<p>I've been feeling lately that English is turning into a very unpopular major. Less and less people choose it at top universities (especially now), my friends who are into humanities shifted to history and philosophy, and even those who aspire to get into law schools seem to prefer "practical" subjects! Have you noticed the same tendencies? How do you feel about them?</p>
<p>if my school didn't have a great journalism program, i'd be an english major, but that's not really what you were asking. haha</p>
<p>I'm majoring in English and maybe Psych (at least a minor for the latter). I want to be either a teacher/professor or a prosecuting attorney and both require English...</p>
<p>i'm pre-law and while i'm an econ major (I always excelled at english and teachers always told me to be an english/lit major but I can't stand english personally) i've met a LOT of english majors in the undergrad law society.</p>
<p>It makes sense, to me - Law students need to have strong reading comp, reasoning/analytical abilities, and strong writing skills - English is an obvious choice for many pre-law students. Plus those reading comp skills will really help out on the LSAT's, which is 1/3 reading comp. Seems like every other English major I meet is either pre-law, or wants to be a teacher/prof. So yeah, English majors are not uncommon imo. And I think majoring in English makes a lot more sense than journalism, unless it's journalism as part of a double major.</p>
<p>I'm an english/art history double major. I've noticed the same thing.</p>
<p>Too bad english majors suck on the LSATs, it isn't a great thing to study if you want to get into law. I would have to agree and disagree, I know some english majors but not a lot. It definitely isn't political science, which is by far the most popular major right now. Economics for some reason is gaining popularity too, I hope people aren't studying it because they think it'll get them a job in the financial sector.</p>
<p>^ Well I know that the majors which score highest on the LSATs on average are Math/Physics, Philosophy, and Economics, but I understand why so many English majors are pre-law. why do they suck on the lsats? they must have high reading comprehension, which is like 1/3 of the test...plus I'm assuming english majors develop strong analytical and writing abilities. </p>
<p>econ has always been kind of popular, but i always thought the most popular majors were business and psych...seems like every other person I meet is a psych major now.</p>
<p>Euler321, that's not really true. Check this out:</p>
<p>Law</a> school applicants who majored in English</p>
<p>Law</a> school applicants who majored in economics</p>
<p>There are successful and not so successful students in any major.</p>
<p>yesterday - take a look at this, it was published in the Journal of Economic Education and shows LSAT score/major from 1992, 1995, and 2004 and compares them. All 3 years, #1 is Math/Physics, #2 is Philosophy/Religion, and #3 is Economics.
<a href="http://web.phil.ufl.edu/ugrad/whatis/LSATtable.html%5B/url%5D">http://web.phil.ufl.edu/ugrad/whatis/LSATtable.html</a></p>
<p>English went from 10 to 9 to 11 - pretty good, but not top 3. I guess it's since even though one third of the test is reading comprehension, the other two thirds are logic games and logical reasoning and math/physics majors would be good at that.</p>
<p>^ I guess they are around 9-11th ranked which is alright, I remember reading worse a long time ago. I stand corrected.</p>
<p>yesterday </p>
<p>There are always exceptions. I was refering to the averages, there is no doubt in my mind that there are penty of english majors that absolutely clean house on the LSATs.</p>
<p>This link has been swimming in CC waters for a long time now. I don't think it's relevant. Yes, math, physics and philosophy are generally considered to be difficult majors. But explanations as to why people who major in them score slightly higher can vary. For example, one can argue that students who are smarter in general are more attracted to these majors. In any case, the frequent advice college students receive when they ask what major prepares them best for law school -- major in whatever you like the best -- still holds true, and it would be really stupid for someone to disregard it just because of a table like this.</p>
<p>^ Now wait a minute - no one is arguing that the reason Math/Physics/Philosophy/Econ/IR majors perform better is cause their majors prepare them better for the LSAT - I think most people would agree that people who are strong in logical reasoning ability might go for those majors. I don't think any rational person would say, "Hey, if Math majors do so well on the LSAT, I better major in Math!" No, because GPA is also very important in admissions and if you suck at Math, good luck trying to do well for 4 years. </p>
<p>I think any preLaw student should major in whatever they enjoy and do well in - LSAT can't make up for C's and D's. I think any major in which reasoning, logical, and analytical skills are developed (basically most majors) is good preparation for Law school.</p>
<p>I'm sorry. The reason why I assumed you meant that was because I actually encountered people who used that table to argue why their choice of major is superior. </p>
<p>Recently I went to a pre-law meeting, and when a law school adcom was listing the top three majors that he thinks are a good preparation for law school, half of the students were feverishly writing them down in their notepads. :)</p>
<p>Yesterday</p>
<p>Maybe I wasn't as clear as I could have been in my earlier post, I'm not saying that english majors are inherantly less prepared for the LSATs. I'm saying that picking english because it will somehow give extra preperation is a mistake. I'm not coming in here hating on english majors, there are tons of english majors who do great on the lsats (as there are lots of other majors who do well).</p>
<p>EDIT: I see you responded while I was typing out my response. haha.</p>
<p>well it's ridiculous for any pre-law to argue his major is superior since people are naturally inclined to be better at certain subjects...someone who pulls off a 3.8 in psych might not get that same gpa in history. so go with what you're good at. plus if you end up deciding you don't want to go to law school, or bomb the lsats, you'll still have a degree in something you actually enjoy and wouldn't have wasted 4 years.</p>
<p>the english degree is so vague and broad these days, it mixes with other majors (comp lit, history, etc.) it's for people who likes reading hard novels and spending class time discussing it. but it soon appeared to me that in that case, why not just join book groups?</p>
<p>In book clubs, you don't have to write 10 (20, 30...) pages on 5 lines. </p>
<p>If you really really want to see through the vagueness of humanities, taking an English class wouldn't hurt.</p>
<p>I feel pathetic bumping this thread! lol</p>
<p>im an english major, it's pretty tight yo</p>
<p>we are a minority, that's for sure, and very frequently "smirked at"</p>