Minors are they worthless?

Getting into Med School is Hard? Not with BeMo.
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
S

Snoopy92

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
Messages
64
Reaction score
1
Do minors actually mean anything? I've noticed while searching through threads here on the forum that they show that you hold in interest in something but is that really necessary? For instance, if someone was interesting in english or computer science, wouldn't attempting to write your own book or make your own software/game be better on a resume? I'm debating about minoring for these very reason because I'm not sure if its worth the course load when you can just learn these things on your own time. Yet, many people tell me that minors will increase your salary compared to people who have the skills without the minor. So what is is better? Getting a minor or attempting to create a product using skills found within the minor/subject?
Members don't see this ad.
 
Are you posting this on the right forum?
If you mean whether if it's good for med school, the general consensus is that they don't help but they don't really hurt you either.
If you want to minor because you want to, then do it, but if you're just doing it for your application, don't, otherwise you could end up wasting time, money, energy, and also with a screwed up GPA.
 
I am not in medical school yet, so I could be completely off. I have 2 very useless majors (at least I think they are useless). I think these majors/degrees/concentrations/whatever don't directly help you, but I think they do indirectly because the skills that you acquired in other fields can help you with your application process. For example, some people have a degree in english (which is sort of similar to mine...but not really) would be able to write a stronger essay than your average biology student. You can also talk about it in your interview to make you more interesting and how it has influenced you. If I were to go back and redo my undergraduate career, I would drop one of my degrees because it was literally dead weight. I ended up doing 2 majors instead of one just so that I could be the first ever from my university to graduate with that double. I forced myself to complete a degree in a department where I didn't like the people, teachers, grading system, counselors, dean, and etc. My point is simple: Do what you love. It will all work out in the end.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Snoopy92 said:
Do minors actually mean anything? I've noticed while searching through threads here on the forum that they show that you hold in interest in something but is that really necessary? For instance, if someone was interesting in english or computer science, wouldn't attempting to write your own book or make your own software/game be better on a resume? I'm debating about minoring for these very reason because I'm not sure if its worth the course load when you can just learn these things on your own time. Yet, many people tell me that minors will increase your salary compared to people who have the skills without the minor. So what is is better? Getting a minor or attempting to create a product using skills found within the minor/subject?
Click to expand...

Minors mean nothing to adcoms. Use to time to do cooler ECs.
 
If you say "I have a huge interest in biology..bla bla bla...I enjoy bio classes cause of bla bla bla..." you could back that up with a biology minor.

If you have an interest and WANT to study it more, go after that. If you don't really give a sh** then don't do it. I have a biology minor, not because I feel that it will push me up in the ranks of med school applications...nope. I just happen to like biology, I really wanted to take the neurobiology class because I LOVE THE FREAKING BRAIN:laugh: and I needed to do prereqs to get into it so it was kind of obvious to me that I would be a bio minor.

I also love music, but that is one area where I don't want to take classes. I do not want to study the history of music or anything like that. I just like to play music sometimes and if the med school I end up attending has a band I may try out. I added this tidbit for a reason, just because you have an interest or hobby does not mean it has to become a minor. Some things ilke you mentioned are better to just go out and explore. Get a computer minor...or create a video game....I say create your own video game!Make some free online game and include that on your app, who knows...maybe the people that interview you admit they went to the website and played the game for hours ;)
 
Just browsing the thread while waiting for class to start...
At my undergrad, a minor is 12 credits. I minored in psychology (took two 6 credit courses: intro and developmental) and came out with a chem minor too (4 courses at 3 credits each). Minors are NOT a big deal at my university at all. I heard it is different at other institutions... people would have to take more credits to earn a minor. Wouldn't it be a slightly bigger deal?
 
LupaCupcake said:
If you say "I have a huge interest in biology..bla bla bla...I enjoy bio classes cause of bla bla bla..." you could back that up with a biology minor.

If you have an interest and WANT to study it more, go after that. If you don't really give a sh** then don't do it. I have a biology minor, not because I feel that it will push me up in the ranks of med school applications...nope. I just happen to like biology, I really wanted to take the neurobiology class because I LOVE THE FREAKING BRAIN:laugh: and I needed to do prereqs to get into it so it was kind of obvious to me that I would be a bio minor.

I also love music, but that is one area where I don't want to take classes. I do not want to study the history of music or anything like that. I just like to play music sometimes and if the med school I end up attending has a band I may try out. I added this tidbit for a reason, just because you have an interest or hobby does not mean it has to become a minor. Some things ilke you mentioned are better to just go out and explore. Get a computer minor...or create a video game....I say create your own video game!Make some free online game and include that on your app, who knows...maybe the people that interview you admit they went to the website and played the game for hours ;)
Click to expand...

