Do minors matter at all?

[markovchn123]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if med schools care about minors, and if it helps to have one. I'm currently a minor in math and have taken a lot of math courses but I don't know if any med schools like to see students taking extra courses. I know math is useless in med school but does having a minor help at all? I'm saying this because I have the chance to add another minor and finish it on time but I don't know if I should go through all the effort of taking 3 extra courses if it has diminishing returns.

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[piii]

They don't care

 

[Med Ed]

I was just wondering if med schools care about minors, and if it helps to have one.

Our concern over them is minor.

 

[Danbo1957]

Minors don't really matter; but, if you have a foreign language, foreign studies, or a science/humanities/fine art as a minor, I'll take note of it...

 

[TheVirg]

I was asked about my minor in passing but I think that's mostly because it was part of my "why medicine". If you're concerned about diminishing returns it's probably not worth it as the other posters said.

 

[Goro]

Nope.

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if med schools care about minors, and if it helps to have one. I'm currently a minor in math and have taken a lot of math courses but I don't know if any med schools like to see students taking extra courses. I know math is useless in med school but does having a minor help at all? I'm saying this because I have the chance to add another minor and finish it on time but I don't know if I should go through all the effort of taking 3 extra courses if it has diminishing returns.

 

[Law2Doc]

Not worth the time, unless it makes your parents proud. Your med school won't care.

 

[Ochemphd]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if med schools care about minors, and if it helps to have one. I'm currently a minor in math and have taken a lot of math courses but I don't know if any med schools like to see students taking extra courses. I know math is useless in med school but does having a minor help at all? I'm saying this because I have the chance to add another minor and finish it on time but I don't know if I should go through all the effort of taking 3 extra courses if it has diminishing returns.

I have known a math minor to help a friend land a non healthcare-related consulting job (came up as a plus in his interview). But even for jobs like that, there are better uses of your time. However, If you want a more interesting application to back up plans, it's not the worst thing.

 

[Psai]

They care about them at washu

 

[prehealthadvisor55]

They don't even get put on transcripts at my school on the undergrad side. And my med school doesn't care either.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

They care about them at washu

Too soon

 

[Glandzburg]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if med schools care about minors, and if it helps to have one. I'm currently a minor in math and have taken a lot of math courses but I don't know if any med schools like to see students taking extra courses. I know math is useless in med school but does having a minor help at all? I'm saying this because I have the chance to add another minor and finish it on time but I don't know if I should go through all the effort of taking 3 extra courses if it has diminishing returns.

If you are getting the minor solely to make your application look better, don't; it won't help. Only pursue the minor if you are actually interested in the required courses.

 

[SpottyGlassware]

Minors don't really matter; but, if you have a foreign language, foreign studies, or a science/humanities/fine art as a minor, I'll take note of it...

In what way? Hopefully positive? I'm a Spanish minor.

 

[Danbo1957]

In what way? Hopefully positive? I'm a Spanish minor.

Yes, positive; especially foreign language minor.

 

[Bones 2020]

Minors don't really matter; but, if you have a foreign language, foreign studies, or a science/humanities/fine art as a minor, I'll take note of it...

I minored in Spanish and studied abroad in Spain to become more fluent, and yes I was asked in my interviews about speaking spanish

 

[Prilozack]

Our concern over them is minor.

What would be more preferable: a minor in Spanish or helping in Hispanic communities, teaching classes, mission trip to their countries etc.?

 

[prehealthadvisor55]

What would be more preferable: a minor in Spanish or helping in Hispanic communities, teaching classes, mission trip to their countries etc.?

I think proficiency in the language is what matters. If you have that, and do the latter, that would look great to schools that have patients from similar populations.

 

[Lucca]

It should matter to you if you want to do one, won't make a difference for admissions. (Although I'm sure schools who see a lot of Spanish patients would be happy to have someone familiar with Spanish)

 

[SpottyGlassware]

What would be more preferable: a minor in Spanish or helping in Hispanic communities, teaching classes, mission trip to their countries etc.?

I try to do a bit of both, although I haven't been the best at keeping up with volunteering in the Hispanic community. I'll also be studying abroad in Spain this summer! I don't know how relevant my minor will ultimately be to me since I want to do MD/Ph.D. and will probably spend more time doing research than interacting with (potentially) Spanish-speaking patients. Regardless, I love Spanish, and learning foreign languages is good for your brain, so I don't see it ever being a negative thing.

 

[Ismet]

It can be a good talking point for interviews. I minored in music and had a lot of music-related ECs and it was a big talking point in my med school interviews. My stance is that if you're interested in something and taking classes in that something will get you a "minor" affiliation, then just do it. In my case I just had to take a couple extra classes in addition to what I was already doing. Don't pursue a minor just because you think it would look good, because in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter.

 

[TallPreMed]

Well when majors don't even matter, as long as you take the prereqs... So I really doubt minors matter. My degree was based in communication, with health communication, and psychology as minors. I do expect to at least keep up to date with those topics and be able to talk about them without sounding like an idiot should I be interviewed and asked about them.

 

[ThoracicGuy]

What would be more preferable: a minor in Spanish or helping in Hispanic communities, teaching classes, mission trip to their countries etc.?

Medical mission trips are not generally viewed all that favorably by adcoms...

 

[nwts]

I saw the thread title and thought it was asking if persons under the age of 18 matter...

 

[Glandzburg]

I saw the thread title and thought it was asking if persons under the age of 18 matter...

I too misinterpreted the thread title. In college, some people would refer to underage drinking tickets as "minors" for whatever reason...

 

[mr.mkitty]

I have a personal experience in which a minor did help me (n=1 so yeh you interpret it however you'd like).
Anyways, one of my interviewers was incredibly interested with my vaccinology minor. He wanted to know what all it entailed, ect.
It ended up becoming quite a good conversation which segwayed into the rest of 'me.'
So, I think in select situations it can help, but not to the extent that an interviewer looks at it and says, "WOW, they have a minor in *whatever*." More of a conversation tool.

 

[whatever5]

Considering your major doesn't matter, what do you think?