<p>I’m a a sophomore at a university majoring in molecular biology. I have room in my future coursework so I thought I would pick up a minor or a possible double major in addition.</p>
<p>The major/minor that I’m planning is English. I always had difficulty writing essays and using advanced vocabulary in my writing. I took two english general requirement classes at my college and they were the lowest grades I received so far. However, I can see ways on how useful being adept in english can be.</p>
<p>My thoughts are that I can try really hard and eventually become good at writing essays. I want to be able to stop one of my weaknesses. However, I am also nervous that I will fail and they will just become courses I took that will lower my GPA. Any insight?</p>
<p>I realize an English major also means reading a lot of books. I’m not a huge reader right now (maybe like a book a month) but I bet I can make it a habit.</p>
<p>I personally wouldn’t if your passionate about it. It seems you just want to improve your writing skills. Maybe take an extra class or 2 to improve them, but I wouldn’t major in it if you’re not passionate/have an interest for it.</p>
<p>I’m minoring in English to complement my major.</p>
<p>Minoring in English doesn’t mean you have to do a lot of reading. At my university, there are different options for the English minor.</p>
<p>I’m doing one called writing and rhetoric. It focuses and emphasizes on report writing, business related writing, and the electives that I can select from range from journalism to public speaking courses. I went with this option within the minor to improve my writing.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t do a minor in English if I had to do literature or something like Shakespeare.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should go for it if you don’t care for it all that much… You should take courses in it to help yourself, but don’t put yourself in a situation where they’ll grade you and you fail or something. It won’t be worth the hassle.</p>
<p>I majored in Kinesiology Pre-Health Professions, a science based major, and I did terrible in science & mathematics in high school and I am doing relatively well so far. I will have to take additional science & mathematics courses if I choose to become a dentist and I feel fine about it and actually look forward to it.</p>
<p>I’m planning on a bio major, when one of the lowest grades for me in high school was chemistry both times I took it (honors then AP), but I feel like it was the teachers, as both had the same teaching style that doesn’t work well for me. I love the material I had to teach myself because I was absent…so yeah. If you have a passion for it, go for it. If you just want to try it, take a few classes first without declaring it.</p>
<p>I got a D in bio in high school and B/B+ in bio I & II in college. The difference is now I am interested in what I am learning and put effort into my studies. Plus I have to pass and do well if I want to graduate and get the job I want.</p>
<p>It’s good that you’re trying to address one of your weaknesses, but taking one or two classes that focus on writing should be sufficient. I don’t see a need to minor/major in English unless you do love reading and writing. Also, if your school has a writing center, I’m sure you can make regular standing appointments with a writing center tutor who will work with you in the long term to help you improve.</p>
<p>Most people major and minor in areas that interest them. If there are other subjects that interest you besides molecular bio, then you should explore those instead of wasting time taking classes that you don’t like. While good writing skills are definitely a plus, science writing is a whole different ball game (and I’m guessing based on your major that science writing is more likely to be a big part of your future than essays on rhetorical devices in a piece literature), and writing lit crit essays will not help you with that. Also, if you’re worried about writing personal statements for med school or grad school, then you can always go to your school’s career center for help.</p>
<p>I think there are definitely ways for you to improve your writing without the need for you to major/minor in English, especially since the kind of writing you do as an English major is very different from science writing and writing related to job hunts.</p>
<p>Well if you really want to learn smoething your bad at why not, this is where your interest is. Though if there is no good reason for you to take it, let alone your not well at it… then maybe you should reconsider.</p>
<p>If you are interested in english, minor in it. However, to improve your writing, I would alternately suggest going to your professor for suggestions and revisions. Writing for a molecular biology class is going to be different than writing a paper for your english class so it might not actually help that much if you do add it as a major/minor. Going to your professor for help would save you more time and possibly even more money.</p>