Our daughter, in her 3rd year of undergrad working toward a degree in psychology, with an ultimate goal of medical school, has suddenly changed her mind and decided she no longer wishes to be a doctor, but instead would like to try her hand at becoming a chef. (This sudden change has been discussed, a bit ad nauseam I am afraid, on the Parents Forum.) I am posting here because I am hoping to get some advice on the wisdom of suggesting she change her minor at this point in her undergraduate career. Her current minor is science-related and would have little use in the business world, but made perfect sense for a premed. Now that she is no longer interested in medicine, would there be any benefit to switching to a minor that is more business related, which might be useful if she intends on pursuing a career in the business world, perhaps in the food and beverage industry? Or does a sudden change in coursework toward the end of an undergraduate career look bad on grad school applications? Might it be better to just graduate with a transcript that is linear, albeit clearly geared to a career in the sciences, have a year working in the real world, and then apply to graduate programs in management or business?
My son changed his major in the second semester of his 3rd year. It can be done successfully. Taking some business courses might be a good idea given her newfound interests.
It might be easier than one might think, but I know some students who switched majors ended up needing a 5th year (they didn’t have the time to overload on credits). I switched majors every year until my 3rd year, but I had the wisdom of accumulating enough general ed courses or courses that are very interdisciplinary by nature (e.g., statistics or a course related to research methods will be helpful across the board) that all that was left were 12 credits to earn a degree in my major.
My advice? I have three and a half:
- She should speak to her major advisor/advisor of any sort. I am sure they know plenty of students who have changed their mind. I have been told that your major is not as important in graduate school applications as long as you adequately (and compellingly) explain how this uniqueness in undergraduate coursework does not impede graduate training but rather enhances it.
- The psychology major is such a broad major, and she can probably stretch the merits of having taken organizational and occupational therapy courses in her application.
- Do not worry about changing what's been done. Add to it instead. If she has 90% of her minor completed, just finish what you start and perhaps see what kind of business minor lines up with what you already have.
If none of those things are helpful, taking an extra semester over the summer to still graduate within 4 years is not a bad stretch (compared to 5 years) just to complete a minor. This situation is not impossible, and I believe many students have already undertaken that.
If she’s a junior, that means she’s very close to finishing her junior year and would be a senior next year. Unless she has basically no GEs and very few major requirements to complete, that wouldn’t be enough time to complete a minor unless she’s willing to take on an extra year.
More importantly, though, I don’t think it matters. Minors don’t really matter that much to employers, and many many students go into business-related careers without having studied business. As a psychology major, many of the concepts in business will be familiar to her (since most of it is based upon concepts drawn from psychology anyway).
If she has time to take some of those classes as electives, that might be useful. But the MOST useful thing she could do is an internship or part-time job in the food and hospitality industry.
If she wants to apply to grad programs in business (MBAs) then she’ll need more than one year of work experience. 2 years is the absolute minimum, but 3-5 is recommended. And at that point, her work experience will matter a lot more. But if she wants to be a chef, then an MBA isn’t really what she needs - she needs to go to a culinary program.
At the moment she seems intent on graduating and getting a kitchen job, so I suspect the idea of being in school even longer will not be appealing. I confess I am completely bewildered by the grad school process, since I nor anyone in our family has attended grad school. I have spent the last three or four years learning the intricacies of the med school application process and know that inside and out, however that appears to be of little use now. I am concerned that if she spends a year or two working entry level jobs in the restaurant industry, that it will be difficult for her to get into many masters programs, what with letters of reference requirements and such.
This might seem banal, but why a [graduate] degree in business? If she wants to be IN the kitchen (not necessarily running the business of the restaurant itself), shouldn’t she go to culinary school at this point? If she gets a degree in business (MBA at that) for the food industry, I am pretty sure that’s not the way to be any kind of chef. I looked up some websites, and it says chefs typically get an associate’s degree in culinary arts then get an entry-level job in the kitchen before advancing to the next station (it’s a very hierarchical process).
It looks like getting a business degree in food industry would probably place her in the upper echelon of the company… I don’t see that being helpful.
I doubt it would be difficult if she takes 1-2 years off. Many students do. Professors she’s close to are unlikely to forget her in just 2 years, and there are materials they usually request to help jog the memory. I’m writing a recommendation for a student I had in class 3 years ago and I remember him very clearly.
But @SusanBarton’s thought was mine, too - an MBA wouldn’t help her be a chef so much as it would help her run the restaurant business itself.