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I keep hearing that the expectations for GPA are more lenient if you have a hard major (i.e. hard sciences) than an "easy" one (i.e. the "studies" majors). One of my majors was economics (the other was history), which is not quite a business major, not quite a social sciences major and not quite a math/science major. Do admissions officers tend to lump economics in with math/science/engineering or more with the liberal arts majors?

Schools don't really give a boost for hard majors, but any social study would not count.

fear&loathingintexas wrote:I keep hearing that the expectations for GPA are more lenient if you have a hard major (i.e. hard sciences) than an "easy" one (i.e. the "studies" majors). One of my majors was economics (the other was history), which is not quite a business major, not quite a social sciences major and not quite a math/science major. Do admissions officers tend to lump economics in with math/science/engineering or more with the liberal arts majors?

No.

Meh, I think for law school admissions, reviewers assume for the purposes of reducing their own speculation that you simply majored in what you were good at (although people don't always do this). Because someone who is great at economics might fail when it comes to writing a high minded political science essay, I don't think too many majors are considered "more difficult" than others. Same with majoring in mathematics or music. That being said there are some majors that are universally easy (like sociology *ahem*) and some that are universally rigorous (like engineering).

Besides, I don't think most of the admissions boost for a "hard" major comes from the fact that the major is a difficult hard science, but instead that it makes you eligible for the patent bar and therefore the law school needs a certain amount of hard science majors so patent lawfirms will recruit at the law school. It's sort of like being a URM.

After all, as far as US News is concerned, a 4.0 in basket weaving carries the same weight as a 4.0 in chemical engineering.

(btw I'm an economics major)

Total Litigator wrote:Meh, I think for law school admissions, reviewers assume for the purposes of reducing their own speculation that you simply majored in what you were good at (although people don't always do this). Because someone who is great at economics might fail when it comes to writing a high minded political science essay, I don't think too many majors are considered "more difficult" than others. Same with majoring in mathematics or music. That being said there are some majors that are universally easy (like sociology *ahem*) and some that are universally rigorous (like engineering).

Besides, I don't think most of the admissions boost for a "hard" major comes from the fact that the major is a difficult hard science, but instead that it makes you eligible for the patent bar and therefore the law school needs a certain amount of hard science majors so patent lawfirms will recruit at the law school. It's sort of like being a URM.

After all, as far as US News is concerned, a 4.0 in basket weaving carries the same weight as a 4.0 in chemical engineering.

(btw I'm an economics major)

Im not sure if there is a boost but I have been told by an admissions officer that econ is recognized as a major that offers very good preparation for law school because the way a good econ major thinks lends itself very well to fact patterns or something like that.

fear&loathingintexas wrote:Do admissions officers tend to lump economics in with math/science/engineering or more with the liberal arts majors?

Admissions officers don't really care what you majored in. They don't lump majors into categories or anything like that.

Also: Economics could be considered part of social studies or part of business, but it is definitely not a math or science major (or discipline).

Econ is also a very common major for law school applicants. While they might think it's somewhat more difficult than other social sciences they aren't going to give any sort of boost to the thousands and thousands of econ majors who are applying to law school.

Bildungsroman wrote:

fear&loathingintexas wrote:Do admissions officers tend to lump economics in with math/science/engineering or more with the liberal arts majors?

Admissions officers don't really care what you majored in. They don't lump majors into categories or anything like that.

Also: Economics could be considered part of social studies or part of business, but it is definitely not a math or science major (or discipline).

The Econ department at my school would burn you at the stake for such heresy.

berkeleykel06 wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:

fear&loathingintexas wrote:Do admissions officers tend to lump economics in with math/science/engineering or more with the liberal arts majors?

Admissions officers don't really care what you majored in. They don't lump majors into categories or anything like that.

Also: Economics could be considered part of social studies or part of business, but it is definitely not a math or science major (or discipline).

The Econ department at my school would burn you at the stake for such heresy.

