Programs Minor to go with double major in math and CS

AI Thread Summary
Double majoring in math and computer science while pursuing a 4+1 program for a master's in applied math raises the question of whether a minor is advisable. The individual is contemplating a PhD in pure math for academia but also values the employability offered by a CS degree. Suggestions for minors include statistics, which would complement the applied math focus, and foreign languages like French or German, which are beneficial for reading historical mathematical texts. There's a concern about appearing unfocused if choosing a minor unrelated to career goals, yet pursuing a minor in a personal interest, such as chemistry or psychology, is also considered. Overall, the double major already provides a strong foundation, and a minor could enhance skills relevant to future academic or professional pursuits.
TylerH
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I'm double majoring in math and cs and will probably do the 4+1 program to get a MS in applied math. But, since I'm starting with a lot of hours (27), I thought I'd go ahead and get a minor in something. Is it even advisable for me to have a minor?

I'm not sure what field I want to go into. I'll probably go ahead with a PhD in pure math and try to get into academia. The point of the BS in CS is to make me more employable in the private sector, as a backup. So, with that goal, what minors would be helpful?

If there aren't any that are significantly useful in terms of employability, would it look bad if I just took a minor in something I'm interested in? (I don't want to appear as if I'm not focused and can't make up my mind.) I've been considering a minor in chem or psychology, since they're related to my interest in entheogens.
 
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Hey TylerH.

If you are doing applied math where the focus is more on non-statistics courses (differential equations, numerical analysis, etc), I'd recommend doing a few statistics courses to get a stats minor.
 
I think you've probably got your bases covered with the double major combination. My school wouldn't even let us get a minor with a double major.

If you do want to get a minor, it might be worthwhile to think about a foreign language (particularly French or German, maybe ancient Greek or Latin), because a lot of math PhD programs expect you to be able to read papers written by important mathematicians from other countries. Like, you could read Gauss's original work if you knew German, or you could read Newton in the original Latin.
 
20Tauri said:
I think you've probably got your bases covered with the double major combination. My school wouldn't even let us get a minor with a double major.

If you do want to get a minor, it might be worthwhile to think about a foreign language (particularly French or German, maybe ancient Greek or Latin), because a lot of math PhD programs expect you to be able to read papers written by important mathematicians from other countries. Like, you could read Gauss's original work if you knew German, or you could read Newton in the original Latin.

That's a great idea that should have occurred to me. I've been considering moving to Germany later in life.
 
Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...

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