Do minors (college) mean anything?

our country is powered by coal minors

the liquor industry is powered by minors

A Major will be worth so much more then a minor. If you can do it, I would recommend getting a B.A. But a minor is always better then nothing.

how do you get a minor with one class? At my school a minor is like 18 extra hours and you can't use a class that satisfies a requirement for your major to get it...

signing up for classes wrote:

As I said in my other thread, I'm a biology major. I'm trying to decide whether to minor in chemistry or double major and get a B.A. in chemistry. Getting the minor would only be one extra class, but the B.A. would be 16 credits more than the minor. I'm not really sure what specifically I want to do after I graduate (work? grad school? professional school?), and I was wondering if having a minor in chem would open any doors or if it'd be totally worthless.

thanks

You mean a B.S. in chemistry? The double major will probably be worth it; however, if you're considering medical school, what I would recommend would be to get the minor in chemistry then get a minor in a liberal art like philosophy/latin/english/whatever to make you "a more well-rounded candidate," as the adcoms would think (although IMO studying phil/latin/english is hopelessly worthless). Actually, get a minor in math.

Any grad school will see all the classes you take and care about that more than your major/minor. People go to med school with History majors. Any lab or job you want to work at will automatically assume a working knowledge of chemistry if you are a biology major. I do not think it adds value to have a minor in a related field. If you were also considering a future in business, a business minor might make sense. If you wanted to go to grad school in biomedical engineering a math or physics minor might help. But, again, MBA or Engineering grad school would look at what courses you've taken to fulfill their pre-reqs, not the minor. This would just show completion of some sort of breadth requirements in the topic.

They mean a lot in education. I am a HS teacher/coach and my major was sociology with a minor in US History, Philosophy, Social Sciences and Math. This opened up more doors in education as I can teach more than one subject. I am currently teaching AP US History and Global studies but have taught Economics, Street Law and lower level math courses.

A. Eating wrote:

how do you get a minor with one class? At my school a minor is like 18 extra hours and you can't use a class that satisfies a requirement for your major to get it...

Seeing that biology and chemistry are closely related, it would be hard to not use a class that satisfies a requirement for your major towards obtaining a minor unless the OP takes the really elementary classes (like the 'Applying chemistry to real life' ones) or the upper-level classes (like P-chem/A-Chem).

Gulliver wrote:

A. Eating wrote:

how do you get a minor with one class? At my school a minor is like 18 extra hours and you can't use a class that satisfies a requirement for your major to get it...

Seeing that biology and chemistry are closely related, it would be hard to not use a class that satisfies a requirement for your major towards obtaining a minor unless the OP takes the really elementary classes (like the 'Applying chemistry to real life' ones) or the upper-level classes (like P-chem/A-Chem).

Yep. My bio degree already requires Gen Chem I and II, Organic Chem I and II, and Biochem. All I'd have to take is quantitative analysis to satisfy the minor requirement.

I'm looking at the B.A. in chem as opposed to the B.S. because the B.S. is requires about 4 extra classes/labs.

It really depends what you want to do once you get out. As you might be able to tell if you're crafty, I got a bio major and chem minor. I tossed up getting the chem major too as it was only 2 more classes (i took a year of biochem because i felt like it would help if I went to med school).

As for me, it didn't really make much difference - I work in a genetics lab, and taking a year of pchem wouldn't really have helped me. If you're planning on going to med school, I would agree with the previous poster who said to do a double minor in chem and a humanites/liberal arts area. It seems counter intuitive, but it helps to differentiate yourself - if you have another interest besides science, now is the time to pursuse it.

If you're looking to go into a PhD program in something closely related to chem (e.g biochem or the like), then go for the double major.

Other than that, I would highly recommend doing a double minor in something you're interested in. You're young and you never know if you might want to change fields. This way you have a jumping off point to do something besides science if you should choose to do so in the future. Besides, this is really your only chance to get a broad liberal arts education and explore your interests.

Good luck....

Some useful replies so far. I especially like the advice that's based on one's going to med school, and the point that a variety of minors can increase one's opportunities if one becomes a teacher.

If one will be going to law school at some point, a hard-science UG major can be a help (for the possibility of patent law); an additional hard-science minor is of no particular value for the law.

Two suggestions:

1. If you have multiple options for a minor, and think you might go to some professional/grad school later, but you're not sure which: minor in something you enjoy and will get great grades in. The high GPA will give you more options later.

2. A great "default" minor is computer science. In most jobs (including athletics, by the way), being known as the department's "computer guy"--even if you're not part of the formal IT division--will make you very valuable and help insulate you against layoffs.

First, if you're getting a science degree, get a B.S. It holds so much more weight. If you don't want to take all the extra classes to get a B.S. in chemistry along with your biology degree, then do a minor.

BUT, it is also better to minor in something unrelated to your major. And a minor does help. I majored in business and minored in geology and now work as an environmental geologist off of that minor. I was also offered a management position at my old job because of my major, so doing both is definitely worth your time. Majoring and minoring in 2 different subjects makes you more valuable because you have a wider range of knowledge and skills.

Bottom line, get a B.S. in chem or a minor in something completely different.

sorry, just read that you're not sure about what you want to do after you graduate. In that case I would without a doubt recommmend a second minor in a liberal arts/humanities area over a double bio/chem major. It will leave a ton more options open.

If you are going into education why not minor in another subject so as to get dual certification. Not sure if you can still do that but I managed to get PE, Health, General Science and Biology certification out of my underegrad work.

Wanted to teach PE/Health but I am now teaching science.

A lot of liberal arts colleges grant B.A. degrees in the sciences--you can't get a B.S. At my school you can earn a B.A. or a B.F.A., but no B.S. Doesn't mean jack--lots of grads go on to major med schools.

runnergirl34 wrote:

First, if you're getting a science degree, get a B.S. It holds so much more weight. If you don't want to take all the extra classes to get a B.S. in chemistry along with your biology degree, then do a minor.

BUT, it is also better to minor in something unrelated to your major. And a minor does help. I majored in business and minored in geology and now work as an environmental geologist off of that minor. I was also offered a management position at my old job because of my major, so doing both is definitely worth your time. Majoring and minoring in 2 different subjects makes you more valuable because you have a wider range of knowledge and skills.

Bottom line, get a B.S. in chem or a minor in something completely different.