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

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5540705

by contemplating1 • 13 years ago

11 24 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

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..

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.

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.

Do you know someone with a random major that can apply those skills to programming?

yohann305• 13 years ago

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.

3825• 13 years ago

I'd put one vote for economics. I only took intro to economics though which one could probably add to the marketing minor requirements.

maltantawy• 13 years ago

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.

rdouble3• 13 years ago

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.

contemplating1• 13 years ago

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?

rdouble3• 13 years ago

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.

notJim2• 13 years ago

Why art history over philosophy? Just curious.

rdouble3• 13 years ago

The classes are more fun, often you go to museums. You have something to talk about with other people that they might actually find interesting. It gives you another dimension to travel. You can meet other interesting and nice people in class - in philosophy class you mostly meet creeps.

shawnphoffman• 13 years ago

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.

jaredsohn• 13 years ago

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.

brudgers• 13 years ago

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

justhw• 13 years ago

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,

keiferski• 13 years ago

Philosophy and/or art/design.

jameswyse• 13 years ago

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!

mesozoic• 13 years ago

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.

lsiebert• 13 years ago

Communication is always a good one.

brianchu• 13 years ago

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.

zerohp• 13 years ago

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

shail• 13 years ago

Calligraphy?

omnisci• 13 years ago

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.

tobylane• 13 years ago

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.

lifelongUU• 13 years ago

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.

notJim2• 13 years ago

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.

bitlather1• 13 years ago

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

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

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