<p>I’ve been considering majoring in Turkish for some time now. I have about 6-7 majors that I’ve been considering doing, and just now balancing out which ones I’d prefer over the others. The Turkish program here (University of Texas - Austin) is taught by one professor for every single course. Do you think it’s worth taking Turkish, something I enjoy but may enjoy slightly less than other majors, for a great letter of rec if my ultimate goal was law school?</p>
<p>Absolutely not. Majoring in Turkish just for a rec letter?!</p>
<p>You can find rec letters from other people and in other places. If every single class is taught by one professor, you had best be SURE that he’s a good professor and, if your ultimate motivation is this letter, then be SURE he REALLY likes you.</p>
<p>If you want to major in Turkish, go ahead, but do it because you enjoy and are interested in it. It won’t do anything to boost your LSAT skills or steer you toward relevant opportunities (not that your major has to do these things, but the point is that a rec letter is just not important enough to justify a major that won’t give you much else of particular relevance).</p>
<p>Also, bear in mind the relative unimportance of anything beyond LSAT and GPA (assuming that you don’t have a <em>negative</em> letter, but can get sufficiently good ones from professors who may know you less well). If this professor is really tough (hypothetical example, here) and the courses bring down your GPA, this will probably never be balanced out by any rec letter.</p>
<p>Also consider questions like whether just having a lot of classes with one guy will equate to a good rec letter. Ten big lecture classes where all you do is turn in homework won’t allow a professor to get to know you as well as one small, discussion-based class (though I realize that the former is probably not how Turkish is taught). Furthermore, though this professor might be able to say a lot about your good grades, your personability, promptness, and whatever else…all excellent things…he won’t necessarily be able to say a lot about why you’ll succeed in law school, specifically, simply b/c what he sees in Turkish classes may not appear to be applicable (I realize there are skills and traits which transcend subject matter, so this is a much weaker consideration).</p>
<p>Finally, basically everywhere you ever apply will want more than one letter of rec, so you’ll really be staking a lot on this guy (as opposed to another field where you might have multiple professors, but still take a number of classes from the same one or two).</p>
<p>Anyway, the point is that unless you KNOW this professor will love you, you know you’ll never get a halfway decent letter anywhere else, and you’re already on the brink of choosing Turkish, a rec letter is just not of enough importance to justify a major that you wouldn’t otherwise choose, especially one that’s pretty random. Also, law school aside, unless you know that you’ll hit things off with this professor, you might want to think twice about pursuing a degree that will limit you so sharply. Make sure you talk to other Turkish students (or already know the professor) before you commit yourself.</p>
<p>Good luck with whatever you choose!</p>
<p>BlueDemon, I wouldn’t be majoring in Turkish just for the letter of rec. It’s been on my list of majors I’ve been considering for quite a while and I would most definitely enjoy it. I’m familiar with the language already and I’m taking my first semester of it right now. I’ve met the professor and we get along, all that sort of thing.</p>
<p>Student615, thanks for clearing up some of that stuff. I do see how majoring in Turkish wouldn’t be a good indicator of why I should do law. Appreciate it, thanks again.</p>
<p>Dude, all those classes with just this one guy? Are you like dying to be a graduate student?</p>
<p>Enjoy the ability to have multiple partners while you can…</p>
<p>This is perhaps the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard.</p>
<p>I am of the mindset that if you ultimately plan on going to law school…your undergraduate major doesn’t matter in life. However, should you change your mind, or not finish law school, I think you’ll have problems finding a job with that major.</p>
<p>I have two friends - Political Science Majors - who want to go to law school, but wanted to work for a few years prior. They were struggling to find a job due to their major. One works a job for 9.50/hr as a loss prevention officer at a Department Store. The other makes about 12/hr as a human resources assistant for a sporting goods chain. They were desperate after months of job searching. Grown men literally almost brought to tears due to frustration. These are smart guys too, not total maroons. And, I’m being honest - no bias because they are my friends.</p>
