<p>I’m in Engineering, and will probably want to have a useful LSA minor. So, if I want to turn my Humanities/Social Sciences and my general electives into a minor, what’s a good thing to minor in? A Math minor would only be 12 additional credits, a Physics minor only 9, but I am thinking that employers would think that someone with an Engineering degree already has the skills a Math minor or a Physics minor would give them, so there’s not much point. So what’s good?</p>
<p>I’ve heard from many people that some type of business minor is useful in many fields.</p>
<p>It depends on what field of engineering you are in.</p>
<p>The best minors to get would be something like econ or maybe something humanities or social science. Like asian studies.</p>
<p>You should get a math or physics minor because you have little to lose, and a lot to gain. Math is more powerful than anything else really. Every class you take teaches you how to think.</p>
<p>So math although mostly not applicable in real life, by the virtue of its logic-strengthening properties, will help you make correct life decisions?</p>
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<p>You think math isn’t applicable in real life?! Seriously? And I suppose Asian Studies is…? And what, if anything do you mean by “virtue of its logic-strengthening properties”?</p>
<p>most people only use basic math. No need to learn advanced Math unless your job actually involves math.</p>
<p>A math minor and physics minor is almost useless when it comes to engineering. This is because engineering already encompasses the ideas of math and physics, and taking a few more classes won’t make a huge impact on your career. However, a minor that shows another side of a student [like an economic interest, history interest, political science etc] will show that the student has more than the intellect needed for their career. As an engineer, there are other minors you can pursue such as the international minor, multidisciplinary minor, or entrepreneurial minor. These minors are looked at pretty nicely for they show companies that a student has been involved outside of the course curriculum to enhance engineering abilities. Also you can pursue a minor in electrical engineering if your majoring in something like chemical or civil that is far off from the electrical side.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.engin.umich.edu/bulletin/uged/coeminors.html[/url]”>http://www.engin.umich.edu/bulletin/uged/coeminors.html</a></p>
<p>Also, learning higher level math is a great tool to learning how to solve complex problems in the real world. You may never directly use things like Fourier analysis or Matrix algebra in the future, but the learning process that you must go through will undoubtedly help you develop higher level learning skills that use logic, creativity and analysis. Nonetheless, engineers will receive this skill through their own courses so it is not highly looked upon by companies to get a math minor. What companies would rather have, is a bit of diversity in a person’s application… for instance saying that you’re good at “psychology and engineering” is more interesting than “math and engineering”.</p>
<p>I’m probably going to do the Entrepreneurial minor, but that doesn’t use any LSA credits. I’m trying to figure out a good LSA minor which I can get using mostly the humanities and social science credits I have to have. Is Psychology a good one though? Is Econ better or worse? What about Philosophy? I mostly realized it wouldn’t have been worth it to get a math minor (as well it would be under general electives) but how are the others. </p>
<p>Foreign languages and political science wouldn’t be things I want to do. I’m really not a humanities person, I think I could find a number of the social sciences interesting enough to take multiple classes on them though.</p>
<p>I don’t know what engineering I want to do yet, but it will probably be one of:</p>
<p>Chemical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Computer Engineering
Computer Science
Industrial and Operations Engineering
Materials Science and Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Environmental Engineering</p>
<p>Which I know is a rather broad list.</p>
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<p>I totally disagree with this. Of course, I don’t have any proof other than my own experiences to the contrary, but I’d be curious to see how you can justify this.</p>
<p>Diversity is not seen as necessary or even good as far as I can tell, by either companies or grad school. Of course companies are interested in soft skills - the ability to communicate, to take leadership, and so on, in additional to technical skills. However, these things cannot be gained through a LSA minor, which essentially is nothing more than a couple of intro classes. A psychology minor could in no way demonstrate being good at psychology. Even a major in LSA couldn’t do that - maybe a PhD would.</p>
<p>Here is a crazy idea: how about something you are actually really interested in besides engineering/math?</p>
<p>Companies are not going to care less about your minor. Use this as an opportunity to expand your mind and learn something cool. Aside from vocational or job training, that is the main point of spending the time and money going to university.</p>
<p>I’m going for job training. Your idea is too crazy.</p>
<p>Okay then, how about environmental science/studies as an LSA minor. Or something that you could use in an EHS (environment health and safety) setting. Lots of engineering work still avail in this field. The ES or health specific minor would be good vocational training for any type of engineering you take.
Plants, sites, rigs et al all have to deal with EHS.
Just a thought.</p>
<p>–Eg. good combo for example in the energy industry would be Chem Eng. with min in envir sci or bio. You see what I mean? Then you have the flexibility to work in EHS if desired.</p>
<p>Look into history as a LSA minor. Certain courses are SS and others are HU and be a good way to use your distribution requirements.</p>
<p>“I totally disagree with this. Of course, I don’t have any proof other than my own experiences to the contrary, but I’d be curious to see how you can justify this.”</p>
<p>1) Well first of all, most math minors only require 1-3 more courses than the engineer’s specified curriculum. To say that a couple extra courses makes a deep impact on your resume is not true. And companies do know this because of the amount of people partaking in math and physics minors.</p>
<p>2) It is much more interesting in a students application to show that you are involved in things other than your major courses. The environmental minor, now that i think of it, is a great minor to give an example. As an environmental minor, you can show a company that you have potential to engineer in a different mindset than you’re peers. Having different mindset often leads to distinguished products and/or designs. Another example: having an asian studies or asian language minor will acknowledge strength in international affairs; companies might use this for oversea trips/conferences. Math minor or physics minor? not too much of a broad scope there since most engineers already have that skill.</p>
<p>Well, not that anyone cares, but I plan on majoring in CS and minoring in Astronomy because Astronomy is something I’ve always wanted to learn more about.</p>
<p>Anyone know if this will be a good idea? Or will it be too much work for little reward?</p>
<p>Minor in a foreign language. It will get you to fluency without reading all the useless literature that you have to read if you major in a foreign language. It’s good for business.</p>
<p>I just had a long discussion with my sophomore D about this very thing yesterday, though she’s in a different major. She’s been taking advantage of UROP, LSA and study-abroad advisers to help her focus on an academic plan. She also plans to speak to career services before making final decisions about when/if she should do an internship. I’m very impressed with the suggestions she’s been given and even more so that she’s planning ahead like this. </p>
<p>My suggestion is to take advantage of the advising resources that are in your department as well as outside it (LSA and career services). They can look at what courses you’ve taken and based on your interests, give you some suggestions for minors that would stand-out to prospective employers. </p>
<p>Otherwise, there have been some excellent suggestions posted here such as the environmental sciences or business minor. Another idea for you would be communications. I’m not an engineer, but have worked closely with them most of my professional life, and my observation is that the one’s who are successful have excellent communication skills. Regardless of what you decide to minor in, make sure you develop good writing and public speaking skills through courses or activities.</p>