It's called, "Let's find Nate a second major!"
In my foolish desire to maximize my chances for admission to a good law school, and to simultaneously make my eventual goal of a law degree and CPA license easier, I have decided to wait an extra year before law school, giving myself a chance to: raise my grades, establish a rising grade trend, prepare a kick-ass application for law school, and fulfill the education requirements for the CPA exam. Plus, I have housing and most of tuition covered provided I stay at the main campus (as opposed to applying as a post-baccalaureate to a UW satellite campus).
Unfortunately, this has introduced another element of uncertainty into my planned course: getting into the Univ. of Washington business school. With my current GPA (3.27 cum), I'm towards the lower end of their applicant pool. With my grades in the prereq classes, I'm at the top of their applicant pool. I'm a skilled writer and so I have no doubt of my ability to do well on both the application personal statement and the writing assessment. Even so, with my overall GPA, I think my chances of getting accepted are somewhere around a 50-50.
But wait, it gets better. See, if I'd come to the UW about ten years ago, when enrollment was considerably lower, they wouldn't have cared if I'd just take an extra year's worth of classes. But now that enrollment's higher, they've started enforcing a 210 Credit Rule. The technical issue is this: I'll only have 161 credits after Winter quarter. I need 180 credits for my Bachelor of Science. Technically they can't force me to graduate until the end of Autumn quarter, given my non-acceptance to the business school.
Now, the thing that really boils my haggis is this: back in November, I thought I'd be graduating this year. So I put in an application for graduation. Now that I'm planning on an extra year, I need to apply to have it deferred. But to do so I need to get it approved through my adviser, and she told me today that unless I get accepted to the business school, she's not going to put it through for more than a quarter's extension (meaning I'd have to go to her to get it approved for each quarter beyond Autumn). Which she won't do; come Autumn quarter, she apparently can force me to either take the last required class for the degree or have my registration put on hold.
There is yet another difficulty inherent here. What courses I take Spring quarter depend on which path I take. I don't find out whether I've been admitted to the business school until May. If I choose business, I take my final quarter of latin, an econ class and two business classes. If I "choose" to graduate, I take the last required courses. If I choose to add a second degree, I'll be taking as many of those courses as is possible. My choice right now is the third: sign up for the intro-level classes for a new major for Spring quarter registration, then make a decision the first day of classes whether to try to overload into the business classes.
So here's where you all come in. What should I major in? It (theoretically) should mesh well with economics, look good on a law school application, and preferably not have too much to do with biology or chemistry, the only two subjects I detest. I am leaning towards Political Science (with a Political Economy concentration) or Philosophy, both of which are marginally doable in four quarters.
There is a possible downside to this, apparently: the adviser I spoke with also said that trying for a double major could make me appear too "spread out" to a law school admissions committee, that my early focus in econ and math (ending in a major in econ and a minor in math) wouldn't mesh well with political science, or that the combination of the two just wouldn't look good for some reason.
So, thoughts? Am I stressing out too much over the business school app and should I just lay back and enjoy the next few months? Should I just bite the bullet, work for a year, and then go to law school? Should I fight this tooth and nail and take the technicalities to the death? Or should I add another major and stay an extra year in some ancillary subject which I've never before considered?
Cheers!
Nate
UPDATE: An additional thought - what if I just pursued an extra minor in Latin? It'd (technically) force me to go for an extra year, because it requires an extra 6 credits at the 400-level, but the 400 level courses have a prereq course sequence (Latin 305 - Intro to Latin Literature and Latin 306 - Cicero and Ovid) that would take me through winter of next year, then next spring I could finish the minor with Latin 307 - Vergil, Latin 401 - Medieval Latin Literature, and Latin 402 - Later Medieval and Renaissance Latin Literature and maybe an additional 3-credit 400 level Latin class. This'd give me time to do an extra six econ classes for fun (2 this spring, 2 next autumn, 2 next winter) as well as do some sort of an internship with a bank or financial firm over the summer. Presuming I don't get into business, of course. (damn, now I want to stay an extra year just for the latin!)
UPDATE 2: Screw this, I'll go for a Classical Studies major. I'll get the same amount of Latin, but I'll at least get a second degree out of it. Plus I'll get to study ancient military history, among other things.
