Is double majoring a good idea? Forum

[ssareshwala]

I am currently a sophomore in college and I'm planning on double majoring in political science and international relations. I'm not sure if it will help me in my law school applications or if my weaker GPA will pull me down. What is the general consensus on double majoring?

[Tom Joad]

If double majoring will lower your GPA by .2 I wouldn't do it. Especially since both majors are useless.

ETA: I meant .02.

[bernaldiaz]

I am currently a sophomore in college and I'm planning on double majoring in political science and international relations. I'm not sure if it will help me in my law school applications or if my weaker GPA will pull me down. What is the general consensus on double majoring?

What exactly about a political science or an international relations degree do you think will help your application? And what about either of those majors would pull your GPA down? They're both cupcakes.

[cahwc12]

As someone with a political science degree, change your major to something more worthwhile.

Studying poli sci / inr at the undergraduate level isn't really worth anything for any field, much less law school. That said, your GPA should be 4.0 if you're studying those classes, so if law school is more important to you than being challenged in undergrad, you should do it.

I chose to take much more challenging classes, and they did end up tanking my gpa around .3 points, which is a big no-no around here, but I genuinely feel much smarter and a better all-around person for pursuing it, and my work ethic has improved substantially. Even though it will most certainly hurt me in law school admissions, I think going back I would still have made the same decision... I'd have just studied harder earlier on.


tl;dr - don't bother double majoring in poli sci and inr, but consider adding a second, substantive major if you are interested in really challenging yourself.

[top30man]

I am currently a sophomore in college and I'm planning on double majoring in political science and international relations. I'm not sure if it will help me in my law school applications or if my weaker GPA will pull me down. What is the general consensus on double majoring?

What exactly about a political science or an international relations degree do you think will help your application? And what about either of those majors would pull your GPA down? They're both cupcakes.

Yeah double majoring wont help you. Do whats best for your gpa. Also agree with bernaldiaz re: why is IR or poli sci so difficult?

[bernaldiaz]

As someone with a political science degree, change your major to something more worthwhile.

Studying poli sci / inr at the undergraduate level isn't really worth anything for any field, much less law school. That said, your GPA should be 4.0 if you're studying those classes, so if law school is more important to you than being challenged in undergrad, you should do it.

I chose to take much more challenging classes, and they did end up tanking my gpa around .3 points, which is a big no-no around here, but I genuinely feel much smarter and a better all-around person for pursuing it, and my work ethic has improved substantially. Even though it will most certainly hurt me in law school admissions, I think going back I would still have made the same decision... I'd have just studied harder earlier on.


tl;dr - don't bother double majoring in poli sci and inr, but consider adding a second, substantive major if you are interested in really challenging yourself.

I think this is great advice. Plus you don't pigeonhole yourself into law school if you change your mind later. Maybe throw Econ in these instead of one of those two. It's still a more academic (as opposed to a professional major like accounting) but will provide you with some versatility. Or even do a Finance/Pol Sci or something. That being said, if you really are sure about law school just do whatever you are going to get the highest grades in.

[Yardbird]

It won't help with applications, they only care about your GPA there (so basketweaving = the best major). A second major could help with OCI if its something relevant (IR for international law, (master) business admin/econ/finance/accounting for corporate, MD/health for health law, science for IP).

[T14hoping]

A double major would be useful as a backup in case law school doesn't work out. E.g., doing another major in CS or something else that could (conceivably) lead to a decently paying professional job right out of undergrad.

If you're already set on tossing your eggs in one basket with law school, you need to worry solely about your GPA. If you estimate that this double major won't hurt it, then knock yourself out. If you think it will, I'd hold off, as IR/Poli Sci isn't any more useful out of undergrad than straight IR or straight Poli Sci.

[Klinklang]

Here's what my advisor told me: do as much as you can without sacrificing even .1 of your GPA. Graduated with a 4.0 and a decent, though not spectacular, list of moot court awards. It's ONLY because of that, I think, that my 163 (practice was higher... still bitter) got me into two T40 schools, one of which was T20.

In my humble opinion, if you've decided on law school, don't double major. It will only make your GPA harder to maintain, not to mention they don't really care. Study some combination of whatever you enjoy (they really don't care) that happens to also supply skills and abilities useful in law school (PoliSci, English, Philosophy, Economics, etc.)

[bernaldiaz]

Here's what my advisor told me: do as much as you can without sacrificing even .1 of your GPA. Graduated with a 4.0 and a decent, though not spectacular, list of moot court awards. It's ONLY because of that, I think, that my 163 (practice was higher... still bitter) got me into two T40 schools, one of which was T20.

In my humble opinion, if you've decided on law school, don't double major. It will only make your GPA harder to maintain, not to mention they don't really care. Study some combination of whatever you enjoy (they really don't care) that happens to also supply skills and abilities useful in law school (PoliSci, English, Philosophy, Economics, etc.)

Jesus... an adviser who cut the holistic admissions bull shit out and actually gave god advice. That literally might be a first.

[09042014]

Why would it lower your grades? IR and PS are both bullshity social studies. They should greatly overlap. It's not like you are doing Electrical Engineering and Art History.