At a large number of universities the economics department/program is a part of the college of business.

Lol no.

rayiner wrote:Lol no.

Not getting the funny part..

My School had two econ programs, one from the B school and the other from the college of arts/science. The only difference between the two was the exclusion of managerial accounting in the COA program. Those schools with an emphasis on the law/econ discipline give more attention to an econ major, schools such as FSU or GMU. For the most part, I think schools care more about numbers and rank and give weight to GPA's and care less whether or not that individual studied econometrics or creative writing. In the end however, and as an Econ major myself, I feel that the study of econ taught me how to think in a way that helped me with the lsat, but everyone is different. If I could do it over, I would have studied history because it is more interesting IMO, and much easier to secure a higher GPA.

Yeah, conventional wisdom prevails here - major really doesn't matter.

But if it softens the blow at all, econ majors have my respect

So you got that goin' for ya'

Total Litigator wrote:Meh, I think for law school admissions, reviewers assume for the purposes of reducing their own speculation that you simply majored in what you were good at (although people don't always do this). Because someone who is great at economics might fail when it comes to writing a high minded political science essay, I don't think too many majors are considered "more difficult" than others. Same with majoring in mathematics or music. That being said there are some majors that are universally easy (like sociology *ahem*) and some that are universally rigorous (like engineering).

Besides, I don't think most of the admissions boost for a "hard" major comes from the fact that the major is a difficult hard science, but instead that it makes you eligible for the patent bar and therefore the law school needs a certain amount of hard science majors so patent lawfirms will recruit at the law school. It's sort of like being a URM.

After all, as far as US News is concerned, a 4.0 in basket weaving carries the same weight as a 4.0 in chemical engineering.

(btw I'm an economics major)

It's not at all like being a URM. Having a "hard major" (which, OP, tends to mean a major that is eligible for the patent bar) is just another soft factor.

I vote we stop calling them "hard" majors and start referring to them as "technical" majors.

tkgrrett wrote:I vote we stop calling them "hard" majors and start referring to them as "technical" majors.

Even Engineering is mostly theoretical at the undergrad level. Technical is usually reserved for those crappy trade schools.

I do think classifying certain majors as "hard majors" isn't accurate because it ignores the fact that different people have different strengths, and that depending on where you go to college majors are taught differently, graded differently, and cover different material than they might at other colleges, and bring with them different levels and kinds of difficulty. That's one reason, besides being enormous number/ranking whores, that law schools can't really treat different majors differently, and shouldn't.

Except sociology. That shit should be an automatic ding.

Bildungsroman wrote:I do think classifying certain majors as "hard majors" isn't accurate because it ignores the fact that different people have different strengths, and that depending on where you go to college majors are taught differently, graded differently, and cover different material than they might at other colleges, and bring with them different levels and kinds of difficulty. That's one reason, besides being enormous number/ranking whores, that law schools can't really treat different majors differently, and shouldn't.

Except sociology. That shit should be an automatic ding.

Climbing Mount Everest isn't harder than swimming a lap, it's just different.

Desert Fox wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:I do think classifying certain majors as "hard majors" isn't accurate because it ignores the fact that different people have different strengths, and that depending on where you go to college majors are taught differently, graded differently, and cover different material than they might at other colleges, and bring with them different levels and kinds of difficulty. That's one reason, besides being enormous number/ranking whores, that law schools can't really treat different majors differently, and shouldn't.

Except sociology. That shit should be an automatic ding.

Climbing Mount Everest isn't harder than swimming a lap, it's just different.

Yea thats what Im getting at with the "technical" reference. For me, engineering/chem/bio stuff comes fairly easily while I find some of the more abstract things in Econ somewhat difficult at times. Its a very different type of thought. Although I will say, nothing feels as good as getting an A on an upper-level chem/bio exam.

tkgrrett wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:I do think classifying certain majors as "hard majors" isn't accurate because it ignores the fact that different people have different strengths, and that depending on where you go to college majors are taught differently, graded differently, and cover different material than they might at other colleges, and bring with them different levels and kinds of difficulty. That's one reason, besides being enormous number/ranking whores, that law schools can't really treat different majors differently, and shouldn't.

