Oddball Undergrad Degrees...

[SuperMoni]

Thanks for the advice K and mobell195.  That is what I thought, but after explaining what my major is for the millionth time for someone I got a bit concerned.  But I'm glad you guys think that the addendum isn't needed since I already sent out a gool 3/4 of my applications!! 

[legalkitty]

Hey, my degree is in music, and I would say that my music classes were the hardest ones I took. Very mathematical. I think that explaing how you got to this point is a good idea. I actually was diagnosed with a brain tumor at 25 that cost me half of my hearing. Music career over! and I definitely mentioned that in my PS. Like the others said, and unusual degree makes you stand out. Good luck!

[desmo]

I am a Political Communication major

Isn't this a fancy name for Spin Doctor?

[ElizaB]

Personally I do not think that Journalism is that rigorous as well, but really it doesn't matter... you still have good stats to get into a top law school and if you score higher on the retake it will only help. 

I'm probably opening up a can of worms by saying this, but I really don't think that anyone has a right to say what an "easy" major is.  

Maybe Journalism and Theatre Arts were easy at your school, but they might have been very competitive at someone else's school.  I went to a school that is realitively unknown for anything....except their strong Journalism and Radio/Television Departments.  I had friends that graduated with 3.9+ in seemingly hard majors like Computer Science and Biochemistry that didn't spend half the time on school work that I did.  I graduated with a 3.57 (probably what many would consider a mediocre GPA in a seemingly "easy" major) and I had the highest GPA in my major (Journalism) for two years straight. Plus, I had to spend countless hours outside of the classroom on practicums and internships where I only received a pass/fail credit

I have to agree with the OP that grading is very subjective in majors like Theatre Arts & Journalism.  If a prof doesn't like you or your style, they can easily give you a C or a D....and there is nothing you can do about it because everything is up to subjective interpretation.

Furthermore, most people go into these majors because they are very passionate about them, good at them and enjoy them. Few major in Journalism or Theater Arts for security or monetary reasons. Most of the people in these fields have been developing their art for years and competition (for grades and otherwise) is stiff! I know very few accounting majors who started taking "accounting" lessons at age three or who have "accounting" agents or who went to "accounting" competitions beginning in elementary schoool. I know that the Theatre Arts majors at my school devoted their lives to their art. My best friend was a Theatre Arts major and she literally spent about 80-100 hours a week in the Fine Arts building when she was rehearsing for a show or when the show was going on. And as soon as one show ended, auditions for the next show began.

I'm not trying to incite an argument, but I get tired of people bashing certain majors. I sincerely hope that adcomms are more open minded!

[desmo]

This is why they fall back on the LSAT as a standard.  Too much variance in majors, schools, etc.

[ccast]

Yeah these fine arts majors (ie Theatre/Music) mentioned are "passionate, good at, and enjoy" their studies, just not enough to fashion a full career out of them instead of doing a 180 into law school.

[A_guy]

i tried not to, but i feel the need to post something here.

fine arts degrees are not easy.  people in other majors tend to believe that artists spend their entire day singing, dancing, painting, or whatever.  artist pursuing degrees not only have to be good at their craft, the also have to have a good understanding of theory, management, science.  i know one dance major that did some really cool choreography that required an understanding of engineering.  

instead of bashing a degree b/c its "easy" how about we ackowledge the accomplishment of getting any type of degree.  remember not many people have the opportunity to even go to college, let alone law school.

i say be proud of ur degree. write about it b/c u were/are passionate about ur major/art and  not b/c u think ur degree is less than any other or odd.  besides ur degree will stand out among that thousands of pre-law, poli sci, criminal justice, english, and philosophy majors.

btw, with all the poli sci majors around here i would think this would be the last place people would bash degrees.  i remember hearing how poli sci was a cop out major and it was just like pre-law and a waste of time.

[A_guy]

Yeah these fine arts majors (ie Theatre/Music) mentioned are "passionate, good at, and enjoy" their studies, just not enough to fashion a full career out of them instead of doing a 180 into law school.

i complete disagree with this.  my passion for the arts is the reason i am going to law school. also, many artists who have gone to law school want to work specifically in the arts community.  their advantage comes from being an artists which provides first hand understanding of the balancing act many artists face when dealing with creating new works and the endless legal and management issues that arise.  finally, i know a few dancers that had a passion for both dance and the study of law but decided to pursue a dance career b/c in all honesty u can only be a dancer for a short time.  these people, after ending their dance career were able to the pursue their second passion and in many cases were able to combine the two.

ur first mistake is basing ur statement about artists on the postin gof a few people on this board who are not an accurate representation of all the fine arts majors out there.  ur second is basing ur statement on limited information b/c u don't know what is causing these fine arts majors to pursue something total different.  u never know, there could be a logical connection that u r not making.

[legalkitty]

Amen to all of that. I actually always wanted to go to law school, but as was said before, both a performing career and a law career ask all of your time. I didn't want to give everything up for law school until I had something I believed was truly worth fighting for as a lawyer. Now that I have, I am ready to go!!!

Luckily, I think the average adcomm does not view the arts as a walk in the park and so I definitely don't think this type of degree will hurt us. 

[SuperMoni]

I am a Political Communication major

Isn't this a fancy name for Spin Doctor?

Yeah, pretty much