Currently, I’m a CS major, and I’d like to take on a liberal arts major. Ultimately, I plan to go to medical school, so I’ve already finished those required courses. I chose CS as a backup in case I don’t get accepted. As far as the additional major is concerned, I’ve narrowed my choices to Romance Languages (Spanish and Portuguese), Economics, Philosophy, Communications, and Sociology. I’m looking for one that compliments CS and will give me additional “soft skills”. Which might be best?
Well, probably a biased opinion here, but Computer Science + Economics would open up a few more doors than, per se, Philosophy or a language. Yes, it is good to know another language, no doubt about it. But in the end, the jobs you’re interested in most likely won’t require you to know more than English.
I don’t know what you mean by “soft skills”. Computer Science is already enough to major in, and any additional majors won’t really hurt, but at the same time they won’t really do (a lot) better paycheck wise (at least from my experience).
Economics might very well make you a better candidate when applying to a hedge fund or something, but more than that is really (just) paper.
Sorry if that bursts your bubble or so, but Computer Science is already a strong major. I’m not entirely sure why you plan on going to med school with a CS degree in your hands - you would be losing out on a good income, even as a beginner. The average salary for a software developer in the US is about 80k.
If you already finished your premed reqs, and your grades are over 3.5, and you REALLY want to take something else- I’d go for Finance (which is not on your list) or its closest cousin (Econ). As a doctor, you will likely have your own business, so having business skills is great. Spanish is also a good choice.
Or just major in something you really love- with CS and your premed reqs covered, you are set for Plan A and Plan B, so not sure why you want to pile on another major. Just take courses that interest you and forget about extra degrees.
Of those listed, if you are trying to build soft skills then communications is probably best, assuming it involves personal communications and not just digital or broadcasting. You want something where you are interacting with people. Sociology maybe, but I’m less certain about that.
How about a minor in something related to public speaking, (people) networking, etc. A general business major or minor might get you there, especially if you can choose econ, communications, etc., as class options.
The languages maybe, if you are doing a lot of speaking/interacting, and not just the literature or grammar side of it.
Depends on the job. Imagine natural language processing and localization in the tech and games industry, for example. There are lots of localization jobs and they’re hard to fill because of the necessity of CS + a solid grasp of a language.
I agree with the advice to go for something you really like/love. None of these choices is a bad one, particularly since you are already majoring in CS. If you are going to do all of the work to get a double major, why not make the second one something you like?
Also, CS is a liberal arts major, too. The liberal arts & sciences include CS and math, physics, biology, chemistry, etc. What you mean is you are considering a social sciences or humanities major 