American degrees

[kev67]

I am interested in American bachelor degrees, not that I want to do one. What I am interested in particular is what does it mean when an American says they major-ed in one subject and minor-ed in another?

[The Comedian]

I'm not sure of the English equivalent, but "Major" is the jargon for emphasis or focus. "Minor" is the secondary focus. . . So if someone says that she "majored" in chemistry, then she took more chemistry classes than any other type and (probably) desires to work within that field. Usually, a "minor" supports the major. For instance, this same chemistry major might also minor in "physics". This means that she took a lot of physics courses too, just not as many as she had chemistry.

Most American bachelor degree holders have a major and a minor. Me, I majored in English literature and minored in philosophy.

[kev67]

Is it possible to major and minor in totally unrelated subjects?

[Shaman_Raman]

Basically, you receive your degree for your major, but the minor can still be used in instances of Resumes, but alone they don't go too far. You just take fewer credit hours for a minor, over a major. But the minor can sometimes help aid the major study, for example in the academics if you majored in History, and minored in English, it could help boost your odds of getting a teaching position over someone else with no minor. It's probably wiser to go ahead and double major in two different subjects, it just takes a little extra time.

And considering the amount of young adults with a Bachelor's degree in the U.S., it's almost become more of a standard of education, like a High school Diploma. To stick out, you're better off staying in for a Master's degree, or a Ph.D. if you have the time and money.

http://www.ask.com/question/what-is-a-minor-degree?o=2800&qsrc=999

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_a_college_minor_and _major

[Shaman_Raman]

Is it possible to major and minor in totally unrelated subjects?

Such as perhaps a major in Physics and a minor in business management? I'd say it's possible, although it doesn't make much sense to do. Usually the minor can in some way be used to support or relate in to the major study.

[OrphanPip]

I have two bachelor degrees.

My first was a bachelor of science with a major in microbiology and immunology, the credits required for the minor didn't allow me to take a minor.

When I went back to school to get a B.A. as a hobby, initially, I majored in honours English literature and minored in political science. I know someone who majored in English literature and minored in botany. Often this comes about because someone starts majoring in a field but decides later that they want to change focus, so they use the credits they earned in their previous focus towards a minor.

[kev67]

Such as perhaps a major in Physics and a minor in business management? I'd say it's possible, although it doesn't make much sense to do. Usually the minor can in some way be used to support or relate in to the major study.

It might not make sense, but I thought perhaps someone could major in a subject they were good at, and which they thought might lead to a well paid job, and minor at another subject, just because they enjoyed it. Links in interdisciplinary degrees could be interesting, if nothing else. For example, I am quite interested in economics at the moment. I find the economics in classic novels quite interesting.

It might be useful anyway. Suppose you wanted to be a History teacher. Schools may be more interested in you if you had also studied science. Schools over here often have difficulty recruiting science teachers.

An English and science combination could be useful if you wanted to write science fiction, or for writing scientific articles or reports in a way that is interesting to the public.

Another useful combination might be social science and engineering. Engineers are often poor at understanding what their users actually want, or the difficulties they may have in operating their products. Technocratic solutions may be fine from an engineering point of view, but founder due to society's response.

[hillwalker]

The same applies in the UK - or at least it did when I did my degree.

For the first two years you study a Main subject and a Subsidiary subject. Then you specialise in your Main subject for the final year.

In most cases both have to be related or taught at the same faculty - so you would struggle to find any university offering courses in Biochemistry with Subsidiary Music. But Biochemistry with Molecular Biology - or Music with Musicology - for example would be a matching pair.

The alterrnative is to do a degree in your first choice subject - one that will offer you the best job prospects. Then pursue your 'hobby subject' by reading for a second degree some time later in life.

H