Is Emory really hard?

I’m thinking about applying to Emory as a poly. science major and just wanted to know how hard it was to get a 4.0 or close to a 4.0 GPA…Someone said told me the major was really hard, but why? Are the tests really difficult/the professors really hard graders/a lot of work to manage/something else?

@sarah12344 : Please stop now. This isn’t HS. Unless you are very talented, you will likely not get the best education if you are merely aiming for a 4.0 or something close (you will choose a series of questionable courses and instructors). You should aim to do well enough and be deeply engaged with your major such that you could qualify for an honors thesis. Emory’s political science major is generally considered tougher than most because of the more stringent curriculum such as requiring one stats and one methods course along with a concentration. It is a curriculum that prepares students for research oriented careers and the layout of the requirements reflects that. In addition, yes, the best teachers are more rigorous. With that said, it is easy to do very well. Political science sets the honors cut-off at like 3.7 suggesting that many students have very high GPAs. Majors with more even distributions have a hard 3.5 and will even make exceptions.

This is college. You want to do much more than do well in courses in your major. You want to find other ways to stand out within it. In fact, departmental prizes often go to those with high but not perfect GPAs, because they prefer the student who was highly intellectually engaged (did research, got published, or completed a thesis). There are ways to keep a strong GPA and also take the most rigorous instructors in that dept. more so than others. In general, it is and should be hard to keep a 4.0 if you are being challenged and actually learning. There is also the subjectivity in grading of papers and essay style exams which will result in imperfection. At the end of the day, the couple (or few) professors you score less than an A in will be the ones you thank most or the ones you got the best mentoring from. The most predictable and easy folks…usually this isn’t the case.

@sarah12344
Getting a high GPA in Political Science isn’t hard to do at any school tbh, however a 4.0 is reaching and very difficult. Also rigor should be embraced as grad schools will look more favorably on you. Apply to Emory and other schools you like and are interested in first. After you get in narrow down your choice by figuring the nuances of the schools.

@VANDEMORY1342 : Really trying to figure out why a prospective (as in not a transfer, but a person in HS) polisci major would be into selecting schools/worried about ones that will most easily yield a high GPA. Why bother? If pre-law and only concerned about GPA, they should just go to a random school and major in underwater basket weaving, and take the LSAT which they will likely do decently or well on if they had a good enough score to get into selective publics or privates. Just do not know why this would be a primary concern. Very confused. Why entertain any selective private or public if this is a serious concern?

Aiming for a 4.0 in college is a terrible mindset, first of all when applying for a job most people couldn’t careless if you have a 4.0 or a 3.5 . For example, my friends older brother has a 3.80 at Stanford. He is majoring in CS and can’t get a single job, not because he isn’t smart it is because most employers don’t care about your GPA they want people who have relevant experiences and know the content. Just saying this is you’re concerned about jobs etc So consider this when applying to other top colleges… don’t try to go to a college that you can easily get a 4.0 out, go somewhere that you actually enjoy and feel would give you the best educational environment and social environment