<p>They both maintain that - though they loved Poli Sci - it was probably a mistake, because it doesn’t leave you with many options without graduate school in a more marketable field (law or MBA). Without work experience…they argue…a Poli Sci Degree is worthless and offers no relevant job skills other than gov’t type work. I assume Turkish will provide similiar obsticles, if not more due to its obscurity.</p>
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<p>This is not true for elite schools. It might be true for Texas, though. Good advice.</p>
<p>“Also, bear in mind the relative unimportance of anything beyond LSAT and GPA . . . .”</p>
<p>I want to make sure to clear up this misstatement. LSAT and GPA are probably the most important factors in law school admissions, but by no means are they the only factors at T14 law schools. Recommendations, personal statement and resume, among other things, are also incredibly important in allowing T14 law schools to distinguish among the many bright, qualified applicants that could fill their classes many times over. Don’t ever think that you have a guaranteed spot at HLS or any other T14 law school just because you have good numbers working in your favor.</p>
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<p>Not that I disagree with you, Sally, but do you not think that the amount of students with a 3.8+ and a 173+ is insufficient to fill the classes of the top 3 combined many times over? I mean, I always thought that the statistics were clearly in one’s favor if one were in that numerical range.</p>
<p>Payne, your post contributed nothing to the discussion. Why’d you even bother typing it out? I’ll just assume that you read the thread title and not the content.</p>
<p>My point was that Turkish is just as valid to me as any of the other majors I’m choosing. If I ended up choosing Philosophy, which is something I’d be considering as well, part of me would regret not doing Turkish, and vice versa. It’s not like I randomly came up with the idea of “Hey, Turkish is taught by one professor, this is my sole reason for wanting to major in it!” I am half Turkish and I grew up there, I’m familiar with the language, and I am naturally interested in it. Now, my question was whether or not majoring in Turkish with a single professor would be beneficial for a letter of rec. Fortunately for me, some people took it upon themselves to actually put content in their posts, and I appreciate it.</p>
<p>I think that the statistics are certainly in your favor with a 3.8+ and a 173+, but I also know students with those statistics who get rejected from one or more T14 schools every year. So how does that happen? First, I don’t think that admissions is entirely numbers based at any of the T14 law schools. Second, I think that there are a lot more people out there with really high LSAT scores than you would expect. </p>
<p>Let’s talk numbers. In 2005-2006, LSAC reported that 137,444 LSAT tests were given (each set of data refers to the June, October, December and February exams, thus the year overlap). In 2004-2005 it was 145,258, in 2003-2004 it was 147,617, in 2002-2003 it was 148,014 and in 2001-2002 it was 134,251. Yes, there is some percentage of students in there who may have taken the test more than once (in my opinion, not a great idea, but so be it) or who took the test and then never applied to law school, among other circumstances. LSAC will continue to report a student’s LSAT scores for five years, thus the five years of data. Therefore, 7,126 people taking the test during the five year reporting period would have scored in the 99th percentile or better on the LSAT. Even looking at the two-year period immediately prior to when students apply to law school, 2,872 people would have scored in the 99th percentile on the LSAT. That’s a lot of 99th percentile LSAT scorers – many more than even I would have expected</p>
<p>My point is simply that a whole lot of people take the LSAT, obviously with some level of intention to apply to law school. Some never apply to law school. Some are disappointed in their LSAT scores and find another career path. Some people who score in the 99th percentile on the LSAT may not have a solid GPA. There are still a lot of people out of there with 99th percentile LSAT scores, so while someone who gets such a great score on the LSAT should be deservedly proud, that person is by no means alone. And, while law schools like Harvard and Georgetown have big incoming classes of law students (500+ per year), many schools have much smaller classes of less than 300 students per class. </p>
<p>Sorry, I didn’t mean to hijack the thread, but I just wanted to make myself understood.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification, Sally, but hence “relative” unimportance. I maintain that one very good letter of rec will probably not do much to compensate for a lowered GPA, should that be a possible concern. GPA and LSAT won’t get you into a T14 school on their own, but they WILL keep you out of one.</p>
<p>I think that’s an accurate characterization, student615.</p>