<p>I'm a junior year double major in Biology and Psychology. I was straight biology until this spring when i added the psych. I LOVE the psych classes. I never had math or science in high school, and as such..ever genetics, physics, chemistry and calculus course are a struggle for me.
I went from an A student in every social science and English class to a C student studying her brains out for C's in science courses.</p>
<pre><code> Biology has made me miserable, and with biochemistry and an organic chemistry class looming on the horizon that I would have to take next semester, im thinking it may be time to finally drop the major.
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<p>But heres the problem Ive got 3 more semesters after this one. Im afraid if I drop the bio major, I will just be a psych major (with an already completed biology minor) with a really bad gpa. It will just make me look lazy. If I work hard, and take classes I like, my GPA will be just over a 3.0 prior to graduation.</p>
<pre><code>Im just asking..the review committees..if I apply to law school, and they see that bad GPA but Ive dropped the biology major..Will they look at the fact my bad grades were all science courses? That my GPA skyrocketed once I began taking classes I was cut out for? Or will I just look like a lazy psychology major (come on, lets face it, its hard to get bad grades in such an easy major). Ive heard theyre a little easier on science majors GPAs when applying, as the intensity of science majors coursework is taken into consideration.
Will having a minor in biology be taken into consideration or make my application more enticing at all? Or does a minor basically do nothing for you?
I just would really like some advice before I make the big decision here on if I drop the bio major or not. I dont want to cut my nose off in spite of my face, and ruin the slim to none chance I have of maybe being accepted as it is.
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<p>for law school it is all about gpa+lsat. Major/minor is not relevant. Switch to psych if you like it better, and earn as many A’s as possible. Take an extra year in undergrad if need-be. Rock the LSAT.</p>
<p>You’re a good example why the educational system is failing at teaching kids, especially girls. In a competitive world, girls need to be taught math and science EVERY year, beginning in kindergarten…in a way that puts learning in CONTEXT. That’s the way to increase a student’s critical thinking/problem solving abilities. If one never took science or math seriously, prior to college, one never develops the real critical thinking skills necessary to really succeed in college, especially in the science and engineering courses. It takes years to train the brain for rigorous thinking. And early math and science exposure is a great way to train the brain for virtually ANY field.</p>
<p>So my suggestion to you is to do a self-assessment about your abilities. One major similarity between the sciences and law is that there is a lot of logic involved. Also, the same type of thinking that makes it easy to solve a stoichiometry problem may be the same type of thinking necessary to analyze a legal case in detail.</p>
<p>Both majors are useless anyway. The only majors right now offering good job prospects are engineering, accounting, geophysics, computer science and medical fields to be honest. Honestly do you like math? If so consider a major in computer science or engineering. The course work will be much more puzzle solving and less rote memorization if that what you don’t like. Want to help find oil and mining reserves in the great outdoors? Geophysics. Design circuits and manipulate electricity? Electrical Engineering. A stable boring, computer based job? IT/CS. It doesn’t sound you like Biology anyway, and that’s fine considering the major blows (been there done that, though the medical field for those that do well does offer some great jobs–Optometry, Medicine, Physician Assistant, Pathologist Assistant, Occupational Therapy, CLS, Nursing). You’ll definitely need to improve your grades to get into these fields however. Otherwise, there’s always teaching. </p>
<p>Good luck and don’t give up! And the hell with law, do you understand the current legal market, sheesh. Consider what’s both EMPLOYABLE and INTERESTING, don’t just take classes because your friends think it’s cool.</p>
<p>The quick answer is: yes, you can get into law school. There are a lot of low level law schools that are scrambling for applicants. But do you want to attend just any law school? If not, see post #2; it’s all about GPA/LSAT.
The better question is: Why do you want to go to law school? If you can’t answer that, it’s better not to apply. You’ll get a mountain of debt and a degree that you may not use, in light of the really iffy job prospects for new law grads. Take a look at some of the “scamblogs” about law school before you decide.</p>
<p>OP, biology is not a particularly difficult major unless you take it with chemistry/biochem. I don’t see why you want to go to law school when you can hardly handle an undergraduate study in a semi-soft science. </p>
<p>Even I could pull of A’s in bio if I had to, and I don’t even like biology.</p>
<p>I’m not saying you’re not smart, but I do question your dedication to what you sign up for. I don’t think you should really go to law school. If you love psychology so much, aren’t you interested in becoming a psychologist, working with human resources, etc.?</p>
<p>Um, I don’t think that it’s the job of the law school admissions committee to scrutinise your transcript and figure out which courses you took at which times. (Even if it were, the LSDAS basically strips down the transcript and makes it tough to see what courses you took.) </p>
<p>If you do go down to a bio minor, then write an addendum making it brutally clear which classes you got bad grades in, which you were doing fine in, and how things got better when you dropped the major. </p>
<p>For what it’s worth, on my first day of classes, the dean of my law school said, “There’s no one in this room who passed organic chemistry.” (I was probably the rare exception to that.) Law schools aren’t exactly unfamiliar with former science students applying - trust me, I think they are almost more weirded out by successful STEM students who apply.</p>
<p>A high LSAT score really forgives a lot. For certain schools, it may even qualify you for scholarships. You may be shut out of the tip top ranked schools who are GPA-heavy, but as long as you rock the LSAT, I dont think its going to hurt you that much. Students with C+ GPAs in most math/science majors are viewed favorably over A students who chose easy liberal arts majors for the most part.</p>
<p>I have no idea how this myth got started, but it is almost certainly false. Law schools care what your GPA is because they have to report it. They don’t care what your major is because they don’t have to report it. Consequently, a 3.5 in Underwater Basketweaving trumps a 3.4 in Electrical Engineering.</p>
<p>BlueBayou, does the school attended have any bearing if the GPA is on the lower side; i.e., 2.8 to 3.0 range at U of Michigan? Is the best option to stay longer and try to boost GPA?</p>