<p>Do you think a minor means anything to post-graduate schools or employers? For now, disregard the importance of specific minors to specific fields and assume that all minors are equal to each other and to each field in importance, and assume that we are talking about initial reactions from post-graduate schools and employers upon learning that the candidate participated in a certain minor, as opposed to the actual usefulness that the participation of the minor would have in a post-graduate school or job after being accepted or hired.</p>
<p>You asking us to ignore the thing that can make a minor appealing; it's usefulness or applicability to your interests and career plans. That's like saying "is a major useless; not any specific major, just a major."</p>
<p>I think for an Engineer, a minor in dance would not especially impress employers, but a minor in english or communication might show that you have useful skills some Engineers don't. And if you're a theater major a dance minor would definitely not appear useless.</p>
<p>I really think context is everything, you have to know how to sell yourself.</p>
<p>I'm interested to hear people's takes on this as well.</p>
<p>From everything I have heard and experienced, useless. As my academic counselor put it, "They don't look at your major (excepting technical fields, like Biology if you're going into medicine) and they're sure as heck not going to care about your minor." </p>
<p>You can list relevant course experience on your resume, and it actually looks better (more specific) than a minor. Like if you're an econ major with lots of math coursework, you don't have to get a minor in order for your employer to see that - just mention it, and point them to your transcript. Or if you really want to portray yourself as well-rounded in a specific subject area, spend the time doing an internship in that area, not getting a minor. </p>
<p>It's not like minors hurt, I know people who wound up simply having enough credits for a minor and they took it. But I wouldn't push yourself to get one, and definitely not risk lowering your GPA.</p>
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I really think context is everything, you have to know how to sell yourself.
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<p>this too</p>
<p>I got a minor in Physics to compliment my Materials Science & Engineering degree. I hadn't originally planned on getting it, but when I realized that many of the electives I wanted to take were within the physics department, I checked and it turned out I only needed one more class in order to get my minor. Took it (a lab class), it was an easy A, and gave me my minor. It was mentioned to me by a few professors I had met with while visiting graduate schools, so they definitely did notice it, and I think it helped me get into my current grad school (Caltech).</p>
<p>I'm planning on majoring in economics but am also interested in philosophy. If I minor in philosophy do you think it would relate enough to economics to actually be beneficial?</p>
<p>even if it's not practical...maybe just take a minor because you, uh, actually like the subject?</p>
<p>i'm in electrical engineering, and while it would only take me 4 more classes for a math minor (6 or 7 for a double major...) and just 3 for a physics minor, i'm considering letting those easy opportunities slide to get a music recording or even a philosophy minor. for the hell of it. (and for the fact that my senior year wouldn't be full time if i didnt hahaha.)</p>
<p>I would think that any foreign language minor would be looked upon pretty highly if it made you at all knowledgeable in another language. Employers are always looking for bilingual people, or even people who are at least conversational/somewhat advanced (not necessarily fluent), especially in highly international languages (french/spanish/chinese) or other really useful languages in today's world (arabic, for example).</p>
<p>Yeah... I think a foreign language minor is probably something you can really sell (just like proficiency in more than one language in general would look really good.)</p>
<p>Especially if you match it with your major (Spanish or a regionally-spoken language, or even ASL for a med student.)</p>
<p>@ xanthom</p>
<p>A minor is not useless. Although I was a double major, minors can be very useful to future employers who want someone who has creativity and interesting hobbies. Sometimes the minor can help in graduate admissions too if it's something you want to study related to your major.</p>
<p>A minor is not useless at all if it can complement to your major. People who take a minor to show that they have a competency or proficiency in another field besides their major are fooling themselves. A minor in something does not really qualify you to work or intern in a field. I used my minor to complement and enhance what I was already learning. I major in hospitality administration and took a major in business administration to learn some more of the business skills and perspectives that I would need if I end up in that area of hotel business. A minor in a language can also be helpful. However, a bio or journalism major taking a minor in art history would only do so for their own personal enjoyment. So, no, a minor is not worthless if you use it correctly.</p>
<p>Glad to hear about the foreign languages. I plan to double minor in German and International Engineering: it's funny, the requirements for this are essentially take a language, study abroad, and finish your engineering... exactly what I was going to do anyways! :)</p>
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People who take a minor to show that they have a competency or proficiency in another field besides their major are fooling themselves. A minor in something does not really qualify you to work or intern in a field.
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<p>That's quite a generalization. I was once exploring a technical field that's generally filled with engineering majors, but I was told that my math minor indicated a sufficiently technical background (I had a humanities major). Now, I'm not actually sure that that was a true claim under the circumstances, but the person telling me this did hiring in the field, so the important point is that it would have been enough to have caught her eye!</p>
<p>I knew a bio/pre-med student with a studio art minor, and she's planning to do medical illustrating. I also knew an environmental major with a music minor. After a few years of work relevant to her major, she changed her mind and decided to pursue a masters in music. She didn't have the experience necessary to enter her desired program as a grad student, but she was able to enter as a third year undergrad (so yes, having a music major would've made the path easier, but that was never an option for her...at least having a minor was helpful). I knew a computer science student with a music minor who was interested in computer music, and a pre-architecture student with a dance minor who did a fair bit of research regarding dance studio + performance space design (I think she carried this research interest into grad school, but I'm not positive). </p>
<p>I'm not saying that all minors are useful, just that whether they are or aren't isn't merely because they're minors. It might be the particular combination that's eye-catching, or maybe it's your specific intentions. Maybe you're just good at selling yourself. The point is that *context<a href="and%20that%20includes%20coursework,%20relationship%20to%20your%20major,%20your%20own%20intentions,%20etc.">/i</a>, more than anything else, is what determines the answer to the OP's question.</p>
<p>What would be a good compliment to a History Major? English, Pre-Law, and PoliSci, possibly economics are minors I'm possibly aiming at. Any others of note?</p>
<p>A minor says that you took five or so classes in a subject...hardly worth it to go out of your way if you don't want to. If it isn't education or a foreign language then no one will care.</p>
<p>I need to take 10 courses in order to get a minor at my school, so I'm not even going to bother.</p>
<p>Having said that, I guess I'm sort of against minors. IMO, grad schools don't care. If you're going to be doing research in protein-protein interactions, a physics minor probably isn't going to help you with anything. As for securing employment, I would say many don't care (besides knowing that you have interests outside of your major). Some jobs don't even care what your major is, and others state that you should have so-and-so major OR a major in a related area.</p>
<p>Minors aren't useless, but I think they're overrated.</p>
<p>maybe it is just my school or my major, but I am forced to minor in some engineering technology program :shrug:</p>
<p>I've looked at the classes that i can choose to minor in, and it seems to be the core topics of that subject. I don't know how employers will view a minor, but you will def be familiar with another field that can be related to your major. This could be a benefit for yourself.</p>
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Having said that, I guess I'm sort of against minors. IMO, grad schools don't care. If you're going to be doing research in protein-protein interactions, a physics minor probably isn't going to help you with anything.
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<p>A number of professors I interviewed with at graduate schools commented on how my choice of physics classes for my minor complimented my interests within my major (Materials Science), and how it made me a better candidate for joining their lab.</p>