Since my overall goal is to get into a good law school I want to do the major that will get me the highest GPA.
I have in interest in both majors. Before I came to NYU I wanted to major in Economics but I’ve been thinking of politics instead because economics seems like a major that is math heavy.
I have never taken a calculus class in high school and since I generally don’t do well in math classes, I wanted to know whether Math for Econ 1 and 2 (MATH-UA 121 and 122) are hard math classes that could potentially lower my GPA. I also just want to know how hard or easy both the majors are and which one would possibly be better for law school?
Politics also seems appealing because the major is less structured and I can take more classes that I’m interested in. Also, more reading and writing would probably be beneficial.
Math for Econ is probably not too hard, not as hard as a math course for math or physical science majors. You should see if NYU has any tutoring center and make sure you seek help if you need it.
You don’t just want the major that will get you the highest GPA. You want a major that you enjoy, that you will learn and grow from, and that will prepare you well for law school. Either economics or politics can do that; neither is necessarily better for law school.
Your average economics major actually isn’t that math-heavy. Economics majors who are headed to graduate school are encouraged to take additional math classes because economic analysis at higher levels requires more math. And some economics departments require more math than others. It seems like NYU’s two math of econ classes are a mix of applied calculus and applied linear algebra. Your higher-level econ classes may use some principles from those classes, but won’t necessarily be pure mathematical theory or anything like that.
It sounds like you are more interested in politics, so why not just pick that?
Economics is a social science; there will be plenty of reading and writing.
Don’t shy away from a major because it is tough. IMO, Economics is more valuable than politics (and more interesting, but that’s just me).
According to me, if you’ve never taken a calculus class before, you should start now. I do also not enjoy mathematics, but being good at it is a very valuable skill.
I don’t know much about law school admissions but I would be very surprised if top-tier law school admits have not taken, at the very least, single variable calculus. Single variable calculus is generally accepted as a basic mathematics course.