| | |  | 
08-01-2007, 01:18 AM
|
#1 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Threads: 36
Posts: 136
| what are the benefits minoring for one majoring in engineering?
Does it help you get into grad school?
Does it help at all in landing a job?
anything else? | 
| | |
08-01-2007, 05:37 AM
|
#2 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Threads: 2
Posts: 195
| Minors don't really matter. It has very little effect on graduate school admissions. It doesn't help too much in landing a job either. You are going to be hired for your ability to do a single job. My undergraduate engineering minor doesn't even appear on my diploma... it is a mere footnote on my transcript. I rarely even mention it.
However, that is not to say they have no utility. They are good for your own benefit. It is certainly very highly recommended that you minor in math. It will help you tremendously in all aspects of engineering work.
Again, in reference to my reply to you in another thread, for example, if you have a passion for cars or HVAC, then it might be beneficial for you to minor in aerospace engineering with a focus on low speed aerodynamics. It might make you marginally more employable, but it will not be any overruling factor. If you are an ME with a minor in EE, you will not be hired for your EE skills.
Overall minors are near the bottom of the list when it comes to importance. How you dress and present yourself at the interview will be much more important than any minor you achieved. | |
| | |
08-01-2007, 09:35 AM
|
#3 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Threads: 36
Posts: 136
| much thanks sky. I had that impression about minors but wasn't sure. | |
| | |
08-01-2007, 09:22 PM
|
#4 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Threads: 4
Posts: 260
| The benefits would be mostly intangible. It could help you better prepare yourself for interdisciplinary positions and grad school programs. It could also give you a way to transition to other types of jobs, but to a lesser extent. It probably won't earn you an extra dime. It could give you a competitive edge, though, all other things being equal. | |
| | |
08-03-2007, 03:18 PM
|
#5 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Threads: 6
Posts: 45
| Daughter is majoring in chemical engineering and minoring in bioengineering. She is hoping this gives her an edge in this biotech/pharmaceutical types of industries in the future. It is difficult to know, however, if this really will happen. In any case, she is enjoying the extra classes although her credit load is high. | |
| | |
08-03-2007, 03:31 PM
|
#6 | | Member
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: (Won't come back till December 2009)
Threads: 58
Posts: 971
| Just_A_Mom, most ChemE programs already offer a concentration in Bioengineering, ask her to look into that too if she's interested in working with the Biotech industry. Just interested, where does she go? | |
| | |
08-03-2007, 03:41 PM
|
#7 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Threads: 6
Posts: 45
| She goes to UIUC. She will be a senior this fall and has one requirement left to get the minor--so she will likely follow through on this plan. | |
| | |
08-03-2007, 03:47 PM
|
#8 | | Member
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: (Won't come back till December 2009)
Threads: 58
Posts: 971
| Oh UIUC awesome. They offer a Biomolecular concentration to be exact. Do you mind PMing me her stats if she was OOS?
Thanks | |
| | |
08-04-2007, 08:59 AM
|
#9 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Threads: 14
Posts: 196
| what about double major?
is it different from the combination of one major and one minor? | |
| | |
08-07-2007, 03:19 AM
|
#10 | | Member
Join Date: May 2006 Location: CA
Threads: 6
Posts: 592
| benefits...hmm...maybe you get to learn something besides differential equations? 
honestly. i'm an EE student and i'm planning on minoring in Music Recording...not exactly the most career-oriented decision (though i would really enjoy a career in the music industry), but music in general (and especially recording) is one of the things that i just genuinely love to learn about. and now that i'm in college, there are actually classes i can take in it. | |
| | |
08-08-2007, 10:32 AM
|
#11 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Threads: 4
Posts: 127
| Doing just a minor may not really help you other than the "intangible" benefits , but there are many combinations which make you a far better candidate for jobs and graduate school. Example: EE and Computer Science(Big advantage of having added programming skill) , Computer Science and Math(Very helpful in finance and statistical jobs) , CS and Art(Videogames!!) , ChemE and Biomed(Big bonus for grad school and pharma sector).. The list is endless. If you have diverse interests a minor is a great way to showcase your capability in something that you are interested in and definitely gives a you an advantage if you are looking for a mixed job profile/ grad school opportunity. | |
| | |
08-08-2007, 11:11 AM
|
#12 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: New York City
Threads: 466
Posts: 3,227
| What about AERSP and IST minor? | |
| | |
08-08-2007, 05:29 PM
|
#13 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Threads: 13
Posts: 130
| A computer science minor is great with any engineering major. | |
| | |
08-08-2007, 05:51 PM
|
#14 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: New York City
Threads: 1
Posts: 1,386
| Quote: |
A computer science minor is great with any engineering major.
| I'll second that. Nowadays, each of the major engineering fields have some aspect of it where some programming ability would be helpful. You can certainly get along just fine without it though too, so you wouldn't be at a disadvantage either. | |
| | All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:55 AM. |
College Confidential is dedicated to providing the best free college admissions information available on the Web, through our many articles and this discussion forum.
