I’ve seen it here, and elsewhere, that the most important factors for Law School admission are GPA and LSAT scores. My question then, is do law schools look at different major GPA’s differently? For example, would it be better to get a 4.0 in Psychology or a 3.5 in Chemical Engineering? If it’s always the highest GPA, why would aspiring Lawyers not just always major in whatever they can get the highest GPA in?
4.0, no question.
Some/many do. But then supposedly, your major is something that you enjoy, and if you enjoy it, you will likely earn higher grades. (Not all quant jocks are good writers, so their path to A’s is in STEM. Conversely, poor Algebra students should stick to Lit courses.)
Nevertheless, a Chem Eng degree might make you much more marketable once you receive your law degree.
I can’t speak to other schools, but getting a 3.5 in chemical engineering was something that less than 10% of my classmates pulled off. According to the dean’s office, the median was less than a 3.0 - and everyone worked very, very hard.
It makes me mental when high school students make up two GPAs and ask which one would be better for law school, as if the two made-up GPAs are just as easy to get. I know very bright, very hard working people who got engineering GPAs in the low 2 range. I know engineers with GPAs in the 2.5 range who were recommended for PhDs (and got them). I know capable, competent engineers who are great in their fields, breezed through calculus, and had to retake differential equations or controls or kinetics or whatnot.
Engineering hiring managers understand this and tend to not care what grades people got, so long as they made it through. Also, in order to make it through engineering, you have to REALLY want it. Not much else is going to persuade you to be in the library until 2 am when your friends are just coming home from a bar. “Law school admissions committees might be totes impressed!” is not a great motivator.
Only foreign law schools could possibly care about major difficulty, and unless you want to practice law abroad you shouldn’t go to a foreign law school.
For example, at my undergrad’s own law school, the difficulty difference between the two majors (ChemE vs. psychology) mentioned in the OP is worth about a half-point, which is a major difference.
@ariesathena I definitely understand what you’re saying, and I was just comparing two arbitrarily chosen majors that one is considered difficult, one easy. I dislike math, and don’t think I would seriously consider engineering as my future major. I was simply using them to illustrate my point and ask my question, which was whether it is better to do well in a ‘difficult’ major or do astounding in an ‘easy’ major. I definitely didn’t mean that I could get those two GPA’s, just an example.
Okay, generally: it’s better to take a relatively easy major and get good grades.
My point to high school students is that many engineering majors will leave you working your arse off for a GPA that is likely not even a 3.0. I’ve seen a lot who posit a 0.2 point difference, when it really should be three (or more) times that.
Just as an example, NYU Law’s website says: “The competitiveness of school and major are taken into account.” You just never know; one reviewer might take the major into account more than another. It is on a case by case basis. We have also wondered about the competitiveness of the undergrad school. If you go to a very selective school where the students are extremely bright (or at least their credentials show that) you may do less well GPA-wse than a school that is less competitive. My son never got a good answer from his college adviser with respect to whether the fact that he was attending a very selective school mattered. I think the reason is that again, it is on a case by case basis and difficult to predict.
All college websites are marketing materials…aka spin.
Sure, rigor may count as a tie-breaker, but a 3.8 in basket weaving beats a 3.6 in rocket science every time, at least for the unhooked.
The other question is whether the school compensates enough for difficulty of major. I happen to think that many do not, although some will. I once spoke with an admissions officer who said that schools will take engineers with 2.4s, but that should highlight the fact that an engineer with a 2.4 could still be a very strong student.
“I once spoke with an admissions officer who said that schools will take engineers with 2.4s, but that should highlight the fact that an engineer with a 2.4 could still be a very strong student.”
This is not true for the T14, or whatever law schools actually provide value these days.
Speaking as a chemical engineer (with a 3.2) who went to law school.
To get into a law school these days, all you need to do is be eligible for massive student debt.
“Nevertheless, a Chem Eng degree might make you much more marketable once you receive your law degree.”
I think that depends on what kind of job you are trying to get.