Hey guys, lately I been going through a dilemma of choosing a minor. I’m in my second year of college and a major in mechanical engineering. I really want to create my own business but I don’t know what major would help me the most. I have three choices that I’m stuck deciding: computer science, general business, or entrepreneurship. I wanted to do programming because it’s really interesting to learn, I can work from home, and I don’t have to rely on other people to build the software part of a business. Business is what I heard is the most helpful and beneficial minor but I was really interested in entrepreneurship minor as well because I just want to learn, observe, and experience what I’m about to get myself into. I don’t know what would be best for me. I’m actually just reconsidering my major from mechanical to computer science and just thinking about business or entrepreneurship as my minor.
I was wondering if I could get some feedback and advice to move forward with this situation. Also, I want to hear different peoples experiences as well.
OP said: I really want to create my own business but I don’t know what major would help me the most. I have three choices that I’m stuck deciding: computer science, general business, or entrepreneurship.
I would like to chime in: So after graduation, you can only work ONE JOB. No you can not do computer science from home and at the same time will do mechanical engineering job.
So, if you like computer science then change your major into Computer Science. If you do computer science then you can not do Accounting, Finance, Sales and Marketing, business admin etc (all business jobs, 9 to 5) at the same time.
Do you like sales jobs? then just quit college since most of the sales jobs only require high school. Wait for Sales engineer jobs, you need Engineering Degree too I think, maybe I am wrong.
Indeed you can do two “jobs,” one in ME and one in computer science. I have some friends doing just that. They have engineering day jobs and they are working on several different start ups together on their own time, one a learning algorithm with a specific purpose. Sorry though, I can’t say what degree options would suit you best, as it’s very personal, and dependent on the degree curricula your specific school offers.
Wow. I guess you can do two jobs doing Mechanical Engineering jobs and at the same time monkey around in source code, do debugging, at another job and doing it at the ME company’s time?..I have never heard of that but I guess to each-each own. Try it first, and if it is not successful let us know.
But, lots of post in here, they always say: Double degrees, dual degrees are not recommended. Maybe, they are wrong? who knows?
There is generally not much benefit for an engineering student to add a 2nd major (usually very hard) ore a minor. (Read more about it on other Engineering threads). So if you have flexibility for electives, consider adding a combo of courses that support your interests.
I don’t believe any of the guys I referenced have duals or minors, just broad experience. They’re MEs by training with varying levels of graduate work.
I have a story to tell. My son had a roommate in college. He studied only computer science and my son’s major was Mechanical Engineering (and physics for 3+2 programs). However, his roommate loved also anything mechanical from toys, trucks, submarine, etc. So, this roommate always asked my son about anything mechanical while my son also asked him about algorithm, programming, networking, anything related to computer and its usefulness etc.
One day, out of curiousity, my son asked his roommate, do you think that anyone can do algorithm and data structure by doing self-study without going to take a class? his roommate with serious face said no and although you have a good logic, you still need to attend a class (or taking some courses) in order to understand the concepts, its usefulness and know how to do it. Also, at last his roommate said: to be a good and professional coder, you need time and practice therefore you can not combine it with EE, ME, Finance, Accounting, Sales jobs. If the coding bombs aka don’t run for the job, you have to do debugging for hours and it takes time to find the root cause and its solution.
That roommate of him was so good and had internship with google two times and finally was drafted by Google and now he is at google doing what he knows best.
You are the only one who can make that decision for yourself. It depends on what you are interested in.
Minors aren’t particularly useful, in my opinion. At the end of the day, if you complete a minor, all you get is some sort of notation on your transcript to say that you did a minor. The minor does not show up on your diploma. You may be better off taking courses that you think are useful and interesting to you.
Of the one’s you listed, go with a minor in computer science.
That minor won’t be some life changing part of your resume, BUT in terms of starting a business, you will have a head start when it comes to any website or software components.
Have you ever seen shark tank? There are 12 year old kids who start businesses (not the norm, but it happens), you don’t NEED a business education at school to become an entrepreneur. If you want to learn about business, go on Amazon and type in “startup books” or “entrepreneur books” and you will have a solid business foundation right there.
In today’s world almost EVERY business will have an online component. Now while there are plenty of tools out there such as wordpress or wix, having even the tiniest amount programming experience will give you flexibility when it comes to coding a website (and of course when it comes to coding more complicated software for a business).
Some people will tell you that coding isn’t required for a startup and that’s totally true because you can always seek out help or use resources that are found online. But if it won’t increase your time in college too much (and increase your loans by a lot) then having programming experience is GREAT in the world we live in today.