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[o_rats]

Hi everyone,
As some of you know I am currently an undergrad at a CC who will be transferring to a four year very soon.  I am thinking about going into a PhD program in a biology field.  I am curious, do graduate schools look at undergraduate minors?  Will not having an undergrad minor impact me in a negative way? 

[lohai0]

I have pretty much the most irrelevant undergraduate minor to my field I could possibly have. The only reason I have a minor at all is because my undergraduate school required a minor to graduate, and it was one of the only minors I could complete in a semester. At that point, I had already been admitted to grad school with no minor on my transcript. n=1, but I don't think they are that big of a deal. However, in biology, I think you pick up a minor in chemistry almost by default, and it would not be a terrible idea to grab an applied math or stats minor either.

[glowdart]

Will not having an undergrad minor impact me in a negative way? 

No, it won't. 

And, since you're transferring, you may not have time to pick up a minor on top of a lab-based major.  (I assume you're doing the bio major). 

This whole fetish for minors is the college version of the club & activity fetish that hit high school students a while back. 

[pigou]

Even without a minor you can still highlight relevant coursework outside of your degree in your application - I wouldn't worry about it. That being said, picking up a minor can be interesting as it lets you get a little beyond the introductory survey courses.

[polly_mer]

Indeed.  No one cares about a minor at all unless it's something that will greatly help you in your new life.  

For example, if you know you want to be the kind of biochemist who approaches things from the biology side, then a sequence of courses in biochemistry could be a benefit.  However, the benefit isn't greater than taking a series of electives of any kind without an official "elective" minor like taking pick-a-mix for extra physics, math, computer programming, chemistry, environmental science, economics, or philosophy.

Take something you want to take because it's interesting and the benefits will be far greater in most cases than a random minor just to have a minor.

Of greater benefit to you later will be what graduate classes you can take because you'll have the prerequisites.  Having 18 graduate credits in multiple fields can help you land a better job.  However, again, that's less useful than getting the formal education you need to help you do wonderful research. 

[o_rats]

Thanks to everyone who replied.  It makes me feel better knowing that I don't have to have an official minor.  My first love is biology but I enjoy taking a variety of courses that don't necessarily have anything to do with biology or science for that matter. 

[galactic_hedgehog]

Take something you want to take because it's interesting and the benefits will be far greater in most cases than a random minor just to have a minor.

Or take something because it's interesting and you may never again have the opportunity to take something so cool.  Like cuneiform comic books, the classical symphony in Looney Tunes, or religion, sex, and politics in ancient India.

[chaosbydesign]

I'm posting this question here because I don't think it needs its own thread, and it's kind of related. What about grad minors? My university requires that grad students have a minor. It's not really a program requirement; it's a university-wide requirement. I've asked a few people about the minor and so far the impression I get is that they think students should just go for whatever minor requires the the fewest classes to meet the criteria for. I can take a generic basketweaving minor, which two of my current classes will count towards even though they're also core courses for my Ph.D program. This means that I only have to take one or two more classes to meet the minor requirement. There are, however, a number of other minors which are more specific, for example 'problems with baskets weaved using too many reeds' and 'the effect of damaged reeds on basket performance' which, if I choose one of them, will require me to take four or five extra classes. Is it better to have a specific graduate minor than to take a general one? Will having a specific minor in an area which is different from my primary research interests be more helpful when I am applying for jobs after I have graduated, or will people not really pay any attention to the minor?

[lohai0]

I'm posting this question here because I don't think it needs its own thread, and it's kind of related. What about grad minors? My university requires that grad students have a minor. It's not really a program requirement; it's a university-wide requirement. I've asked a few people about the minor and so far the impression I get is that they think students should just go for whatever minor requires the the fewest classes to meet the criteria for. I can take a generic basketweaving minor, which two of my current classes will count towards even though they're also core courses for my Ph.D program. This means that I only have to take one or two more classes to meet the minor requirement. There are, however, a number of other minors which are more specific, for example 'problems with baskets weaved using too many reeds' and 'the effect of damaged reeds on basket performance' which, if I choose one of them, will require me to take four or five extra classes. Is it better to have a specific graduate minor than to take a general one? Will having a specific minor in an area which is different from my primary research interests be more helpful when I am applying for jobs after I have graduated, or will people not really pay any attention to the minor?

