Minors?

[Sawyer534]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I just talked to my advisor yesterday and set up my classes for fall. I am transferring from Peru state college to Iowa State to finish the last two years of my bachelors degree in animal science. I wanted to do a minor in chemistry because it would only be four more classes, but I found out that any classes that I use for my major do not count for my minor. Therefore, to have my minor I would have to take about eight extra classes, instead of four. I like chemistry and would like to make a career out of it if I do not get into vet school.

I just wanted to know if anyone here though it was a good idea to get a minor, or if it is just another chance to ding the GPA, and any opinions you might have on the subject.

 

[bre8162]

I just talked to my advisor yesterday and set up my classes for fall. I am transferring from Peru state college to Iowa State to finish the last two years of my bachelors degree in animal science. I wanted to do a minor in chemistry because it would only be four more classes, but I found out that any classes that I use for my major do not count for my minor. Therefore, to have my minor I would have to take about eight extra classes, instead of four. I like chemistry and would like to make a career out of it if I do not get into vet school.

I just wanted to know if anyone here though it was a good idea to get a minor, or if it is just another chance to ding the GPA, and any opinions you might have on the subject.

I have a minor in chem and ours was the same way with the fact if it was in the major it did not count, but there were some loop holes and I took a lot of chem so I ended up taking one class extra where I proctored chem exams =) It looks good, but if you think its going to extend your stay or kill your gpa it stops looking so good.

 

[SocialStigma]

I'm minoring in psych (2 more psych courses to go!) and it doesn't overlap at all with my major so I have to take 8 psych courses outside of my mandatory classes, but I have enough elective space to fit that into 4 years. I find psych very interesting but at the same time, very easy, so that factored into why I chose to minor in it (because I knew it would only strengthen my GPA). Normally I wouldn't want to minor in something that might hurt my GPA but since chemistry is your backup, then I think it may be a good idea.

 

[RadRadTerp]

A minor could also make you look more "diverse". My major was in molecular biology, but my second one was in philosophy. Whether or not that helped, I cannot say, but I did get accepted to the schools I applied to.

 

[CurrySpice]

Minors don't matter in the big scheme of things. If you want to get a minor in Chemistry, go for it. But if you don't actually want to take all 8 of those classes, then just take soem extra Chem in addition to your fun electives.

 

[NStarz]

Luckily, a chemistry minor at my university was only one extra class 🙂 So I went with that as well as a psych minor! Psych classes were super easy and broke up all the tough upper level sciences. Plus I have a feeling I'll be doing behavior med after I graduate, so it'll be helpful in that realm 🙂


I second the motion that you should do what interests you. You'll get frustrated pretty quick if all you're doing is to boost your application. If you like chemistry, then go for it! If not, maybe find another minor that you have more interest in.

 

[LetItSnow]

Man. I was expecting another juicy thread about dating when I saw the subject. So disappointed. 🙂

 

[BlacKAT33]

If you really enjoy chemistry and it is something you find interesting that I would do it. And I guess not only interesting to you, but if you think you could actually use your experience in those classes in a future job. If you know you'd drop dead before taking a job related to chemistry then it is a waste. And don't do it just to have a minor for a resume booster.

I think adcoms like people who take a wide variety of classes besides what they majored in. This doesn't mean yo u have to get a minor though, you can simply take random classes that can all benefit you in the future. I was a bio major and then for electives I took a business class, finance class, animal science classes etc. I got a lot of good comments about the choices of classes I took. So remember that adcoms will look at individual classes and you don't need a minor to show that you "branched out". (and in a way, it actually narrows your experience down to 2 subjects)

 

[Ricegrad]

Man. I was expecting another juicy thread about dating when I saw the subject. So disappointed. 🙂

🤣

 

[squibby]

My minor in chem was more of a mental accomplishment done just for me. Chem has always been the most difficult subject for me and I wanted that minor because it felt like I wasn't letting the subject "win."

 

[FutureDVM98]

That is a lot of extra classes to take to get a minor. People really dont look at minors now and days. Some schools dont even put it on your degree. At my school, the courses you take for your major is included in the classes for your minor. I'm going to have a minor in Chemistry once I take Biochemistry which will make a total of 20 hours.

 

[libster06]

It really depends on how much you have left towards your vet school stuff... that's about a semester and a half worth of extra classes, so if you have a lot to make up still for your pre-reqs, then you should really focus on that. If you still have 2 years left and not a ton of vet school stuff, there should be plenty of time to finish your vet school pre-reqs and do your minor.

People above have said vet school doesn't look at minors, etc. but it's not always about the vet school stuff. I have a minor in poultry science, just for being a major for 3 years... I didn't do it for vet school, I had just accumulated all those classes so I might as well have slapped a declaration on it. However, I don't think that a Chemistry minor is going to necessarily give you everything you need to "make a career out of it" if you don't get into vet school either. Secondly, are you just going to try once and then give up on the vet school thing? Probably something to think about also.

 

[Raptorlovr88]

I like chemistry and would like to make a career out of it if I do not get into vet school.

What area of chemistry are you interested in? Do you have any research experience? Pharmaceutical companies usually hire people who majored in chemistry, with emphasis on organic/synthetic chemistry. You might not get far with a chemistry minor. On the other hand, if you are good at it and don't mind the extra classes, that's a good way to boost your GPA.

I agree with libster06. You should focus on finishing your pre-vet requirement first if that's your career goal.