that 5000 investment back.</p>
<p>Does he have a lot of internship type experience or some other hook to make him particularly competitive in the job market?
Five years ago I would probably have thought it wasn't worth it to add on a minor.
Today, I think it is probably worthwhile.
It's "only" $5000.
The job market is rough now. Hard for new college grads to find jobs. It is my understanding that the field of journalism is being hit particularly hard.
Good luck.</p>
<p>I can sympathize w/ having 3 kids in college. Unfortunately, $ wise, none of my 3 are in state schools.</p>
<p>My S is a physics major and was a class or two short of a minor in math. I pushed him to pick up the minor. I thought having a math credential was important. Taking the extra courses did not involve an extra semester however. Ironically, he has had to stay an extra semester-- another long story I've explained on other threads.</p>
<p>I'm an academic advisor at a state school. A student recently told me she was thinking of staying an extra semester to pick up 2 minors. She is a Bio major and wants to stay for a Econ and Chem minor. My advise was that ordinarily I would say no to staying an extra semester for a minor but that given the current economy it might be good to put off graduating for a semester. (I also told her this was only if her parents agreed and were willing to continue their financial support)</p>
<p>I would also usually not recommend staying an extra semester for a minor unless it made the student much more marketable. In the OP's case, I think it does. A math minor is very desirable, especially since the major is in a very competitive field. I also think a Chem and Econ minor would make my student mentioned above more marketable given she wants to be a pharmaceutical rep.</p>
<p>I'm wondering what kind of jobs you're hoping the math minor will help with? If he wants to be a journalist wouldn't a minor specific to an area of journalism help more? Say economics for business journalism or bio for science journalism? I'd be inclined to prep to make him more desirable in the field of his dream rather than for another, seemingly practical job.</p>
<p>The op said her S was majoring in broadcast journalism. I understand this to be a very competitive field. If he wanted to go in to a specific area of broadcast journalism, I would agree w/hmom5. But otherwise, and probably in addition to, it is good to have a back-up plan given the competitive "winner takes all" nature of the profession.</p>
<p>Math "people" are considered smart (as the op also said). I had a student tell me that his father, working for IBM, said--given 2 applicants for a job w/ the same major, but 1 had more math classes, the #1 w/ more math classes would be hired.</p>
<p>In the glory days, ie before the last several months, math and physics majors were regularly hired at investment banking firms. (Please do not start blaming them for our woes) </p>
<p>So I think a math minor makes the S more marketable.</p>
<p>d also decided to undertake a minor- and hopefully it will broaden her background and make her a bit more marketable. We think she can achieve the additional credits for her minor over the next 3 semesters, but she has considered taking courses on-line through the SUNY system or doing a summer session class at the local community college. If your kids UG school is flexible, it may be possible to get these 6 to 9 credits via on-line learning or summer school.</p>
<p>but I agree, I think it may be worthwhile to pick up the math minor with adding only one additional semester at school.</p>
<p>My own experience is that studying math was how I learned to think logically and solve problems and, well, think. I think these skills are valued, and it's somewhat understood by employers that someone who has studied math may bring these skills to the table, to apply in whatever field they end up in. </p>
<p>I'd probably be supportive of ANY minor if it had the potential to make him more marketable. It's a scary place out there right now. But I'm a fan of the math thing, no doubt.</p>
<p>He has done an internship, and that led to a part time paid job in the industry. I think he'll have a stronger than average resume upon graduation, but every little bit helps.</p>
<p>It could be a moot point anyway. He has one more course required for his major after the spring semester, and it might not be offered over the summer, so he'd be there next fall anyway.</p>
<p>I think HE wants to get the minor for the same reasons. The internship taught him a lot about the industry, and it's a scary place to be looking for work right now.</p>
<p>Your DS should be applying for a job during his senior year and hopefully have at least one job offer by graduation time. If this does not happen or if the job offer(s) are not good ones definitely go for the minor. $5k is not much in the grand scheme of things. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, if he does get a good job offer I would suggest that he take it and defer the minor. A good job is worth far more in this economy.</p>
<p>To put it suscintly, suggest to him to keep his options open.</p>
<p>I've been pondering this thread for a couple of days. I'm going to be the odd man out here. We told our kids we would fund their college educations for FOUR years...period. Anything they could fit into four years was on our dime. Beyond that, they are on their own. While I would love to have my daughter complete a minor, she will be unable to do so due to the added time it would take her to complete this...and the added cost to us. Our kids knew this UP FRONT...no surprises. We put no restrictions on their college choices for undergrad school and are almost fully funding that. The idea that we could pay for an extra semester at their very expensive private schools just isn't in our reality...or theirs.</p>
<p>when it is just a handful of classes that can make the difference of obtaining a minor or even graduating on time- ya gotta remember "to think out of the box"</p>
<p>--be aware that many school systems have winter sessions or summer sessions that your kid may be able to pick-up a few credits away from the home school. We may be lucky in NYS, but alot of kids do pick up additional credits at the local community college during their summer or winter break
--be aware that many school systems have on-line studies (again SUNY has this too)</p>
<p>if your kids "home school" will accept these credits, your kid may still be able to get the coursework in within the 4 year period if they can take advantage of on line classes or winter / summer session classes. Most colleges will accept a limited amount of credits from another institution- but it probably does need approval beforehand.</p>