Do they consider difficulty of your major ? Forum

[riley22]

Will a 3.4 gpa with a tough double major be as good as a higher gpa with a less difficult major?

[Deuce]

Nope

[mrtoren]

There's no way to accurately measure how much harder one major is than another. Therefore, there's no way to give certain applicants a boost. They expect you to choose a major, or majors, that you can handle and succeed in.

[Peeblepop]

I'm going to disagree. I got into a T25 with a 3.0 in Physics and a LSAT right at median. I don't think it's a boost per se, but I think with a few schools who are honestly holistic, if they really like you based on you personal statement and your letters of rec, it can give them a reason to look the other way.

[rinkrat19]

A double major in nuclear physics and biochemistry will look better than a single major in criminal justice if the applicants have similar GPAs, but it won't actually make up for a bad GPA. Law school ranking calculations include the GPA of the entering class, with no caveats for difficulty of major.

[Peeblepop]

A double major in nuclear physics and biochemistry will look better than a single major in criminal justice if the applicants have similar GPAs, but it won't actually make up for a bad GPA. Law school ranking calculations include the GPA of the entering class, with no caveats for difficulty of major.

While the the difficulty of the degree doesn't come into play in the calculations, once you're below their median or 25th %ile, how far below you are doesn't come into play for the sake of the USNEWS calculations. Now, of course they still take people with GPAs closer to their median, because a higher GPA is more indicative of you being smarter and they don't want people who are going to be walking into walls, however if you're further below but have degrees in nuclear engineering and... something else really hard, that's pretty indicative of you being a smart person also. So you can get away with more.

The take away: You probably won't beat someone who's at or above their median, but if it's between you and someone else with a higher GPA who are BOTH below the median, you'll have a better shot with a harder degree.

That's how I'd look at it if I were an adcomm and it's how at least one adcomm looked at it when I applied.

Also...

There's no way to accurately measure how much harder one major is than another. Therefore, there's no way to give certain applicants a boost. While some degrees are obviously more difficult than others, they expect you to choose a major, or majors, that you can handle and succeed in.

[riley22]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm asking this question because I'm anticipating graduating with about a 3.4 gpa with a pretty tough double major. I want to get into some of the t14 schools but my gpa will be well below the 25th percentile.

[yngblkgifted]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm asking this question because I'm anticipating graduating with about a 3.4 gpa with a pretty tough double major. I want to get into some of the t14 schools but my gpa will be well below the 25th percentile.

Prove to them that you are smarter than the poli sci kids with 3.9s and rock the LSAT(170+)! That's your best bet at this point.

[shoeshine]

Nope

[WhoIsDonDraper]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm asking this question because I'm anticipating graduating with about a 3.4 gpa with a pretty tough double major. I want to get into some of the t14 schools but my gpa will be well below the 25th percentile.

Prove to them that you are smarter than the poli sci kids with 3.9s and rock the LSAT(170+)! That's your best bet at this point.

Hey I studied kinda hard for my Poli Sci 3.9. I always took the tests and sometimes I even read before class.

[PDaddy]

Will a 3.4 gpa with a tough double major be as good as a higher gpa with a less difficult major?

Yes, as long as the major is truly "tough" - like Psychology, a hard science or mathematics - and you apply early.

All else being equal, I'd take a double-major (3.4 in Psychology/History) over a 3.8 in Sociology.

[Yeshia90]

Will a 3.4 gpa with a tough double major be as good as a higher gpa with a less difficult major?

Yes, as long as the major is truly "tough" - like Psychology, a hard science or mathematics - and you apply early.

lolwut

[shoeshine]

Will a 3.4 gpa with a tough double major be as good as a higher gpa with a less difficult major?

Yes, as long as the major is truly "tough" - like Psychology, a hard science or mathematics - and you apply early.

No. No. No.

[dr123]

Psychology ... tough? really?

[PDaddy]

Yeah? Adcoms agree with me. A lower GPA in a hard science is equal to or even better than a higher GPA in a relatively easier major. And if its a hard double-major, that rule should hold even more true. Any adcom that simply looks at your major and assumes more or less of you is stupid.

I know people from easy majors that took tough courses outside of their major, so their course load was tougher than average. That's why major shouldn't matter. However, sciences are tough by nature.

And I don't knoiw what schools you guys went to, but Psychology is a very tough major at the top universities, one of which I graduated from. The average grade in the 100 level psychology courses is about 2.7.

[bjsesq]

A double major in nuclear physics and biochemistry will look better than a single major in criminal justice if the applicants have similar GPAs, but it won't actually make up for a bad GPA. Law school ranking calculations include the GPA of the entering class, with no caveats for difficulty of major.

Oh, you BITCH

[WhoIsDonDraper]

Let's do an over-under on PDaddy's GPA. I'll set it at 3.7 to begin with but that might be a little easy. I would take the under, I might even take the under on a 3.6.

[dr123]

... but seriously, since when is Psych not a joke major?

[rinkrat19]

A double major in nuclear physics and biochemistry will look better than a single major in criminal justice if the applicants have similar GPAs, but it won't actually make up for a bad GPA. Law school ranking calculations include the GPA of the entering class, with no caveats for difficulty of major.

Oh, you BITCH

[PDaddy]

Let's do an over-under on PDaddy's GPA. I'll set it at 3.7 to begin with but that might be a little easy. I would take the under, I might even take the under on a 3.6.

LOL. You got jokes! 3.72 pal!

[bjsesq]

... but seriously, since when is Psych not a joke major?

It still is.

[PDaddy]

A double major in nuclear physics and biochemistry will look better than a single major in criminal justice if the applicants have similar GPAs, but it won't actually make up for a bad GPA. Law school ranking calculations include the GPA of the entering class, with no caveats for difficulty of major.

Oh, you BITCH

You guys are wrong about the bolded part. If you have a tough major, adcoms are much more forgiving. And you agree that the tougher major with the lower GPA should win out if all else is held equal.

Ok. There are tougher majors for law school than psychology, but I also mentioned the hard sciences and mathematics, whioch are indisputably tough. So my point still stands. If OP has a naturally tough major, it helps.

[bjsesq]

A double major in nuclear physics and biochemistry will look better than a single major in criminal justice if the applicants have similar GPAs, but it won't actually make up for a bad GPA. Law school ranking calculations include the GPA of the entering class, with no caveats for difficulty of major.

Oh, you BITCH

You guys are wrong about the bolded part. If you have a tough major, adcoms are much more forgiving. And you agree that the tougher major with the lower GPA should win out if all else is held equal.

It may make up for a little, but not an appreciable amount. If you have enough evidence that says otherwise, please, enlighten us. Also, stop arguing that ug psychology isn't a joke, dude. It is.

[Rock-N-Roll]

There's no way to accurately measure how much harder one major is than another.

No. This is a silly statement. It is abundantly clear to anyone who attended college that some majors (i.e any of the hard-sciences, engineering, and computer science). are more difficult than others (i.e. accounting, communication, marketing).

The common wisdom is that law schools don't differentiate because the USNWR rankings do not differentiate.

[WhoIsDonDraper]

Let's do an over-under on PDaddy's GPA. I'll set it at 3.7 to begin with but that might be a little easy. I would take the under, I might even take the under on a 3.6.

LOL. You got jokes! 3.72 pal!

I was close lol. But psych? Was not doing your psych reading a lot harder than the rest of us not doing our poli sci, history, english, philosophy reading?