<p>I'm considering switching my major from philosophy to polysci. For the sake of maintaining a high GPA for law school, would this be a wise choice?</p>
<p>Ummm…dunno about the gpa thing. There are easy classes in both majors and you could probably coast and get a decent gpa in either. But I think phil would help in getting a better lsat score. A key to scoring well in the lsat is the level of your logical reasoning skills, and phil helps foster this a bit more than polisci, I think. The more adept you are at identifying assumptions and faulty logic, and doing so in a quick manner, the better your chances will be at doing well on the lsat. And as any law school student/grad who went to a good law school can attest, scoring well on the lsat is AT LEAST half the battle. Its easier to remedy mediocre grades with a great lsat score, but harder to do vice versa.</p>
<p>What a coincidence. I was just thinking of doing the opposite–switching my major from poli sci to something else. But anyway, from what I know of the two majors, poli sci in general seems like an easier choice than philosophy. However, that honestly depends on you as an individual. If you’re an incoming freshman and have not yet taken any courses, why not take a poli sci and a philosophy course and see which one seems easier to you? Also, what were your reasons for wanting to switch from philosophy? Did the philosophy course material seem too difficult for you to maintain a high GPA? Do you really like the subject of poli sci, or did you want to to switch to it solely because it’s known as an easier major? Additionally, with the Poli Sci department cutting back on classes as the number of students enrolling in the major grows, it’s becoming harder to get into classes you want and/or need. Keep that in mind.</p>
<p>Take something that not only will merit you a high GPA, but will also interest you and allow you to demonstrate your passion. Picking a major in which you could earn a high GPA but also be apathetic and fail to stand out seems like it would only be detrimental to your law school application.</p>
<p>I’m an incoming junior transfer. I have interests in both majors, however, I am more deeply interested in philosophy. Having said that, I’ve been hearing left and right how difficult it is to get a high GPA as a phil. major here at cal. So, for the sake of maintaining a high GPA, I’ve recently turned my attention to polysci. I realize the difficultly in adding polysci classes (there is only 1 open class I can take this fall), especially this far into the enrollment phase, but I would be able to finish the lower division requirements by the end of this fall and as an added bonus, 2 of the courses I took at my junior college count towards the major, leaving me with 10 classes as opposed to 12. In regards to the LSAT, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to ensure a higher GPA and devote additional time to prep classes which would directly prepare me for the test? Maybe I can minor in phil…</p>
<p>my major is poli sci. gpa killer.</p>
<p>Would it be possible for you to take an upper-div philosophy course here while completing the poli sci prereqs this fall semester? That way you would be able to test out the philosophy major for yourself and determine if it’s really as hard as everyone says. </p>
<p>In the end, law school does care about the GPA and LSAT scores above all else, so if you have a pretty strong interest in poli sci and honestly feel that you can get a better grade in that major, then do it. But understand that you’ll need to do some careful planning to complete the Poli Sci major (even if you complete the prereqs this fall, you’ll still have to take at least 3 poli sci upper divs per 2 of your remaining semesters, which would probably involve dealing with the waitlist). I know declaring in the major does give you priority enrollment for upper division courses during Phase I of telebears, so it may still be feasible, but you should talk with the Poli sci advisors just to be safe.</p>