I minored in econ because I loved it and didn't want to major in it because of all the upper level math involved. I did talk about it a little bit in interviews, too, and I actually got some positive feedback about it. I think a minor can demonstrate some of your outside interests, especially if you major in a common pre-med field like biology or chemistry.

xanthomondo said:
I think the only minor that would help you is spanish.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. This could definitely be seen positively. Plus, it's a good skill to develop as a future physician, anyway, regardless of what the adcoms feel about minors, especially for people interested in working with underserved or indigent patients.
 
Last edited:
Minors help to broaden your studies. I have found mine to be of great value even though it will not score me any extra points with adcoms.
 
Don't get tempted, they are underage.
Jk, I'm planning to do a Marine Microbiology minor because I am absolutely fascinated with marine animals and Microbiology of organisms.
 
I minored in philosophy. Specifically, formal logic. It helped a lot in both the VR and BS sections of the MCAT.

apparently I should have minored in english composition instead
 
There is no tangible bonus to your med school application from having an AA degree, but the information you obtain from earning the degree can only increase the size of your knowledge base.
 
I was going to tell you a great answer, but I figured it would be better heard from a superhero.
headerpic.jpg
 
Members don't see this ad :)
tiedyeddog said:
It won't impress anyone, unless it's in another language. That might.
Click to expand...

Or physics or mathematics :). I also think that a humanities or social science minor helps show academic depth if you are a science major. Basically, it shows that you didn't just complete the bare minimum "GE" requirements, but actually liked the subject enough to obtain a minor.

If your a job seeker, then minor in business, economics, or accounting might help you with your first position.
 
JESSFALLING said:
If your a job seeker, then minor in business, economics, or accounting might help you with your first position.
Click to expand...
You're probably right about seeking a business job, but minors are pretty worthless for medical school. Just like getting honors and double majoring is pretty worthless. It just won't add anything that equals out the money/effort it took to do...
 
Law2Doc said:
Minors mean nothing to adcoms. Use to time to do cooler ECs.
Click to expand...

Is this something you learned from personal experience? I know that some med schools say right on their websites that they do take the time to look at the individual courses you took. If you did interesting/unusual coursework to complete a minor, some schools would seem to care.
 
What is a "cooler" EC as you stated?

I think brains are cool...I made a brain image and helped my daughter label the parts and color them in. (she will be 5 next month). I thought that was . She then watched brain surgery with me online and I was grinning ear to ear when she ran up to my husband and announced "daddy, the doctors took out the white yucky stuff inside of the man's head. it was a cyst and those are bad, but the doctors made him feel better and his headaches are gone!"

To me..THAT is freaking cool, but to another they said I was a total nerd. (I don't take that term offensively btw, I said thank you)

So let us say I have kids in my daycare label the brain. I would never show them brain surgery though, that is not exactly daycare friendly. Could I classify that as a "cooler" EC? HEHE..

I am somewhat joking here, I don't really expect a legitimate response to my post. I am taking a mini break in between studying and felt like typing this.
 
JohnnyRomanes said:
Don't get tempted, they are underage.
Jk, I'm planning to do a Marine Microbiology minor because I am absolutely fascinated with marine animals and Microbiology of organisms.
Click to expand...

haha nice

i decided to do an econ minor so i can understand the decisions made by central banks and the theories that help people decide how to allocate their resources. i look at it as a for your own interest kind of thing rather than something you pursue with a concrete goal in mind.
 
Heck, half of my interviewers didn't even know I had a second major.
 
What I am trying to get across is whether or not getting a minor and that time spent is worth spent elsewhere. For instance, if I were to minor in CS would that time be better spent trying to create a game rather than minoring in it? Would just having a finished product using various skills be enough to show interviewers that you have knowledge of the subject? This is something that I have thought about all the minors that I have considered. If I were to minor in creative writing, would it be better to use that time to write a book? If I were to minor in art, would that time be better spent trying to create a portfolio to get my name across? I guess my question really comes down to whether or not minoring is worth the time. Would the time used in a minor to do other ECs like being a TA or take a leadership position while creating something that demonstrates knowledge of the subject be better than actually minoring in the subject and risking bad grades in the class/more time constraints?

Edit: I also wanted to mention that I'm not trying to only build an application for medical school but also trying to create a resume that would be allow me to be somewhat competitive in getting a job.
 
Last edited:
Snoopy92 said:
Edit: I also wanted to mention that I'm not trying to only build an application for medical school but also trying to create a resume that would be allow me to be somewhat competitive in getting a job.
Click to expand...

It is very challenging to try to prepare for a medical career and a non-medical career at the same time. I understand that you want to have a back-up career, which is wise, but you should at least try to focus more on one than the other.

Personally, I would select a major that is a good fit for your (non-medical) career goals, take the 12 or so premed requirements, and then spend the rest of the time completing ECs, interning, etc. If you end up 1 or 2 classes short of a minor, then go ahead and pick one up.....but you've got so much else to worry about that 'minoring' shouldn't even be on your radar right now.
 
