Do type of classes taken matter?

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>I'm not sure if someone has posted a similar question before on this forum and I apologize if someone has. I was unable to find it in any case. I was wondering if the type of classes you take matter? </p>

<p>For instance, I'm planning to take Beginning Korean (I am Korean btw and not that great at the language--well, I'm declining at it for sure). I'm afraid that admissions will look at the course and think that I took an easy class or at least assume so. I guess the better question is: are the admissions people subjective about the difficulty of certain classes? For instance, I took a 200 level course in a department and will be taking a 100 course in the same department. Once again, will they think I'm taking an easy class?</p>

<p>Sorry if these seemed silly questions, but I'd appreciate it if someone can answer. Thanks for taking the time to read it!</p>

2

<p>Trust me, they really don't care.</p>

<p>One admissions dean said that she spends an average of 10 minutes with each file. That has her reading through your resume, personal statement, and letters of recommendation. I seriously do not think that anyone parses what courses you take. Sure, they'll give a lot of lip service to it, but the fact that LSDAS removes your courses from its academic summary of you says a lot about how little any of it matters.</p>

3

<p>I'm sure HYS and the more elite schools do. They probably automatically cutoff people below a certain point unless you are a URM and then go over things a bit more thoroughly.</p>

4

<p>Anna Ivey- former Dean of Admissions at U of Chicago Law school and now private consultant, and author of *The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions: Straight Advice on Essays, Resumes, Interviews, and More *
has an Ask Anna Column on Vault.com. </p>

<p>In her column, she answered the question this way:</p>

<p>Question: I am a freshman in college who is interested in going to law school after college. My question is, is there a particular major that impresses law school admissions officers? Some people have told me that Political Science is the best. I am particularly interested in an English major but will choose whichever major is most appealing to law schools. Thank you! </p>

<p>**Anna's Answer: **Good for you for starting to plan ahead so early! Make sure to keep an open mind, though, because you don't want to lock yourself into a particular career goal too early. It's tough trying to make career-related decisions as a freshman. You wouldn't start law school for another four years at the earliest, and who know what you'll want out of life at that time? Think back to four years ago, when you were about fourteen, and think about how much you've changed since then, your priorities, your outlook, your maturity. Your personal development proceeds at lightening speed during your high school and college years. You'll need those first couple of years in college to try out different subjects and disciplines and to think about different career paths. </p>

<p>Once you're a junior and ready to pick a major, go with your heart. That will be the best outcome for you personally, and it will be the best outcome for you in terms of law school admissions (if that's still what you want down the road) for two reasons: </p>

<p>First, while it's true that the most popular majors for law school applicants are Political Science, History, and Economics, that phenomenon just reflects the popularity of those majors among people who end up applying to law school; it does not reflect a preference on the part of law school admissions officers. You absolutely do not have to pursue one of those majors to be a successful law school applicant; if anything, you might have a harder time distinguishing yourself from the pack as a Poli Sci major.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=351&article_id=19222221&cat_id=2711%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=351&article_id=19222221&cat_id=2711&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

5

<p>Great, my two majors are Economics and History. So I'm going to be uber-norm.</p>

6

<p>If you major in something like Hotel Administration that isn't very challenging compared to majors like philosophy or engineering...is it pretty much bye-bye law school?</p>

7

<p>Polo..if you score really well on the LSAT it won't matter as much, but hotel administration seems iffy on the application. So try double majoring?</p>

8

<p>polo, i think the name of the school will matter more. For ex: if you graduate from Cornell's hotel admin. program with a high GPA and a high LSAT, you'll most likelye do just fine. </p>

<p>If not, you can still get into a law school. Perhaps not an elite LS, but a LS nonetheless.</p>

9

<p>Yeah, I guess I'm in sort of a predicament b/c I love both Hotel Admin and things in the liberal arts, mainly economics, english, and philosophy. Unfortunately I can't double major since they're in different "schools/colleges" at Cornell, so I guess I'll either do Hotel and take pretty much any electives I can in "tougher" liberal arts classes or focus simply on Economics (since it's harder to take classes in Hotel Admin. if you're not in the Hotel School). Which would be more favorable you think?</p>

10

<p>Uh oh! I was planning on being a poli sci major. Not that I'm good at it but it really seems to interest me the most. great..</p>

<p>Btw-thank you for the quick responses! :)</p>

11

<p>polo, if you are at Cornell and manage to get a high GPA you'll be fine regardless. Having said that, however, I do think that Economics will serve you best unless your dad already owns a chain of hotels. Just my personal bias, though.</p>

<p>el padrino, poli sci is an excellent choice for law school. go for it...just make sure you you have the numbers in the end.</p>

12

<p>Holy ****.
I am in the same boatas you son.
Hotel '10.
And I am thinkin about Law, but dunno if Hotel is gonna do it for me.
I'm thinking about AEM or ECON now...but I'm afraid imma like hotel though.
I dunno wht to do either........</p>