Options, Options, Options

The new academic year has started a bang with Intro week bringing the end of the summer holidays and the start of the academic year together in one big party. However, among the late nights and drunken parties many new Lancaster first year students can be forgiven for forgetting that they do have a decision to make. What to take as that elusive third option?

As returning students will know during the first year students usually take up and extra module alongside those of their major subject, giving them both a major and a minor. The idea of this set up is to give students the opportunity to study something else that they are interested in but do not want to take as a full degree. Although some departments dislike this set up preferring their students to focus on their major and seeing a minor subject as nothing more than a distraction wasting time that, in their view, could be better spent on the ‘more important’ coursework assignments or revising for those end of year exams that seem to be ever looming, it has to be said that the minor subject does serve a purpose. As I said before it offers students a chance to study another area of interest other than that of their major. However, this has a greater effect than it is often given credit for as the minor can offer a ‘Get Out of Jail’ free card should results not go the way you had planned. To pass your first year you usually must attain 45% in all major modules and 40 in all minor modules. (The lower pass mark can make it seem less important, but you do still need to pass). However, should things go wrong for whatever reason and your marks for your major fall the wrong side of that magical pass mark it is possible to swap majors so you would take up your minor subject (assuming you passed that) as your major for years two and three.

The minor, however, can have more of a purpose than helping you out of a tight spot. If the right option is chosen it could help improve your major subjects mark. This could be done in two ways. Firstly, you could choose subjects that are similar and may at time overlap with your major so that you attain a wider and more in depth knowledge of the broader topic. This may enable you to add extra depth to your coursework essays enabling you to get over that 45% mark and on to the promised land of Part II. Secondly, you could choose subjects like Independent Studies or Creative Writing that enable you to look at whichever area you want while help you improve your essay writing skills and throw the use of alternative formats (presentations, filming etc) give you the skills to score high marks all over the board when it comes to your major.

Time commitment is another big factor when choosing your minor. Although you may be entering first year, and everyone tells you ‘First year doesn’t matter’ you will still have work to do and exams to revise for. You have to be careful not to overload your week with so much work that you miss out on the all important social side of student life. Look at the way your major is assessed and try and use your minor to fill in the gaps. So if your major is all assessed by end of year exams it may be a good idea to choose a minor which is more coursework based, this would lower your workload when exam time comes around enabling you to focus more time on passing your major exams.

There is no right or wrong subject to choose as a minor, but playing to your strengths is usually the best way to go. Look at how your timetable is set out and see what routes are open to you. But be careful not to find that you have bitten off more than you can chew.