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16962 Posts
Hey guys, so I'm a rising junior in college, and I need some advice on deciding my minors. At my school, you can only have three "degrees" of any sort. I have one major, and since there's no way I'm going to finish another major (nor do I want to), I've decided to grab two minors.
Anyway, I'm a statistics major.
The minors I'm considering are biology, math, and earth/ocean sciences (hear me out on this one).
+ Show Spoiler [Biology] +To complete a biology minor, I only need two more high level electives. One of the reasons I'm considering biology as a minor is that I finished the two most weed-out pre-med courses, and since they kind of raped my GPA, I figure it'd be a waste to not minor in biology. I could consider it a sunk cost, I suppose, but whatever, I'm irrational.
+ Show Spoiler [Math] +Math would be the most "legit" sounding minor, I suppose. I also need only two high level electives to finish this minor, but they're much harder and bad for my GPA. Classes I'd consider would be things like Algebraic Structures or Topology or something along those lines. I figure this might be the most "impressive" sounding minor to put on my resume, but I don't know if it's worth the GPA rapage.
+ Show Spoiler [Earth and Ocean Sciences] +I need three classes for this, one basic course and two high level electives. I'm virtually guaranteed an A in all of these classes, so it would really boost my GPA (which is currently around a 3.5). However, it's kind of fluff, and if I were to minor in it, I couldn't minor in two "useful" minors.
Any advice is appreciated! Thanks :D
 
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Math. You can never go wrong with math. Earth and Ocean sounds too much like bullshit geography and Biology is pretty specialized and also useless unless you actually plan to go into the field.
Math, however can be used in virtually any field.
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16962 Posts
I get to choose two, though, so between the two natural sciences, which would you take?
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What do you want to do? That may help your decision.
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16962 Posts
At the moment, I'm pretty unsure as to what I want to do. My current plan is to graduate and work for a consulting firm or some sort of finance-related stuff and then go for a professional degree (like an MBA or a doctorate in a field such as econ or public health policy or something).
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On June 01 2010 03:56 Empyrean wrote:
At the moment, I'm pretty unsure as to what I want to do. My current plan is to graduate and work for a consulting firm or some sort of finance-related stuff and then go for a professional degree (like an MBA or a doctorate in a field such as econ or public health policy or something).
If you have a business interest, math should certainly be your first choice. People in the professional community will be impressed by your ability to handle high-level quantitative classes.
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Math math math math math. (+math)
But why do you want two minors, anyway, other than the fact that you can get them? Doing research (or more research) as an undergraduate or getting involved with some kind of large project would be a better option IMHO. That type of activity would also make it easier to get into grad school, which is always good to keep open as an option.
edit: for the record I just graduated in EE, 2 classes short of a math minor and 2 classes short of a music minor. I've got no regrets...yet.
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16962 Posts
On June 01 2010 04:04 Myrmidon wrote:
Math math math math math. (+math)
But why do you want two minors, anyway, other than the fact that you can get them? Doing research (or more research) as an undergraduate or getting involved with some kind of large project would be a better option IMHO. That type of activity would also make it easier to get into grad school, which is always good to keep open as an option.
I'm doing a year long research thesis with a professor for statistics, so I have that covered. I'm also doing a year long research internship at the center for health policy here.
As for math courses, prereqs for the lowest stats course are multivariable calculus and linear algebra. We also have to take pretty rigorous courses in probability, measure, and analysis, so math rigor should be reflected through my stats transcript anyway.
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Maaaaaaaaaath 
That's what I'm minoring in, with a CS major. I chose a math minor because it was only 3 more upper-level math courses after the engineering pre-reqs (up through Calc IV).
Also a math minor does look really good on a resume, especially with my major. I'm sure it could be useful if you're going into a finance related field and knowing more math can never really hurt anything. In your case Biology and Earth and Ocean Science aren't really in the ballpark of what you're career track appears to be and Math kind of is but not really directly related I'd say.
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As a science guy I would go with the biology and oceanogaphy stuff. A major in stats is a great background to approach problems in these sciences numerically and it is a very growing field. However since you refer to them as "fluffy" it might mean that the actual courses are bad/easy which could be a problem.
Then again to my knowledge employers only ever look at your final classification, never at individual courses so even if the sciences doesn't interest you at all keeping your GPA up is probably worth it.
But if you are looking for a job where even more math would actually help you (not help your transcript, help you) then math should obviously be your choice.
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8748 Posts
Dude, EOS so you can take more and more Glass
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16962 Posts
On June 01 2010 04:33 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Dude, EOS so you can take more and more Glass
I've already taken EOS 141 and 155 with him, and I'm considering EOS 11 with him in the fall.
XD
Such a badass.
