Hey, I’m a freshman and I’m pretty sure I want to major in Physics. But I also want to study Psychology. So I was thinking of a Physics Major with a Psychology Minor. Is this combination valid ie. appropriate for grad school or employers as I plan to go into research. Alternatives include a math minor or just plain Physics. Is a Psychology Minor a viable option or am I better off taking just a few classes instead of a minor. TIA
minors have no bearing on whether you get into a graduate program or not. Your major is all that counts. For physics, you need to make sure that your minor does not involve cutting back on important core physics courses. You need to have a full year of Classical Mechanics, Electrodynamics and Quantum Mechanics to best prepare yourself for a physics graduate program.
A minor won’t necessarily have an effect on admissions. If one is applying to grad school for astrophysics, and majored in physics with a minor in astronomy, it’s going to potentially make a difference. A psychology major isn’t really related to a physics major in any sense, so it’s not going to help it. However, it’s not going to make it any worse either, as long as it didn’t prevent you from taking the important core courses in your major.
Can I take a few classes of Psychology without having to major or minor in the subject itself? All the colleges I applied to are liberal arts colleges.
Of course, you will have to take about a year’s worth of general education courses and it is likely that you can choose several psychology courses for this requirement.
You can absolutely take psych courses without minoring in it. I was able to easily fit-in two psych classes when I studies physics and could have taken more.
@NHuffer @xraymancs @comfortablycurt Thanks guys!