Choosing a Minor or Second Major

When choosing a minor or potential 2nd major, there are a number of factors to consider, and no decision is right for all psychology majors. This handout is intended to provide some guidance, but only you can decide what best fits your own interests and goals. Below are some factors that should be weighed in your decision. First, we recommend looking at the list of fields that are listed as possible minors. However, if you are interested in a minor that is not listed, ask your academic advisor if it might be possible to get it approved by Arts and Sciences. Also, acquiring a "certificate" in an area (e.g., gerontology) often can count as a minor and provide additional benefits as well.

Interest in field

First, you should be interested in a field before you decide to make it your minor or second major. Second majors, and even minors, require a significant amount of time attending classes and studying. Thus, be sure that you have some interest in the field. Taking an intro class or leafing through a text book is a good way to find out if a field interests you.

Strengthening your application for graduate school

  1. Psychology is the scientific study of animal and human behavior & cognitive processes. Thus, minors or 2nd majors that strengthen one's scientific credentials not only look good on resumes, but they also help prepare you for graduate school. Thus, a minor or 2nd major in fields like statistics or computer science can be beneficial.
  2. All behavior & cognitive processes have a biological component. Thus, having a minor or 2nd major in biology can be beneficial. This is particularly true for students interested in neuroscience, but it also is true for other fields (e.g., clinical psychology).
  3. Having strong writing skills is helpful in all fields. Thus, having a minor or 2nd major in a field that requires a lot of writing can be beneficial. English is an obvious example. However, investigating other departments of interest to see how much writing is required can reveal other options.

Should I get a minor or Second Major?

Because Psychology requires relative few credit hours (36 not including General Psychology), students have the option of using their remaining hours toward a 2nd major. This replaces the need to get a minor. No decision is right for all psychology majors. Below are some factors that should be considered in your decision. If you are having difficulty deciding whether to get a minor or 2nd major in a particular field, your academic advisor can help you see what your long-term course load would look like each semester with both scenarios.

Why you might want a 2nd major:

  1. For students with a strong interest in a field additional to psychology, it makes sense to get a second major in that field.
  2. If the field provides skills that are relevant to one's career goals, then getting a 2nd major is a good idea, even if it is not absolutely necessary. For example, for someone interested in a career in business psychology, a 2nd major in business might be helpful. Similarly, for someone interested in neuroscience, a 2nd major in biology can be helpful.

Why you might prefer a minor:

  1. For students interested in a broad range of fields, having a 2nd major limits the number & scope of fields in which you can take classes.
  2. For students interested in getting research experience (DIS and/or honors thesis), a 2nd major may make it difficult to fit in sufficient research experience. Gaining research experience is beneficial when applying to graduate school in psychology. Not only does it provide research training, which is an important part of psychology graduate schools, but it also provides opportunities to earn strong letters of recommendation. All grad schools require three (3) strong letters of recommendation.
  3. If you start a 2nd major, but find that the first few classes are not helpful and/or overlap heavily with your psychology classes, it makes sense to only get a minor in that area and use your remaining credit hours to get a second minor and/or broader range of electives.

General Tips for Making Decisions

This handout is intended to provide guidance when deciding on whether to have a minor or 2nd major and what fields to consider.  However, all decisions involve trade-offs, and no decision is right for all psychology majors. Thus, only you can make the decisions that best fit your goals. If you want further information on this, feel free to contact the Psychology Advising Office at 850-644-4260.