<p>I'm a sophomore at an undergrad Ivy. I've taken a few econ classes and actually enjoy them more than the other liberal arts classes I've taken, but they haven't really helped my GPA (currently a 3.3) and now that I've realised that law schools don't care about your major as long as it's not complete fluff/BS, I feel like I should change my major to something that's easier to get an A in, like a language, Geography or Asian studies. But I feel hesitant about it because I think Econ is a more useful topic, and that I'd be able to make better use of it in my future career (I was thinking about corporate or marketing law). I want to get into a T14 law school but most likely ruling out HYPS. What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>You can rule out Princeton now, as they don't have a law school.</p>
<p>I wouldn't assume that taking classes in subjects you enjoy less would lead to a higher GPA.</p>
<p>I generally found that there was a definite (though imperfect) correlation between how much work I put into a class, and the grade I received. I also found that I was willing to put more work into classes I liked.</p>
<p>you should major in what you enjoy. you may decide to not go to law school after all. econ isn't that hard of a major, so i doubt it's the topic that is hurting your gpa.</p>
<p>Yep I would say Econ is a pretty easy major, not too hard to get a 3.7+. Majors which are hard to get high GPA's in are generally Math/Physics/Engineering. So if you want to study Econ, then do Econ! Just work harder and your grades will probably improve. I guess it's harder to do well since you go to a competitive UG. </p>
<p>I have met people who just don't get econ, they struggle with some concepts, especially the more advanced level theoretical work. I've also met people who struggle with Calculus and can't handle it...I mean, if it's really hard for you, then switch, but otherwise, just work harder. I mean, are you really interested in Asian studies? do what you like.</p>
<p>Econ was a horrible decision for me, especially because everything after intro is curved. So even even if I did decently in the class, it’s almost impossible to get an A or A-. I don’t have trouble with the concepts, but somehow it’s hard for me to get that A. With a decent professor I’ve always been stuck in the B+ range.</p>
<p>BTW LSAC counts ALL classes taken at any college during your undergrad career, even ones you took during high school for college or high school credit. So if you have As in summer classes or something that don’t show up on your university transcript, they’ll count too.</p>
<p>LOL</p>
<p>Econ is an easy major? I took Intermediate Micro at UNC this past semester and it took all I could do to get a B in it. It was definitely NOT easy unless you love calculus. I am debating on whether I want to do Econ as a major for law school, and I probably won’t. The econ department here grades pretty harshly and does not implement a curve.</p>
<p>futurenyustudent, I agree about the B+ thing. I’ve taken 3 econ classes so far and got an A- in the intro course, a B+ in micro and a B in statistics. I know the median for the upper-level courses is a B+, but if I want to bring up my GPA by a lot getting a B+ every term isn’t going to help me, and I usually get around the median.</p>
<p>My parents are pushing me to major in Econ though and don’t want to waste their money on a “useless subject”. So it’s either Econ, a science or bust…</p>
<p>Forget what your parents want. Study what YOU want. And if they won’t pay, then take out loans. Don’t be afraid to find your own path.</p>
<p>Loans are not free money just lying there for the taking, and if you still need your parents to cosign them with you if you’re under 21 I think. Also, massive loans are a bad idea for a pre-Law student, because then you’ll have 3 years of Law school ahead, which means more loans. </p>
<p>Don’t study Econ if you don’t want to. I love Econ and I do well in it, I’m genuinally interested in it, so I don’t mind working harder for an A. If you’re doing it because your parents want you to, then that sounds like a bad idea. Why do they want you to do econ so badly anyway?</p>
<p>you enjoy it more… so I’d stick with it. Honestly, if you like it, then go the extra mile to do well in it… Or considering adding an easy major on top of it (if it wouldn’t require going out of your way). I wouldn’t say Econ will help you for most of your law school classes, but if you’re planning on something like corporate law, it’s a good background.</p>
<p>lol @ whoever called econ an easy major and said math was hard major. That made my night.</p>
<p>^ Not sure if you’re talking to me, but I said I consider Math/Physics/Engineering to be more difficult to get a high GPA in than Econ. I’m an Econ major and it seems most people consider it an easier major, certainly not rigorous like engineering/physics or even math. My friends in those majors often joke that I’m lucky I picked an easy major because their majors are difficult and have an intense workload. Econ doesn’t have many required credits and allows you to take plenty of electives, or at least at most of the colleges i’ve looked into. I’ve never met anyone who thought of it as extremely hard, although some struggle with the concepts, especially the theoretical stuff. I’ve met plenty of people who think it’s fairly easy, certainly easier to do well in than the sciences/engineering. There is a reason people in those majors have lower gpa’s.</p>