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On June 01 2010 04:10 Empyrean wrote:Show nested quote +On June 01 2010 04:04 Myrmidon wrote:
Math math math math math. (+math)
But why do you want two minors, anyway, other than the fact that you can get them? Doing research (or more research) as an undergraduate or getting involved with some kind of large project would be a better option IMHO. That type of activity would also make it easier to get into grad school, which is always good to keep open as an option. I'm doing a year long research thesis with a professor for statistics, so I have that covered. I'm also doing a year long research internship at the center for health policy here. As for math courses, prereqs for the lowest stats course are multivariable calculus and linear algebra. We also have to take pretty rigorous courses in probability, measure, and analysis, so math rigor should be reflected through my stats transcript anyway.
Actually, just out of curiousity I'd like to know what math courses you have to take in statistics, as IIRC statistics is just a possible focus area of a math major at my school. Is there an appropriate page you can link?
In any case, I think the real or most important reason for taking more math is to improve your background, rather than to look good. I think you could find more useful things to take than algebraic structures or topology. Linear and nonlinear programming is useful in many fields, and some numerical methods course may be very practical. On the other hand, additional theory-heavy courses such as in the real analysis sequence could also help solidify concepts in statistics and probability theory.
So it's my somewhat uninformed opinion that other kinds of specialty topics in higher-level electives would be less useful. But I'm sure you could find people who actually know what they're talking about that could make better suggestions.
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16962 Posts
Oh, the math courses I linked were examples of courses I had to take for the minor.
For the stats major, the only math courses you need to take Calc I, II, III, Linear Algebra, Probability, Statistics. The rest of the courses are stats electives like regression models, generalized linear models, applied stochastic processes, etc. The electives must include one course in applied regression models, and one in modern, computationally intense (think MCMC methods, Gibbs, etc.) methods, as well as three electives of your choosing. Finally, you have to complete a year long mentored research experience.
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If you want to go into something academic in the future, pick math. It will give you foundations for your university courses.
if you want to ... find a job, biology is better. It will give you some foundations in case you want to be... say, a nurse.
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On June 01 2010 03:56 Empyrean wrote:
At the moment, I'm pretty unsure as to what I want to do. My current plan is to graduate and work for a consulting firm or some sort of finance-related stuff and then go for a professional degree (like an MBA or a doctorate in a field such as econ or public health policy or something).
To the OP, I've talked to several people who have gone down both the MBA and PhD routes, and this is what I've picked up:
If you want to get an MBA, it's always better to lean towards the more "colorful" area, so biology and EOS would probably be better (MBA admissions people tend to lump Stats and Math together so I don't think having an extra math minor will make a difference).
On the other hand, if you want to get a doctorate in economics, most of the top economics programs tend to look very favorably on mathematics, and it's definitely a big plus. At the same time, people probably don't care about designations as much as individual courses so taking a lot of math classes but ending up a couple short of a "minor" designation isn't really going to make a difference. Also, you should take note that not having stellar grades in said math classes would probably hurt you more than not having taken them at all on your PhD apps.
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I would do bio and earth/ocean. Statistical modeling is huge in both of those fields.
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as a guy who has got his degree in mathematics last friday:
it actually seems kinda counter-intuitive that you'd pick those subjects (topology and algebraic structures) and then in the same breath say you're all about statistics.
if you want to do something that will actually complement statistics, you're looking at the wrong subjects in mathematics. analysis is what will put your statistics training into better perspective, because in order to do analysis you have to become a machine (just like in statistics classes).
if you end up deciding though that i'm full of shit for whatever reason and still go with mathematics and you want to pick topology and algebraic structures... i would recommend swapping at least one of them for at least the first semester of abstract algebra for the sake of not walking into the deep end of the pool.without first going through the shallow end. at worst, you can make the abstract algebra(s) be elective courses.
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CA10825 Posts
most employers will be confused when they see on your resume that your major is stats and your minor is math. they'll probably think it's redundant. of course, if thats what you're passionate about, then go for it.
since your major already has a lot of math i would strongly consider biology. EOS sounds like kind of a bs type of minor/major tbh unless you're planning on working for the EPA or something
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On June 01 2010 09:30 LosingID8 wrote:
most employers will be confused when they see on your resume that your major is stats and your minor is math. they'll probably think it's redundant. of course, if thats what you're passionate about, then go for it.
since your major already has a lot of math i would strongly consider biology. EOS sounds like kind of a bs type of minor/major tbh unless you're planning on working for the EPA or something
Then said people are foolish, ignorant, and don't deserve to have the job that they do.
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16962 Posts
Hmm, thanks for all the advice so far.
I might end up doing biology and EOS and just taking some random math classes on the side.
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EPT
