Choosing a Minor

At YSU you are required to complete both "major" and "minor" concentrations of courses. Everybody has a pretty clear idea of how to pick a major (it’s what you want to specialize in). But how to pick a minor seems a little fuzzier. Actually, the same considerations should go into picking both major and minor.

You’ll find there are good reasons for you to choose one minor over another. They have to do with what you expect your minor concentration to do to and for you. Here are some of them:

  • Necessary companion to your major. You might find that to major in physics requires you to have mastered integral calculus (minor in mathematics). Or, in some YSU colleges, to major in one area such as management requires you to minor in another college discipline such as finance.
  • A natural complement to your major. People who study communication, for example, sometimes minor in psychology or sociology. Majors in electronic media sometimes think they should minor in advertising or journalism.
  • A way to create cohesiveness among electives. You might find that you’ve taken a number of related courses in partial fulfillment of your general education requirement. These might be packaged as a coherent minor.
  • A way to build your knowledge in a weak area. People who major in the fine arts often say they can’t do math. People in engineering fields often shy away from so-called creative subjects. You might find that you’re weak in literature, or science, or foreign languages and cultures. You can use a minor to work on areas that need fixing.
  • A means to study what you like. Like history or music? You can study it as part of a minor.
  • A way to develop some specific job skills. Lots of programs at the university are trade/career-oriented, especially at the lower level. You can take a minor in one of them that will make your resume of accomplishments more impressive for and interesting to a potential employer.
  • A way to start an avocation. Highly effective people focus their energies, not only on their careers but on other aspects of life too. They work hard and play hard. A minor can help you cultivate a pursuit that will prove satisfying throughout your life. Singing, painting, DXing, sports, reading, writing poetry; acting... all can add new dimensions to your life and thereby create meaningful rewards.

Choose carefully, of course. If you pick an area that will give you workplace advantage, it might not be very important for you later on in life. Or, if you pick a creative area, such as ceramic arts, you won’t find much of a direct connection to getting a job.

Also, what seem to be natural marriages can represent an unwise use of your time. For example, there’s lots of overlap among disciplines in social studies, or fine arts, or business. You’d want to make sure you’re not studying something in one course in one department, and then studying it again in another department.

And, you might find that to learn some skills won’t require you to tie up a full minor. Can you learn enough about a field by taking only a course or two?

Most important of all is to make your choice carefully and based on good reasons. Be careful not to choose a minor as a result of not choosing, or to choose based on what a friend might have done. It’s your education, after all, and it’s your life.

Fred Owens, PhD
10/01, 3/05, 2/07