<p>I'm pretty much settled on majoring in economics. However, my school offers two options for economics: (1) General Economics and (2) Honors in Economics with a mathematical emphasis. (More like an econometrics major) </p>
<p>As you can see, if I want to be on the honors program, I'll have to take intense math classes. Not that I'm suck at math, but I'm worried that these classes will drag down my GPA. </p>
<p>So here's the dilemma, would future employers value a high GPA (~3.7) more than a honors-level course work with a lower GPA (~3.4)? But I'm thinking the honors option might show case my quantitive skill. For what's worth, I'm interested in going to law school.</p>
<p>Please help me! I'm torn. Thank you.</p>
<p>I would imagine that a high GPA would be more important for law schools. Employers probably won’t care too much about your GPA (except, perhaps, when you are straight out of school) but would value work experience and skills more highly.</p>
<p>For law school, GPA is more important. See [Welcome</a> to LawSchoolNumbers.com | Law School Numbers](<a href=“http://lawschoolnumbers.com%5DWelcome”>http://lawschoolnumbers.com) . However, a strong math background may be indirect training for the logic puzzle questions on the LSAT (math majors tend to do well on the LSAT).</p>
<p>For some types of employment (actuary, quantitative finance), math skills may be important. For PhD programs in economics, a strong math background (including advanced math and statistics courses) is recommended.</p>
<p>If you are absolutely positive that you will attend law school AND that you can get the 3.8 and 170+ necessary to get into a top 14 law school, do the general economics. If not, do the honors track. Math is huge in economics, and a bachelor’s degree in economics without much math is not nearly as valuable.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the helpful insights. From what I’ve read from you, I feel like GPA is definitely more important because law school is pretty certain for me. But would giving up the honors program impact my career, as in fresh out of school?</p>
<p>GPA always in college.</p>
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<p>This will likely depend on what the honors program entails, I would imagine. If it’s just harder courses and smaller class sizes, it may be better to get a higher GPA in the regular program, particularly if you’d like to go to law school (where GPA and LSAT scores are vital for admission to a top program). You can still take difficult classes, and you may have more time to take additional courses to round out your experience. The quantitative background would likely be attractive to employers if you don’t go straight into law school, but I doubt law school would value it higher than they would a strong GPA. You may also be able to take math classes to supplement your economics degree, in lieu of doing the honors program.</p>
<p>If your honors program gives you opportunities for internships, faculty mentors, research opportunities, etc, it may be worth it. You may be able to get strong letters of recommendation from top faculty or work experience that could be helpful if you enter the workforce, instead of going to law school straight out of undergrad.</p>
<p>Would it be possible to try to do the honors program and get a taste for what it would be like (particularly with regards to the math requirement)? If it becomes too much, you could switch down to general economics, but if you can maintain a relatively high GPA in the honors track, that would obviously be ideal.</p>