I have a BA in history with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies. I was one class from a major that I got screwed out of, but I digress. My husband also has a BA in history with a double major in a social science as well as a minor in African studies. He’s an attorney. I’m an academic librarian.

As to whether you want a BS or a BA, it depends on a few things. 1. Do you have a preferred school? What do they offer? Some places will only offer one. 2. What do you want to do with your degree? If you are thinking you want to go into an anthropology-related career field where a background in science will help you, a BS is the right choice. If you want to work in a museum, a BA would probably be more useful.

As for what to minor in, that really, truly depends on your interests. A language could be useful if you want to study an area where that language is spoken. For instance, Latin, German, and French are extremely common and useful languages for rare book librarians. Given your interest in Hellenistic Ancient Egypt, a minor in the Classics might be interesting to you. Political science is a fairly common choice among history majors. Or you could minor in something completely random like animal science just because it interests you. Your minor doesn’t really have to have anything to do with major. It can help with your major but it doesn’t have to. In fact, some people don’t minor anything at all. Or they double major. Or they overachieve like my husband who had a double major and a minor.

The answers to these questions really depend on your interests and your academic and career goals. Please feel free to ask any more questions you might have. College can be pretty intimidating and the choices are often overwhelming but you’re ahead of the game by asking these kinds of questions before you get there.