Minors

You can see the checksheets for all of the minors at Virginia Tech. Scroll down to “Minors.”

Minors are listed alphabetically. Notice the column headers. You will want to refer to the checksheet for the year you entered Virginia Tech, also known as your “catalog year.”

Browse through the titles of the minors. If anything piques your interest, click on the checksheet for your catalog year to learn more about the required courses and other relevant requirements.

If you find a minor that interests you and want to learn more, you can

• go to the vt.edu homepage,
• click on “search” in the top right corner of the page, and
• search for the name of the minor – including the word “minor.”

So, to find more information about the sociology minor, search for “sociology minor.” One of the top results should lead you to more information about the minor, including the contact information for the advisor, and possibly even the form to add the minor.

Want to learn more, but the search results aren’t helping?  Add the word “advisor” to your search. You should be able to find the name and contact information for someone to reach out to.

Some minors have been specially designed to help students satisfy Pathways General Education requirements while examining important topics from a variety of perspectives. These are called Pathways Minors.

The above page includes some fantastic resources, including suggestions for matching a major with a minor that will help fill in the missing Pathways courses that your major does not cover.

So you’ve found a minor you want to pursue. Now how do you fit those classes into your four-year plan?

Refer to your checksheet, your roadmap, and the checksheet for your minor.

See if there are ways that you can do some double-counting - are there courses for the minor that also count towards Pathways? Are there courses required by your major that can also count for the minor?

You can also shift some of your Pathways courses to winter/summer session, which will free up space in your fall/spring semesters to take classes for your chosen minor.

And of course, you can take more than 15 credits each semester - though I wouldn't recommend going over 16 credits for your very first semester in college. You will have a lot of life changes that you will be adjusting to.

Minors are administered by the college that the minor belongs to. Each college has its own form for adding a minor.

For minors that are housed in the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design, you would use the “Request to Change Minor” form. Don’t forget to read the instructions on the left-hand side of the page before clicking on the minor form!

If you can’t figure what college a minor belongs to, or where to find the form for that college, the advisor for that minor will be able to help you locate the proper paperwork.