<p>I am so ashamed of myself to even be thinking about this, but after hearing all these horror stories about the GPA we need to get into the top law schools and Princeton's grade deflation, I absolutely HAVE to ask.</p>
<p>Here's the thing. I have broad and far-ranging academic interests, and want to take all sorts of classes ranging from philosophy to english to german to physics to art. Ordinarily, I'd say to hell with grades: college is about exploring and taking risks and learning what you love. But there's the other part of me that dreams of becoming a lawyer, and to get into HYS law schools, I need a stellar GPA. From what I hear, LSAT and GPA are by far the most important, and the school you go to, your major, your extracurricular activities, and the courses you take matter A LOT less, if at all. Law school admissions don't give a hoot that Princeton has grade deflation, or that a 3.9 at Princeton is waaaaaay harder to get than a 3.9 at a school with less academically excellent students.</p>
<p>I am now stuck with the trade off between my two goals of academic exploration and getting into my dream law school. It sucks that I have to consider GPA but there it is. Picking classes I have a natural talent in (as well as enjoy) will be better for my GPA, but taking ones I like but am terrible at will lower my GPA and thus my chances at HYS law. The same goes for picking a major. I'd love to do aero eng or economics, but my talents lie with english, etc.</p>
<p>What should I do?? Do any Princeton students / potential law school applicants have a similar problem, or can anyone offer advice? The adventurer in me really wants to do the HUM sequence, for instance, but the aspiring lawyer side of me keeps wondering whether it will be hard to earn good grades! This seems ridiculous to me, but it does seem to be an issue.</p>
<p>(I am not one of those people who obsesses over grades just for the sake of getting perfect grades. If this law-school dilemma didn't exist, I wouldn't even care about GPA.)</p>
<p>If you've gotten this far, thanks so much for reading and I appreciate any help!</p>
<p>Your view of law school admissions is pretty accurate. GPA and LSAT are by far the most important. Your undergraduate institution matters but only a little bit. You want your GPA to be around the median of the entering class GPA (3.89 for Yale). My advice is to be conservative your first semester and take mostly humanities classes. See how you're doing. If your GPA is solid, branch out and take some of those classes that you're not as sure about. Remember, you can PDF up to four classes.</p>
<p>Thanks for answering! This is exactly the type of information I was hoping for.
Also, I was wondering,
1) Are large intro classes (humanities or otherwise) easier or harder to get As in? I heard that though the material is easy, the curve tends to be unforgiving.
2) Should I be looking to take 100-level hum courses during the first semester? or more difficult 200 level ones? this is all really new to me so forgive me if these are sort of silly questions.
3) Are freshman seminars / the writing seminar harder to earn As in? If they are considered hard courses, I should take them with easier course loads right?
4) Would you recommend that I take the HUM sequence (216/217)? It seems interesting but hard -- I don't want be overambitious and kill my GPA right off the bat.
and, embarassing as it is to ask,
5) Broadly speaking, what are considered "easy-A courses" or courses where it is easy to earn a good grade in? would these perhaps be humanities classes in general?
Thanks!</p>
<p>The problem with your adventurer philosophy is that if you don't get grades and take classes all over the place, you won't get a good job once you graduate. College is about exploring, but if you are really worried about GPA and law school have a backup in case law doesn't work out. Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Princetonian2012, here are answers to your questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Assuming you have equal preparation and aptitude in two courses, the larger one will generally have a harsher curve. The reason is that a large introductory course has a much greater effect on a department's grading statistics (total number of A's, B's, etc. given to students) than a small seminar. As a result, professors in the intro courses are much more careful about sticking to the 35% guideline.</p></li>
<li><p>This question is a little to vague to respond with anything useful. Just take the courses that you feel will be challenging and interesting, but that you think you can succeed in. </p></li>
<li><p>My freshman seminar was graded harshly while some of my friends' seminars were easy. Writing seminars are graded harshly. You should try to balance your courseload. Don't take four easy classes one semester and five hard ones the next.</p></li>
<li><p>If you take the HUM sequence, it will take up the vast majority of your time. I don't know how hard the grading is, but the coursework is very intensive. Maybe another student more familiar with the program could answer this question more thoroughly.</p></li>
<li><p>MUS 103 (Clapping for Credit), PHY 111 (Physics for Poets), PHY 116, GEO 206 (Rocks for Jocks), GEO 207 (Stars for Stoners), COS 109 (Introduction to the "On" button), CEE 102 (fulfills HA or ST depending on your preference), and more. Most science departments have at least one class geared toward students interested in the humanities. These courses tend to be really easy.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This is brilliantly helpful. Thanks!!!</p>
<p>Of course, it seems to be a misconception that you can be equally prepared to take a large intro class and a smaller, usually more difficult class covering the same topic matter. If we are talking about different subjects, then I concede the point.</p>
<p>Be careful with those "easy" courses. Occasionally they decide to clamp down on some of them by grading harsher or making the material more rigorous. Just beware of "easy" classes that are taught by different professors than those who did so in previous semesters.</p>
<p>how does academic exploration work at Princeton? taking up random courses in our first year? going to the library?</p>
<p>how many "random" courses are we allowed to take in our freshman year? when do you guys think freshmen should start taking classes for their concentrations?</p>
<p>It's college...there aren't any restrictions on what you have to take freshman year, really, except the writing seminar. Language is also highly highly recommended if you haven't fulfilled it already.</p>
<p>I don't think there's a specific time that students should start taking major classes that fits everyone. It's a question that you'll find the answer to on your own...some people find their major mid-first semester, while others (me) don't find out until right before major declaration period. Just take courses that you'll enjoy until you find something that you really like...then try taking more courses in that area, and see how it is.</p>