Except sociology. That shit should be an automatic ding.

Climbing Mount Everest isn't harder than swimming a lap, it's just different.

Yea thats what Im getting at with the "technical" reference. For me, engineering/chem/bio stuff comes fairly easily while I find some of the more abstract things in Econ somewhat difficult at times. Its a very different type of thought. Although I will say, nothing feels as good as getting an A on an upper-level chem/bio exam.

No I was making fun of that, Climbing a mountain is harder than swimming a pool lap, even if you are the best mountaineer.

For what its worth, Economics majors do have the second highest average LSAT score. Whether that's self selection or whether an economics major teaches you how to think in a way which helps you on the LSAT, I can't tell you.

1. Physics/math, 160.0
2. Economics, 157.4
3. Philosophy/theology, 157.4
4. International relations, 156.5
5. Engineering, 156.2

Funnily enough, guess what major has the second lowest average LSAT score. That's right you guessed it. Prelaw.

Yet another Gunner FAIL.

25. Education, 149.4
26. Business administration, 149.1
27. Health professions, 148.4
28. Prelaw, 148.3
29. Criminal justice, 146.0

(stats are from the following article: http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal ... score.html)

Total Litigator wrote:For what its worth, Economics majors do have the second highest average LSAT score. Whether that's self selection or whether an economics major teaches you how to think in a way which helps you on the LSAT, I can't tell you.

1. Physics/math, 160.0
2. Economics, 157.4
3. Philosophy/theology, 157.4
4. International relations, 156.5
5. Engineering, 156.2

Funnily enough, guess what major has the second lowest average LSAT score. That's right you guessed it. Prelaw.

Yet another Gunner FAIL.

25. Education, 149.4
26. Business administration, 149.1
27. Health professions, 148.4
28. Prelaw, 148.3
29. Criminal justice, 146.0

(stats are from the following article: http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal ... score.html)

There are some biases in there. Respectable schools don't have a prelaw, or criminal justice major.

Desert Fox wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:I do think classifying certain majors as "hard majors" isn't accurate because it ignores the fact that different people have different strengths, and that depending on where you go to college majors are taught differently, graded differently, and cover different material than they might at other colleges, and bring with them different levels and kinds of difficulty. That's one reason, besides being enormous number/ranking whores, that law schools can't really treat different majors differently, and shouldn't.

Except sociology. That shit should be an automatic ding.

Climbing Mount Everest isn't harder than swimming a lap, it's just different.

Your analogy is specious.

Exactly what I would expect from an engineering major!

Desert Fox wrote:

tkgrrett wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:I do think classifying certain majors as "hard majors" isn't accurate because it ignores the fact that different people have different strengths, and that depending on where you go to college majors are taught differently, graded differently, and cover different material than they might at other colleges, and bring with them different levels and kinds of difficulty. That's one reason, besides being enormous number/ranking whores, that law schools can't really treat different majors differently, and shouldn't.

Except sociology. That shit should be an automatic ding.

Climbing Mount Everest isn't harder than swimming a lap, it's just different.

Yea thats what Im getting at with the "technical" reference. For me, engineering/chem/bio stuff comes fairly easily while I find some of the more abstract things in Econ somewhat difficult at times. Its a very different type of thought. Although I will say, nothing feels as good as getting an A on an upper-level chem/bio exam.

No I was making fun of that, Climbing a mountain is harder than swimming a pool lap, even if you are the best mountaineer.

No, it's totally just different skill sets. In engineering you stay up till 5 doing bitchin' hard HW problems every night, while in econ you work on alcohol tolerance till the wee hours. Either way you go, getting up for class the next morning is hard.