Minor versus just taking courses

Graduate School
1

<p>In a liberal arts field (poli sci, econ, sociology, etc), do graduate school admissions officers look more closely at your declared minor or your actual courseload or selection of courses outside of your major? </p>

<p>The reason I ask is this…I have the option of doing a multidisciplinary minor in international development, in addition to my poli sci degree. I’m graduating in December and it would be easier for me to take the courses I think are relevant from that program, but not adhere precisely to their requirements for the actual minor. I would actually end up taking the same basic number of courses, but one of the courses I would take is not technically included, and I would be skipping the intro level (200 level) courses in favor of additional 400 level courses in the same general area. That makes it impossible for me to actually get the minor itself.</p>

<p>So…when applying to graduate schools, a minor (I’m assuming) helps my chances, especially if it is related to the field I am applying for. But what if I don’t have a minor, but instead a rigorous courseload in the field, without an actual declared minor? Is there a significant disadvantage to this in terms of admissions decisions? I’m sure I’d learn more just taking the courses I want to take, but, of course, that is not the only consideration here.</p>

<p>Any suggestions would be appreciated.</p>

2

<p>They’re more interested in your degree and the actual coursework. Minors are just supplements. I had a minor in the same field that I’m currently doing my MA- the minor on my transcript meant nothing to the professors. They actually looked at my transcript to see what kind of breath/depth I had. I didn’t take enough courses to meet their requirements- so my minor was just… a jumping off point for my MA, not my PhD, if you will.</p>

3

<p>So, essentially, there won’t be much difference between these two options?</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Poli Sci major, Econ minor (requiring 6 total econ courses)</p></li>
<li><p>Poli Sci major, no minor (but with 4 econ courses and 2 development courses–like international health and community education for development)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Hopefully that’s the case, because option #2 will make my life a lot easier and a whole lot more pleasant.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

4

<p>This will definitely not make or break your application.</p>