

Ask HN: What minor/major would compliment a CS degree? - contemplating1

I am looking to tack on a minor to my CS major, and I am curious to hear what opinions you guys have. It would be easy to do a math minor as well, but pure mathematics isn't my thing. Other common majors/minors include IS, physics, statistics, etc..<p>I mainly want to know if you have run into developers with a unique major that has actually benefited them - even if just in a niche area.<p>I am very much interested in Philosophy, I love writing, and written/oral logical. However, this seems really "out there" for a CS major to pick up. Other options include business degrees, which I think is somewhat common, however I feel with a strong background in a technical area I could pick up an MBA if I wanted to later in life. Right now I plan to continue web development, and get into entrepreneurship real soon.<p>Do you know someone with a random major that can apply those skills to programming?
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yohann305
Marketing. People that go into CS major usually have great ideas and love to
build them. However the majority of them have very little insights in how to
bring it to consumers. Marketing will bring that missing ingredient into the
mix.

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maltantawy
I majored in CS and did Business Administration as a minor. I would say all
courses were very helpful especially if you consider having your own startup.
But if that isn't the case then may be applied math or stats would be a better
fit. My honest advice is to go with something you like and enjoy other than
CS(your major) but you didn't have the time for it.

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rdouble
I majored in both math and philosophy and they have been useless in my career
as a software engineer. If you want to do another quantitative discipline I'd
suggest statistics. Non-quantitative, I'd suggest something like art history
over Philosophy, or even graphic design if you wanted a more "practical"
minor.

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contemplating1
So would you say math/philosophy would be useful in more of a research type
position? In that case you would probably need even higher levels of math - so
the logic behind philosophy might be useless either way?

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rdouble
Applied math is very useful to software engineering and many other fields.
However, I majored in pure math, which is not useful. Philosophy is
interesting (depending on your personality) but is mostly irrelevant.
Philosophy major logic courses will help you ace the LSAT if for some reason
you want to go to law school.

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brianchu
I am going to address some of the sentiments expressed in this thread.

1\. This is not a choice between having a minor and not having a minor. This
is a choice between having a minor and having a certain amount of free time
slots available for any combination of 1)random electives, 2)part-time
internships/employment, 3)freelancing, 4)side projects.

2\. As far as your career goes, a minor will have very little impact. It will
just be a line on your resume. However, side projects and work experience is
going to be much more impressive.

3\. If you are interested in certain fields (philosophy, economics, business),
then you could consider just taking a selection of interesting courses from
each, rather than tying yourself down with a minor.

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notJim
I personally wouldn't focus so much on your career. If you're doing well in
your CS program and internalizing that material (and learning how to program),
you'll be fine there.

Instead, I would do something "out there" that interests you. If you're like
most people, this is about the only time you'll be able to learn about
philosophy or literature directly, in-person from subject-matter experts. I've
studied philosophy a bit on my own, and with others, and let me tell you, it's
a very dense, difficult subject for self-study. It might not benefit your
career, but it will benefit your life.

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omnisci
This is actually quite simple,pick up a minor that interests you. If you like
basket weaving, take a basket weaving minor, maybe you can disrupt the whole
basket weaving industry in the future...who knows. What you take as a minor
has little impact on your job later in life, unless it's something you really
enjoy which will give you some direction to apply your CS degree.

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tobylane
Go with something you enjoy for the present better times. You can never
predict how useful something will be, calligraphy classes Jobs took lead to
good fonts.

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justhw
A minor is really not worth the trouble if you plan to get an MBA in the
future. Take all the courses that seem interesting to you. Down the road the
lessons you gain will broaden your thinking immensely.

Some course ideas:

    
    
      Economics (Trade Theories)
      Business (Marketing Research + Stats)
      Philosophy
    

Good luck,

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shawnphoffman
I second the economics vote. It can really help you with your entrepreneurial
desires. If you are really wanting to go out there, try out some law classes
and see what you think. Not necessarily for a minor but they help you think
about problems and issues differently.

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lifelongUU
I work for a big national lab. Bs/ms in cs. Take a hard science major as well
(make the cs a minor or double major). The best programmers/CS people I know
are cross-disciplinary and are able to adapt CS approaches to hard problems in
other fields.

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jaredsohn
The post title should use the word 'complement' instead of 'compliment'. If
answered literally, it would be something like an English major/minor
complimenting a CS degree for being practical.

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jameswyse
If you're in to web development and are currently more focussed on the
development side then I think some design courses would be really beneficial!

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mesozoic
I would pick business. I have 2 degrees CS and math and the math one hasn't
been that valuable so I'd avoid that.

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bitlather1
I recommend doing a BA - I did a BS and wasted a lot of time in engineering
courses. I enjoyed taking Japanese.

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brudgers
Being very much interested in something is a pretty damn good reason to study
it.

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zerohp
If you like writing low level software, you should double down and minor in
ECE.

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lsiebert
Communication is always a good one.

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keiferski
Philosophy and/or art/design.

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shail
Calligraphy?