Huh. I don't know about biology (it is biology right?). Our minors are optional and fairly useful; we can choose from stats, measurement, 2 flavors of psych, and one or two others pretty far afield from me. Almost everyone gets a stats minor, but it isn't required. I would actually be a bit irked if it was.

[chaosbydesign]

Yes, it's biology. Stats isn't actually an option. I might be tempted to take it if it was, because my stats abilities are pretty much limited to one statistical software package.

[polly_mer]

CBD, this is your life and your time.  What do you want to take that will satisfy the requirements?

Getting a minor to be qualified for a job you don't want is silly. 

Passing up the opportunity to take something extremely cool that you might want later just because it's a couple extra classes is also silly.

Of the things that are offered, which speak to you?  If none of them speak to you, then go talk to your advisor or the departmental graduate advisor about the possibility of a minor in stats.  I guarantee that you aren't the first person who decided that the standard offerings aren't particularly useful and I further guarantee that a procedure is in place for people who know what they want and what they want is a legitimate addition to their graduate studies.

This is exactly how engineer me ended up with a bunch of graduate credits in chemistry and physics.  Figure out what you want and then talk with the people who can help you get it.

[glowdart]

CBD, this is your life and your time.  What do you want to take that will satisfy the requirements?

Getting a minor to be qualified for a job you don't want is silly. 

Passing up the opportunity to take something extremely cool that you might want later just because it's a couple extra classes is also silly.

All of this (and the rest I snipped, but this especially). 

I would add:  1.  Do you need to have someone from your minor involved in your dissertation research in some way or is this just a school requirement that has no bearing on your exams/ dissertation?  Are there additional exams in the minor?  What does the minor do to your degree process & progress?  Consider this when making the decision. 

And 2.  Think about your funding situation.  If that other minor is going to take a full year of additional funding to complete and you don't have enough funding, then I would consider the minor that requires fewer classes just to get that box checked and then take individual classes (without fulfilling a minor, per se) in the other areas that you find interesting.  Or, audit them once you're dissertating.  But, if you can work it in without extending your stay or compromising your ability to be funded through the end of the program, then I also think you should take what you want.   

(Anecdote, fwiw:  A colleague did a minor that had so many pre-reqs for the classes that counted towards the minor and so many language requirements that she ended up adding four semesters to her program just to complete the minor.  She was so close to having an MA in this minor at this point that she just stuck it out and picked up the MA.  This minor, clearly, was not well-designed for people outside the department.)

[chaosbydesign]

Someone from the minor will be on my dissertation committee, yes. There is one person I would like to have on my dissertation committee who is in a different department, and to have him on my committee I would have to take the general 'science' minor. The only additional exams are exams that are related to the coursework involved -- and I have no intention of taking classes that are not either required for my program or a part of whatever minor I choose. Funding *shouldn't* be an issue unless I have to re-take any of the classes I'm taking now (which I won't have to, unless I really screw up the finals, which I won't).

I'll definitely consider asking about different minors, as the ones offered are not ones that I am all that interested in. (Well, there's one, but I think I can't have it as my minor because it's basically the same as my main field.) But I could also just go with the general minor, which doesn't require much more coursework at all. That's something that seems like a very attractive option right now, but I think that's mainly because the classes I'm taking now are so freaking intense that they're putting me off taking classes, which is probably something I'll change my mind about after next semester because there are no more classes that are this intense in the program.

[anon99]

Not all schools have minors.  As others said, take courses that interest you.

[sciencegrad]

My graduate university also requires doctoral minors, but it's possible to minor in one's major by simply taking an additional 9 credits in the department.  In fact, minoring in this way is so common in my department that the associate dean of my college forgot that was the reason why the department requires so many extra credits to graduate.  Can you do this at your school?