In my foolish desire to maximize my chances for admission to a good law school, and to simultaneously make my eventual goal of a law degree and CPA license easier, I have decided to wait an extra year before law school, giving myself a chance to: raise my grades, establish a rising grade trend, prepare a kick-ass application for law school, and fulfill the education requirements for the CPA exam. Plus, I have housing and most of tuition covered provided I stay at the main campus (as opposed to applying as a post-baccalaureate to a UW satellite campus).
Unfortunately, this has introduced another element of uncertainty into my planned course: getting into the Univ. of Washington business school. With my current GPA (3.27 cum), I'm towards the lower end of their applicant pool. With my grades in the prereq classes, I'm at the top of their applicant pool. I'm a skilled writer and so I have no doubt of my ability to do well on both the application personal statement and the writing assessment. Even so, with my overall GPA, I think my chances of getting accepted are somewhere around a 50-50.
But wait, it gets better. See, if I'd come to the UW about ten years ago, when enrollment was considerably lower, they wouldn't have cared if I'd just take an extra year's worth of classes. But now that enrollment's higher, they've started enforcing a 210 Credit Rule. The technical issue is this: I'll only have 161 credits after Winter quarter. I need 180 credits for my Bachelor of Science. Technically they can't force me to graduate until the end of Autumn quarter, given my non-acceptance to the business school.
Now, the thing that really boils my haggis is this: back in November, I thought I'd be graduating this year. So I put in an application for graduation. Now that I'm planning on an extra year, I need to apply to have it deferred. But to do so I need to get it approved through my adviser, and she told me today that unless I get accepted to the business school, she's not going to put it through for more than a quarter's extension (meaning I'd have to go to her to get it approved for each quarter beyond Autumn). Which she won't do; come Autumn quarter, she apparently can force me to either take the last required class for the degree or have my registration put on hold.
There is yet another difficulty inherent here. What courses I take Spring quarter depend on which path I take. I don't find out whether I've been admitted to the business school until May. If I choose business, I take my final quarter of latin, an econ class and two business classes. If I "choose" to graduate, I take the last required courses. If I choose to add a second degree, I'll be taking as many of those courses as is possible. My choice right now is the third: sign up for the intro-level classes for a new major for Spring quarter registration, then make a decision the first day of classes whether to try to overload into the business classes.
So here's where you all come in. What should I major in? It (theoretically) should mesh well with economics, look good on a law school application, and preferably not have too much to do with biology or chemistry, the only two subjects I detest. I am leaning towards Political Science (with a Political Economy concentration) or Philosophy, both of which are marginally doable in four quarters.
There is a possible downside to this, apparently: the adviser I spoke with also said that trying for a double major could make me appear too "spread out" to a law school admissions committee, that my early focus in econ and math (ending in a major in econ and a minor in math) wouldn't mesh well with political science, or that the combination of the two just wouldn't look good for some reason.
So, thoughts? Am I stressing out too much over the business school app and should I just lay back and enjoy the next few months? Should I just bite the bullet, work for a year, and then go to law school? Should I fight this tooth and nail and take the technicalities to the death? Or should I add another major and stay an extra year in some ancillary subject which I've never before considered?
Cheers!
Nate
UPDATE: An additional thought - what if I just pursued an extra minor in Latin? It'd (technically) force me to go for an extra year, because it requires an extra 6 credits at the 400-level, but the 400 level courses have a prereq course sequence (Latin 305 - Intro to Latin Literature and Latin 306 - Cicero and Ovid) that would take me through winter of next year, then next spring I could finish the minor with Latin 307 - Vergil, Latin 401 - Medieval Latin Literature, and Latin 402 - Later Medieval and Renaissance Latin Literature and maybe an additional 3-credit 400 level Latin class. This'd give me time to do an extra six econ classes for fun (2 this spring, 2 next autumn, 2 next winter) as well as do some sort of an internship with a bank or financial firm over the summer. Presuming I don't get into business, of course. (damn, now I want to stay an extra year just for the latin!)
UPDATE 2: Screw this, I'll go for a Classical Studies major. I'll get the same amount of Latin, but I'll at least get a second degree out of it. Plus I'll get to study ancient military history, among other things.
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