Accounting major before law school?

Graduate School Law School
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<p>I will be going to Iowa state, and I want to go to law school after I think, but I'm not completely sure yet, would an accounting major be appropriate for law school, like would I be on track?</p>

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<p>If you’re getting an accounting degree, I would work for a few years as an auditor or tax accountant at a public accounting firm, and then decide whether you want to keep working, get a JD, or go back for an MBA.</p>

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<p>Law schools accept applicants with any major including accounting majors. Key is to have high GPA and LSAT score.</p>

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<p>Most law schools will accept high grades in any major, but all of the publications on this subject indicate that top law schools prefer traditional liberal arts majors over ‘vocational’ majors, such as biz.</p>

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<p>“but all of the publications on this subject indicate that top law schools prefer traditional liberal arts majors over ‘vocational’ majors, such as biz.”</p>

<p>That’s not true. The combination of undergrad GPA and LSAT score is all that matters. </p>

<p>You really think that Harvard or Yale would prefer a liberal arts major with no work experience over a CPA from a Big Four firm that also has a fantastic LSAT score?</p>

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<p>you are comparing apples (no WE) with oranges (WE). And if you have to go there to make your point… :rolleyes:</p>

<p>Moreover, your points are inconsistent:</p>

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<p>If true, than WE is by definition excluded, and H & Y won’t care about it. :D</p>

<p>I’ll save you the time of using the search function for a valued poster, sybbie:</p>

<p>Anna Ivey - THe Ivey guide to law school admissions
Richard Montauk- How to get in a top law school</p>

<p>The Montauk book the book is approximately 500 pages and gives a very comprehensive overview of the college process and discusses applications, essays, LSATs, majors, etc</p>

<p>Chapter 8 of his book discusses Making the Most of Your Credentials, Montauk states:</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/798043-undergraduate-major.html?highlight=ivey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/798043-undergraduate-major.html?highlight=ivey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>“What is the best “pre-law” curriculum? How does one prepare for law school?
The Harvard Law School faculty prescribes no fixed requirements with respect to the content of pre-legal education. The nature of candidates’ college work, as well as the quality of academic performance, is taken into account in the selection process. As preparation for law school, a broad college education is usually preferable to one that is narrowly specialized. The Admissions Committee looks for a showing of thorough learning in a field of your choice, such as history, economics, government, philosophy, mathematics, science, literature or the classics (and many others), rather than a concentration in courses given primarily as vocational training. The Admissions Committee considers that those programs approaching their subjects on a more theoretical level, with attention to educational breadth, are better preparatory training for the legal profession than those emphasizing the practical.”</p>

<p>[Admissions</a> FAQ](<a href=“http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/jd/apply/the-application-process/jdfaq.html]Admissions”>http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/jd/apply/the-application-process/jdfaq.html)</p>

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<p>I know someone that got into Harvard Law School with an undergraduate accounting degree, so while it may be a stated preference, it’s not going to eliminate you from consideration for admission into that school.</p>

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<p>Statistically, those who undergrad in pre-law are in the bottom five majors for LSAT scores.</p>

<p>Basically, you can major in whatever you want for undergrad. GPA and LSATs are the key factors.</p>

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<p>Never said it would.</p>

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He never said you did.</p>

<p>Lol :P</p>

<p>As I’ve said before, your major doesn’t really matter. Maybe there’s a slight boost for hard sciences, or a slight decrease for some other majors. But overall, your acceptance will be almost entirely determined by your GPA and LSAT score, so you should choose a major that will maximize both factors.</p>

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<p>It does matter or it doesn’t. Which is it?</p>

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As far as I know there’s no objective data. All anyone can do is speculate on the practices of various schools.</p>

<p>But to the OP, I’d recommend checking out the graphs here: <a href=“http://mylsn.info/graphlist.php[/url]”>http://mylsn.info/graphlist.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You can see that numbers are almost everything. Sure, in a small number of cases other factors - major, EC’s, recs, etc., may make a difference. But in general, good numbers = in, bad numbers = out.</p>

<p>based on the following facts alone, general LS admission wisdom suggests that a 3.9/170 accounting major will always be better off than a 3.9/169 biology major.</p>

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<p>There are some practice areas for which accounting is an attractive undergrad degree. I am not speaking to law school admissions, but to working as an attorney. If you want to major in accounting, do not hesitate to do so, particularly if it is a major in which you feel you will do extremely well. It may benefit you later.</p>

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<p>Apples (higher lsat) are always better than oranges (lower lsat). And I’m willing to guess that for undergrad admissions, higher SAT is always better than lower SAT. :D</p>

<p>Gotta love these college kids’ critical thinking skills. :)</p>

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<p>Accounting is great, and a much better lifestyle choice (for quality of life) than LS for many IMO. I tried to convince both of my kids to go into to it.</p>

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edit: not “feeding the ■■■■■” as they say</p>

<p>to the OP, I hope my answers have provided some help</p>

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<p>“Accounting is great, and a much better lifestyle choice (for quality of life) than LS for many IMO”</p>

<p>Quality of life in accounting? I’m not so sure about that. There are lots of motivated people that go into accounting, so it’s not uncommon to see CPAs at both the public accounting firms and in industry working at least 70 hours per week. Industry is usually somewhat better regarding quality of life issues, but if you’re working for a company that has SEC filing requirements, that’s not always the case.</p>

<p>Bottom line: Like big law, there’s lot of money to be made in accounting, so the people chasing the dream of becoming a partner at a Big Four firm or CFO of a Fortune 1000 company are willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. As a result, long hours (not 40 hour weeks) are the norm.</p>