<p>So I'm currently a Sophomore Business Honors/Finance (double-major) at the McCombs School of Business at UT. I transfered into the Honors program this year.</p>
<p>Pulling in a 4.0 my first year wasn't that hard because even though I usually had to be in the top 9-35% of any given class to achieve my As.</p>
<p>Now that I'm in the Honors Program, instead of competing with 90% of the business school for the top 30% in regular courses... I'm competing with the top 10% of the business school for the top 50% in honors courses. I hadn't really though it through before.</p>
<p>Now I'm left wondering, if Law will really be my future career... is the honors distinction on my major really worth the potentially sacrificed GPA and stress of the rigorous honors courses?</p>
<p>Here's what I've come up with for a C-B analysis:
Benefits:
1 If I abandon law I have a fairly strong business degree to work with]
2 Law schools might recognize the honors major and the extra rigor associated with it.
3 The Honors courses will give me a stronger undergrad education.
4 The Honors courses may help me land a more prestigious internship.
5 I'm surrounded by smart, highly motivated students.
6 Law school just might notice the honors program (repeating #2 for emphasis)
7 Adds more prestige to an otherwise plain degree (another way to look at #2)</p>
<p>Costs:
1 Most likely a GPA cost, I'm currently taking a Business communications course with the other "sophomore transfers" into the program. We mostly have 4.0s and the competition is ridiculous, there is a 50/50 chance I will get a B at this rate.
2 Extra stress for a major that might not even affect my post-grad career.
3 I'm competing with said bloodthirsty, smart, and highly motivated students.
4 Law schools might not care whether I'm business honors or regular business.</p>
<p>I guess the ultimate question is, would a hypothetical .15 GPA loss (~4.0-->~3.85) from more rigorous, competitive courses be worth the additional prestige of an honors degree? (especially if I decide to stick with business, where the honors degree might mean more)</p>
<p>As I understand the situation, law schools do look at course rigor, degree rigor, etc., but only secondarily to GPA (which already takes backseat to LSAT score).
That said, a 3.85 is strong enough that you should forget about law school and do what you want. If that’s honors, then so be it.</p>
<p>If you’re really nervous, study a bit extra for the LSAT. It should only take a few points there to ‘make up’ for any drop in your GPA, which, if it does end up being a 3.85, will still be above average for almost every law school in the country (yes, including the most competitive). Don’t assume that you’ll actually end up with a 3.85, though, regardless of whether you stay in honors or transfer back to regular, and certainly don’t assume that you’ll wind up with a 4.0 if you drop the honors (also, LSAC will recalculate your GPA, weighing A/A- as two different grades, just as one example).</p>
<p>This, to me, answers your question: “The Honors courses will give me a stronger undergrad education.” Personally, I’m bothered when people view high school only as a means to a good undergrad, undergrad only as a means to good grad, grad only as a means to a good career, etc., and don’t make a point of valuing each of these stages as an important end in itself. But that’s just me.</p>
<p>If the honors program provides a better education you will be more likely to A. Do well on the LSAT and B. Do well once you get into law school. Your preferences might also change and you would lose some footing if you left the honors program. Do everything you can to contact professors and discuss topics with them. That would likely help your chances in receiving better grades because you would be more likely to understand the concepts presented in class.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, I probably already know the answer to this but I will ask anyway.</p>
<p>I’m worried about getting a B right now because I already have a lighter course load (13 hours) but with more rigorous courses. Since I got over 40 hours of credit in AP tests and and nearly 30 hours of As out of them, does the LSAC GPA count As from AP test scores?</p>
<p>My concern is that even though getting all those classes out of the way was nice, I missed out on a lot of easy “in-class GPA” As from things like history, economics, psychology, etc… and it would be great compensation if the ‘As’ I got from my AP tests counted for absolutely anything once I graduate…</p>
<p>For getting into law school, your GPA is all that matters to the decision (maybe add .01 GPA combined for being honors and the internship as POTUS ypu earned) so it’s a no-brainer. As you said, though, you may abandon law school, so you have to evaluate how likely that is.</p>
<p>I had forgotten my other reason for staying in the honors program (thus far).</p>
<p>Right now, if I left the honors program, I would be quitting simply because it was too difficult for me to pull in a 4.0. I would be leaving because the courses were too difficult and the competition was too stressful, and that I should just ease off and get an “easier 4.0”.</p>
<p>But then I remind myself, that If I can’t go balls-to-the-wall and succeed in this kind of environment now, what does that say about my odds of surviving at an elite law school? So I keep telling myself to stick it out now, because it certainly won’t get easier once I graduate. I might as well prepare myself for this sort of rigorous cutthroat academia now rather than later.</p>
<p>An above poster seems to think that this is a ‘no-brainer,’ but here’s my thought:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>If you really think you can swing a 3.85 in the honors program, then you most certainly belong in it. This is a very, very strong college GPA, and law schools will agree.</p></li>
<li><p>If you really think that you can swing an easy 4.0 in the regular program, then there’s not much reason for you to be in it. “4.0” is not the expectation in college as it sometimes is in HS. At most schools, it’s a major rarity, even among those who work their tails off.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If you have the LSAT score to support your strong (3.85) GPA, then that drop of 0.15 should be inconsequential. On the other hand, if you don’t have the LSAT score to back yourself up, then a 4.0 won’t help you. So I advise you again to ignore law school and do what you want, whatever that turns out to be. If the question were between a 4.0 and a 2.0, it would be different, but the two scenarios you’re talking about are just too close to bother comparing (for these purposes).</p>