JESSFALLING said:
It is very challenging to try to prepare for a medical career and a non-medical career at the same time. I understand that you want to have a back-up career, which is wise, but you should at least try to focus more on one than the other.

Personally, I would select a major that is a good fit for your (non-medical) career goals, take the 12 or so premed requirements, and then spend the rest of the time completing ECs, interning, etc. If you end up 1 or 2 classes short of a minor, then go ahead and pick one up.....but you've got so much else to worry about that 'minoring' shouldn't even be on your radar right now.
Click to expand...

I strongly agree with what you say and much of it is true of what I am trying to do which is why I'm here asking for advice from people who might have had "real world" experience. I really want to to become either a doctor or something along the lines of pharmacology (pharmacist, medicinal chemistry, etc), however at times I think to myself what if I don't get into any of these programs, or if they're truly not what I want to do, what will I do then? This question stresses me out since I've been looking at salaries (I know money isn't everything however it is a big part) and for most biology majors the only thing waiting for them after college is unemployment or more school. That is why I've come to the conclusion that I need to have a marketable skill whether it be CS (which I think is very useful, however, have never tried it) or something it else. With a biology major and a CS minor it is possible to go into bioinformatics and make more than 6 digits where most biology majors (including PhDs) have a hard time making that much. I have been toying with the idea of just doing a biology major with maybe chem minor and a lot of extracurriculars however I don't know if that will end up getting me a job or admission to a professional school, and it worries me. I guess the other reason why I would like to minor in CS is because it has always been a dream of mine to create a video game. I definitely see myself seeking higher education pass a bachelors but I don't know if a strictly biology based education will get me to where I want to be.
 
Snoopy92 said:
Do minors actually mean anything? I've noticed while searching through threads here on the forum that they show that you hold in interest in something but is that really necessary? For instance, if someone was interesting in english or computer science, wouldn't attempting to write your own book or make your own software/game be better on a resume? I'm debating about minoring for these very reason because I'm not sure if its worth the course load when you can just learn these things on your own time. Yet, many people tell me that minors will increase your salary compared to people who have the skills without the minor. So what is is better? Getting a minor or attempting to create a product using skills found within the minor/subject?
Click to expand...


Things that will be better on a resume will be things that make you stand out. Not everyone writes their own software or books, so these things will be more likely to catch a committee's eye. For a comparison, there sure are a lot of people with minors out there...

Do not make the error of thinking that demonstrating interest in something requires an academic notation. It can be an activity you love, skill you have, or anything you really have a passion for. For instance, I love to fly and have a private pilot's license. I got asked about it during my interview and we spent 20 minutes just talking about flying.

Also, as you're applying to medical school, the minor or degree you have will have exactly ZERO bearing on your salary. That's a function of what medical specialty you go into.
 
Snoopy92 said:
With a biology major and a CS minor it is possible to go into bioinformatics and make more than 6 digits where most biology majors (including PhDs) have a hard time making that much.
Click to expand...

A biology major/CS minor seems like a solid combination. You could also flip it and major in CS and minor in biology. Either one would work fine for medical school admissions. (Any major works fine for medical school admissions.) You should take a CS class to see if you really do enjoy it. Coding lends itself best to certain personalities. You'll have to see if you are good at it.

My honest opinion is, though, that you should try to determine if you really want to be a doctor. If so, you should focus on becoming on. Have you spent time shadowing a doctor yet? If so, how did it make you feel?

If you really want to be a doctor you can get in somewhere - MD or DO. You may have to retake the mcat or a class or two, but getting in isn't a miraculous event.....it is simply the end result of years of hard work, studying, good mcat score(s), good recommendations, timely application(s), persistence, volunteering, research, and shadowing. If you want to become a doctor, then create a realistic plan and become one! That's what I'm doing....and I quit a very good career to do so.

PS - Please do create your "game" still...........that sounds like a pretty cool EC. I wish someone would make an "Operation" app for the iPhone....
 
Last edited:
:laugh: I misread the thread title as "Minorities are they worthless?", saw that it had 26 replies, and wondered why it hadn't been closed/deleted yet.
 
Thank you all for the advice. I guess I'll try a CS class and see if its something I really enjoy. I'm going to try to create a game as well since its something I always wanted to do. Maybe along the way I'll find out what I truly want to do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

j_diggity
Schools that have low post-II acceptance rates- what are they looking for in the interview?
Replies
13
Views
2K
HappyRabbit
HappyRabbit
J
Personal Statement, HIPAA + Minors
Replies
7
Views
756
LizzyM
LizzyM
premedbarista
does it look bad to have a minor in spanish if I don't speak spanish?
Replies
9
Views
622
Alejandro
A
N
Telling school that they are your top choice in secondaries?
Replies
21
Views
3K
Kierkegaard's Bud
Kierkegaard's Bud
O
What about undergraduate journals? Are they merit-worthy in any way?
Replies
1
Views
364
voxveritatisetlucis
V
Top