<p>I’d say that in general, Econ is a hard major (although it really depends on the school & grading system)… It’s as rigorous as you make it.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say CE is <em>too</em> much harder than it. It depends on which one you enjoy. To an outsider, CE may seem impossible, but to someone who wants to be there, it isn’t. something like math is pretty straightforward and easy, and not nearly as subjective as other majors… If you enjoy it, it’s easy. Same thing with physics (although I’d say physics is a bit more subjective at higher levels). The thing that makes people think Econ is easier because it relates to a more well-known concept than CE (a poli sci major can look at a senior-level econ textbook and recognize some words and improperly infer that it must be easier than something like CE that seems foreign to them</p>
<p>When you get to things like Art History, then yeah, those are obviously easy… </p>
<p>I guess what it really comes down to is the average size for the classes in the major, how much of the major is subjective, and what you choose to do with it</p>
<p>Hmm I’ve never heard anyone say it’s hard before, or that Math is easy, but I guess it depends on the person. My college has a pretty strong Econ dept, and very strong Math dept, and Math is considered harder here. Business is also valued more than Econ, because our B school is pretty elite - I’ve been asked numerous times why I didn’t just go to the Stern Business school instead of doing the liberal arts major…they can’t understand I actually want to study liberal arts instead of 4 years of vocational training. </p>
<p>Even CE majors who love their major seem to think it’s pretty difficult, whereas many Econ majors who enjoy the major will say it’s easy. just my personal experience.</p>
<p>I guess what is clouding my judgment is that I’m thinking of schools with Econ departments (and no business/finance majors). It’s a different breed as it incorporates the hardest finance/business courses into the econ major</p>
<p>I’m not saying CE isn’t hard, I’m just saying that CE majors like to play it off as if its harder than it is (and they can pull it off since the subject seems foreign to non-CE majors)</p>
<p>but what really matters is what you do with the major. If a LS sees you taking heavy courseloads involving the hardest classes, regardless of major, then its a plus</p>
<p>I disagree with the idea that taking the heaviest courseloads with the hardest classes will necessarily translate into an advantage for law school applications. Aside from the cynical view that admissions is primarily looking for strong numbers, rendering your major somewhat irrelevant, law schools simply have no way of reliably telling which majors at a certain school are more rigorous than others, much less which COURSES are more rigorous. Granted, some schools’ departments have reputations for being especially difficult, but outside of those exceptions, difficulty varies widely. </p>
<p>Moreover, let’s also consider the problem of trying to assign relative difficulty within liberal arts and humanities majors. Whereas one can probably safely assume that inorganic or physical chemistry is more difficult than the introduction to chemistry class, the same cannot necessarily be said about different courses in, say, political science or sociology. A chemistry or mathematics professor, while she can still mold the curriculum, will still usually adhere to certain core ideas and principles within the discipline. But in the humanities, on the other hand, the courses can be as difficult or as easy, as conventional or as experimental as the professor sees fit. In other words, a law school would not necessarily be able to judge that “Introduction to Political Theory” was more or less difficult than a senior seminar on the Iraq War. Also consider the fact that humanities and liberal arts departments often times have constantly shifting curricula, which change from year-to-year based on new faculty and changing tastes. Differential equations and linear algebra will always be taught in undergrad math departments, but you won’t always necessarily see a course on Cambodian, Laotian, and Hmong refugees from the Vietnam War in the history department.</p>
<p>crnchy, I was referring more to the level classes you take (i.e. 200s, 300s, 400s) and whether or not they show up your transcript as a writing course. I agree that they can’t differentiate between a course in the same level (i.e. 305 vs 320), but if they see a Junior taking all 200s, they will know something is up. I think they generally understand that higher-level courses usually are more intensive (if they have two equal candidates and one took the senior seminar on the Iraq war in their senior year and one took intro to political theory in their senior ear, I’d think they’d lean towards the former… yeah, there are exceptions where political theory might be harder, but it isn’t the norm)</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t know any Econ major who is genuinely interested in the subject; most of them just major in it because they want to do something in the humanities that seems useful and practical, or they are hardcore about doing finance/investment banking/etc. I think it is kind of interesting, but I’m afraid of taking more higher-level classes in it and most likely getting B+'s in them, no matter how hard I try. They won’t help bring up my GPA, which seems to be all that law schools care about aside from your LSAT…</p>
<p>My school gives medians for each class so I think that kind of shows how difficult the course is that I took.</p>
<p>^ Are you kidding? I know plenty of Econ majors genuinely interested in the subject, although I’ve also met several generic pre-business types. I guess if you’re not in the major it’s hard for you to understand how anyone could be so interested in it. Similarly, I find anything in the Sciences and Humanities (Econ is not in the Humanities btw, it’s a Social Science) kind of boring, whereas International Relations (my minor) and Econ (my major) I actually can get excited about. I guess everyone finds their own major interesting and most other things boring or not worth their time.</p>
<p>I’m an Econ major, and I enjoy it…</p>