Should I turn a minor into my double major?

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

So, I'm an Electrical Engineering major at Virginia Tech, as the sig would suggest. I'm also working on two minors in addition to this: math and computer science. The math minor was kind of a no-brainer for me; its only another 6 credits on top of the math courses I already have to take, and I've been told a few times that a math minor can help out a lot with grad school, so that's probably going to stay where it is.

The problem is my CS minor. I'm investing a lot of time and credits into it, and it looks like (even with a few summer sessions) I'll still have to stay at VT an extra semester to pull it off. My thought was that, for all this effort, it might be in my best interests to just turn that minor into a double major and leave with two genuinely useful degrees. I haven't actually sat down and planned how this would change things, but I imagine it will make my stay at Virginia Tech 5 years instead of 4.5, even with increased courseloads by semester. Some of my EE tech electives might overlap with required CS courses, but for the sake of argument, let's say they won't.

Anyone who caught my drunken post at the end of finals last semester knows I've slipped terribly recently, so this is just an off-the-cuff idea... I wouldn't actually attempt to make the change until after I see how this semester goes.

Feedback? Would it really be worth my time/effort/extra tuition?

Cliff Notes: See poll.

 

[RaDragon]

Plan it out and see how much more you'll have to do. Keep in mind that when you do finish and graduate, you don't wanna be burnt out with work that you'd have to take a break before starting a job. 🙂

It sounds good, though -- to graduate from VT with a double major that's EE and CS. At the same time, people who look at your resume will think did this boy have a life in College? 😉

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: RaDragon
At the same time, people who look at your resume will think did this boy have a life in College? 😉

Hah, they'd know the answer to that as soon as they saw I had a degree in engineering. 😛

 

[RaDragon]

I know a lot of Engineerds who were fun to hang out with at university and are still fun right now. 😀

 

[AStar617]

Always double up, just like Ma$e told you to in '99.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

I think the advantages of having another complete MAJOR outweigh the relatively little time required to bump up from a minor. I also dont think minors get much love, so if you are doing it to help market yourself, go for the major. Just IMO

 

[Gibson486]

do you really want to go to graduate school?

 

[cosine17]

dem, a cs degree isnt worth THAT much. it depends on the extra time. if its another year all together.. maybe itd be worth it. anything more and i wouldnt do it.

btw, this is bryan..

hi

 

[Parrotheader]

My father-in-law's good friend is the HR VP of a major company and I asked him this same question once in the past. He told me that generally speaking, if you're planning on going to grad school and already have the necessary requirements for the program you're considering, then you shouldn't worry nearly as much about trying to turn a minor into a second major, especially if it's in a somewhat closely related field. If your second major were in something completely different (like accounting, marketing, etc.) then it might be worthwhile spending the extra time as it'll give you a degree in a wholly different area. But generally speaking, it would be better to apply that extra time in school toward a masters degree that will far overshadow your undergrad degrees anyway.

With engineering and more technical fields that might be a bit different. I'm not really sure. But for a lot of the more business-oriented programs I can see how that definitely makes sense. I used to chuckle when my cousin would brag about her double major in Mass Communications and Public Relations. My university wouldn't allow that as a double major because they realized the two programs were essentially the same thing. If she'd have spent that extra time working toward an MBA she would've had more career options.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: cosine17
dem, a cs degree isnt worth THAT much. it depends on the extra time. if its another year all together.. maybe itd be worth it. anything more and i wouldnt do it.

btw, this is bryan..

hi

Good to see ya.

A CS degree on its own may not be worth a whole hell of a lot, but in tandem with a EE degree, it could be very useful. That was my line of thought, anyway.