Magneto

Im trying to plan my academic schedule for the next two years to graduate and since I'm essentially combining sophomore and junior years into one year as far as major courses go and not having to take so many pre reqs, I was thinking it would be a good idea. The problem comes in as to how to fit my tech electives in with it. One minor wouldnt be too terribly difficult to do, where as 2 would require a bit more moving around to do. And since none of my major classes are offered in the summer, that's not necessarily an option either.

The minors I'm considering are Spanish and Econ. Right now I have one class in each and need 4 more and the only reason I'm even considering them is because I enjoy them enough to try go into them more.

So what do you guys think?

aegrisomnia

Two minors can look like you're trying to run up the score for employers. If you're genuinely interested in both, you can try to minor... although you should plan more and see what kind of implications that has on scheduling and graduation.

Frankly, I'd recommend you consider not minoring in Spanish. If you want to learn Spanish, nothing is going to be better than going to Mexico / Spain, perhaps on a directed study. Compared to economics, Spanish is something I'd say you're better off learning on your own / outside of an academic setting. If you have an interest in culture, literature, history, etc... then perhaps minoring would sound like a better idea.

A lot of people in this forum will tell you not to do it and to focus on your engineering courses; however, exploring academic interests at college should be encouraged. Just make sure you're doing it for the right reasons.

kyoakyoa

Or you could just explore your interests by taking whichever courses you find interesting without picking up a mostly useless minor.

If you are picking up the Spanish minor to prove to employers you know Spanish, you would be better off taking a proficiency test instead. It is rather easy to go through a Spanish major without becoming fluent in Spanish, let alone a minor.

aegrisomnia

See? I told you.

Magneto

its not necessarily to prove anything. its more so for "kicks and giggles" and maybe an overall gpa booster and the fact that I enjoy spanish. But you are right though as I did think it would be useless to have a spanish minor regardless.

what about econ?

ucbalumnus

If it is purely for interest, then just take the Spanish and economics courses that you are interested in without worrying about whether they will constitute official minors, although if the selection of courses does happen to constitute an official minor, you can get it marked as such. But it is unlikely to be worth the effort to take any additional courses beyond those of your interest or cramp your schedule to make official minors.

Spanish language proficiency may be useful if you work in an area where the Spanish language is used, although this does not require a minor in Spanish. Economics knowledge can be generally useful in some business contexts, but this also does not require a minor in economics.

davidthefat

What I think of when a person wants to minor in Spanish and Economics is them being a drug cartel in Latin America...

cosmicfish

I think a lot of people in this forum (inculding me) will tell you that minors do not generally help your career, and that in most cases that time can be spent in several different ways that would be more lucrative and useful in the long run. That is not the same as telling you not to do it - it is simply matching a proposed plan to a desired result.

That having been said, I do not think that logically there is a good reason for taking the minors (either), but if that is what you want, go for it. There are many reasons to like having the minor(s), and if those reasons are yours, it is your decision to make. Just be aware of why you are doing it, and what it might cost you.

aegrisomnia

^ I'd say that falls under the umbrella "right reasons" clause.

Magneto

I think I see your guys point. I always thought that minors/double majors made people more marketable (at least thats what I was always lead to believe) but thinking about it, it makes sense that it wouldnt seeing that its more of dividing time between two different subjects and not being sharp in one or the other.

I think I'll go ahead and drop Spanish (since I would have to get through Intermediate spanish to do it and that doesnt appeal to me too much). My school is starting up some new econ courses so I was going to take those as the semesters roll on.

I just felt that it would be something to do to give myself academic variety while enduring two more hard years. who knows...

ucbalumnus

That may be true in certain specific situations (e.g. math/statistics/economics if you are targeting actuarial or quantitative finance work, or nuclear/electrical engineering if you are targeting nuclear electric power generation), but not so much in general.

Magneto

So out of curiosity, what minors usually accompany something like Chem E?

aegrisomnia

Math, physics, biology and chemistry seem reasonable. Other pointers...

(1) Do not minor in anything to look better to employers. Take the time you would have spent minoring and do an internship, co-op, undergraduate research, volunteering, etc.
(2) I sincerely recommend not cherry-picking courses if your goal is to gain exposure to a field you're interested in. If you're taking one class in another department because it will be useful/interesting, that's different; but don't choose 2-3 courses and then assume people will recognize that you have any significant exposure to the other field.

ElevateMeLater

Many ChemE's get minors in Chemistry (very popular), Math, MS&E, CS, or Biochemistry. Usually, this is to help gain an advantage in employment for a particular industry or field (i.e. MS&E might help someone looking to get into the polymer industry, Chemistry might help someone who wants to get into pharma or chemical manufacture, etc.)

Also, I want to say that ChemE curriculums are notoriously time consuming and packed to the brim with courses. Adding a minor to your academic plan could potential affect your GPA and cause you to graduate later. Like aegri said above, an internship/co-op can be much more effective than a minor in showing interest or proficiency in a particular field.

utche11

I don't think many chemical engineers minor in chemistry. It adds nothing to your resume since every chemical engineer has to take tons of chemistry whether they minored in it or not.