Major: Marine Biology, Minor: ???

[L!$@]

I am currently in marine biology at McGill and I recently switched my minor from atmospheric and oceanic sciences (pretty much meteorology) to environment. Do you think this is a better pairing? I switched the minor because the last was getting into all kinds of calculus (think cal 3 and beyond).

Thank you

 

[covediver]

by "environment" do you mean environmental studies that might provide you very marketable skills like environmental impact analysis, conflict resolution, technical writing, geographic information systems, and so on? These are useful skills for people who want to work as marine biologists.

I can appreciate the problems with calc. Mine was with physics, which I loved so much I actually took it twice, once for the experience and once for the grade.

 

[jonenglishlee]

If you can stand it, I would look into a chemistry related minor. I got a double minor in chemistry because whatever your occupation in the science field, there is always chemistry lurking nearby.

If chemistry isn't your cup of tea, maybe a look at something like microbiology. There is much less chemistry and math required.

It just depends on what you want to do with your degree, and what you like to study!

 

[archman]

It has been my personal experience that the only people (in biology) who will ever give a hoot about a college minor are the people getting one.

Employers and grad school advisors generally place much if not all emphasis (from the college degree) on the:
- degree major
- degree type (BA vs. BS)
- school attended
* courses on transcript

Most employers that want a detailed look at your college degree will do so by looking at your transcript records, showing courses taken. If the employer doesn't require that amount of scrutiny, he/she will generally just look at the college major and verify that you did in fact graduate.

Biologists need to know a lot of chemistry nowadays. If your major degree plan is not particularly chemistry-strong, I would follow jon's advice and take additional courses as a "minor".

You will probably find that once you graduate and get out into the workforce, few people will have much interest in the specifics of your college training. So I wouldn't get yourself worked up too much about which college minor is "best". Take the courses you need to graduate, and the courses that satisfy your degree major. If you still have courses left over, take what you like.

 

[Thalassamania]

Statistics, esp. Exploratory Data Analysis.

 

[muddiver]

Starbuck Barista would aslo be a good second job, ops, I mean minor. It typically pays more.

 

[drbill]

Chemistry and statistics are good suggestions. You can play them up a bit in your c.v. as they can influence potential employers who know the score (many don't). Of course I'd also suggest business... I should have taken a few courses in that subject myself!

 

[oysters]

I do a Human Ecology/Marine Biology/Zoology trio thingy. It's pretty sweet. But it depends on how flexible your college is.

 

[L!$@]

Just wanted to say thank you for all your suggestions. I think I'll stick to enviro because I enjoy it but I get a feeling that the minor doesn't matter too much. I have some business and economics actually integrated into the minor.

 

[nwdiver2]

Enviro works, in Marine what is your specailty? Maybe more physiology or on the other side evolutionary biology?