I’m currently a student at my local university studying “interactive media and web design”. The major requires classes in the adobe suite as well as classes on html, css, and js. I want to be a front-end developer and I’m worried that this degree won’t be sufficient enough to get me a job in that field. To fix this I’m thinking of getting a comp sci minor and adding on one semester. I could also switch to a comp sci major and have an interactive media and web design minor, but this would add two semesters and I’m bad at math but good at art.
It sounds like the CS minor would be a worthwhile addition so long as money permits. HTML/CSS/JS will be the bulk of your work as a front-end web developer, and the CS knowledge will help write better code, particularly when it comes to JS. It sounds like the CS major would be a bit much. Your degree should be sufficient - people will care much more about your skills, which you will also help through the minor. But if it would be too expensive or you do not feel the time is worth it, I think you would be okay without it in the worst case.
Employers tend to much prefer a major in CompSci if you’re looking to be a front-end developer. A compsci minor still tends to lack in terms of employers preferring actual compsci majors over someone with a minor. CompSci have deeper aspects in terms of programming and theories, Interactive Media and Web Design is just that, designing and making media. Though it’s sort of a subfield to compsci, it’s skimming the surface. You can demonstrate that you know deeper aspects of the subject when you possess a CompSci major over the one you currently have.
Furthermore, when you stated that you are bad at math but good at art, that is exactly what employers see with a CompSci minor. It’s similar to getting a BA in CompSci, you will be better at getting a job with a BS because it shows you possess more technicality.
If adding on semesters is an issue, I would look into trying to switch to a CompSci major, and see how many classes you can transfer over and ditching the Interactive Media and Web Design minor altogether and just focusing on your CompSci major might be a better option.
I’d disagree with PoofPillow in that if you’re closer to the design/UI/UX area of front-end, you very well may not want to do the jobs that would want a CS major to be done.
I would not do this, as for most programs this will cover areas that CS will not that are valuable and underrepresented in front-end developers. It depends on what type of front-end developer you want to be. I think the advice in the post above would apply to someone closer to full-stack than front-end. There are some companies that will want a CS major for their front-end positions, but there are also ones that will have positions closer to UI/UX/Designer with front-end work, which sounds like it may be more suited to you.
If you really want to specialize in UI/UX, then stick with what you’re majoring in now. This is almost a case of getting a “lesser” degree in order to do what you want, If you get a CS degree, you’ll get dragged into full-stack development, which means some of your time will be spent on the front-end, while most of your time will be on the back-end. Full-stack developers make more money than front-end developers, though.