<p>I've always been really interested in going to law school or law enforcement. In order to assure a high chance of acceptance in a reputable law school what undergrad majors do you suggest? </p>
<p>Assuming I do well. </p>
<p>I would really like to do one of these:
- Sociology with a concentration in Criminology
- Criminology or Criminal Justice
- Pre Law
What others are good?</p>
<p>Help!</p>
<p>Law school admission is based primarily on GPA and test scores. Study what you love, as you are likely to do best in that. Students with majors which are too pre-professional are not the strongest applicants. Law schools want students with strong critical thinking and writing skills. </p>
<p>Philosophy is one of the best majors indicating success in law school because it is a difficult subject which requires critical thinking. Also common majors among law students are Poli Sci, History, even Classics.</p>
<p>^^^ agree with advice above. Study what you love. I’m a lawyer who double-majored in poli sci and Spanish. My law school class was very diverse including students who had majored in music, art, language, engineering, pre-med, history, English, philosophy, psychology, humanities, you name it.</p>
<p>[LSAT</a> Scores of Economics Majors: The 2008-2009 Class Update by Michael Nieswiadomy :: SSRN](<a href=“Page Cannot be Found”>LSAT Scores of Economics Majors: The 2008-2009 Class Update by Michael Nieswiadomy :: SSRN) describes LSAT scores of LSAT takers of various undergraduate majors (see list on the last page of the PDF).</p>
<p>Highest (#1-#5):</p>
<p>Physics/Math
Economics
Philosophy/Theology
International Relations
Engineering</p>
<p>Lowest (#25-#29):</p>
<p>Education
Business Administration
Health Professions
Prelaw
Criminal Justice</p>
<p>Most popular:</p>
<p>Political Science (#16)
English (#11)
Business Management (#24)
Psychology (#17)
History (#8)</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to LawSchoolNumbers.com | Law School Numbers](<a href=“Recently Updated J.D. Profiles | Law School Numbers”>http://lawschoolnumbers.com/) can give you an idea of what college GPA and LSAT score to aim for each law school.</p>
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<p>Philosophy also requires close reading of difficult texts and skills in argumentation and writing which translate well into law school. Also, the LSAT includes a lot of verbal logic puzzles which philosophy students tend to be good at. Math majors also tend to do well on the LSAT, and also in law school if they know how to write. But law schools aren’t picky about undergraduate major, so I agree with those who say you should study what you love.</p>
<p>Many colleges don’t have a pre-law major as such, though most will have some kind of pre-law advising. I’m told U.S. law schools generally don’t want you to study law before you get to law school; they’re set up to teach law to people with no background in the subject, and they don’t trust people outside the law schools to teach it with sufficient rigor. Other things equal, they prefer a well-rounded class reflecting a variety of academic interests and accomplishments, so a “pre-law” major probably isn’t going to help you and could even be a slight negative at some law schools. Mostly, though, they’re going to base admissions decisions on undergraduate grades and LSAT scores, with strong LSAT scores being the scarcer and therefore more valuable element in their decision.</p>
<p>You realize that those Top 5 majors don’t make people perform better; they draw better performers. Joining engineering or physics isn’t going to bring up your LSAT score any higher than joining English or sociology.</p>
<p>Note the logic puzzle section of the LSAT.</p>
<p>Majors like math and philosophy likely attract students who like and are good at doing such things, and their majors give them more practice with logic. So there could be either or both (self-)selection and treatment effects of the majors as they relate to LSAT scores.</p>
<p>Is it correlation or causation? Reminds me of an XKCD comic
[xkcd:</a> Correlation](<a href=“http://xkcd.com/552/]xkcd:”>xkcd: Correlation)</p>
<p>As post #8 says, it could be some of both. </p>
<p>But to respond to your question, major in whatever you like. This page from the ABA is helpful.
[Pre-Law</a> | Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar](<a href=“http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/pre_law.html]Pre-Law”>http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/pre_law.html)</p>
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<p>I doubt this is true. If you spend 4 years focusing on critical thinking skills, chances are the practice will help you a good bit on a critical thinking test.</p>
<p>Of course, if you don’t blow out the LSAT and get great grades at the end of the day (or you research the job market and legal careers and change your mind), you could end up in four years with a philosophy or liberal arts degree. I hear Best Buy is hiring critical thinkers for the Christmas rush right now.</p>
<p>I’ll admit to a bias. I majored in one of the bottom majors, and haven’t found it to be an impediment. I work with lawyers who majored in everything from accounting, teaching, French, business, engineering, criminology (ouch) and history. My suggestion is always to think of a back up plan, especially for high school kids trying to map out the next four years.</p>
<p>Do you think you could major in Physics, Philosophy, and English and still keep a 3.9-4.0 GPA? If so, go for it.</p>
<p>Make sure you graduate summa cum laude and get some prestigious research experience for your r</p>
<p>If you’re already not any good at thinking critically, you’re not going to pass engineering fundamentals, anyway. So then what’s the point?</p>
<p>I’m thinking of majoring in economics and taking a philosophy course, ECON is a top 5 major for the LSAT. in relation to physics and English how rigorous is it?</p>
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Colleges care about extracurriculars because they need people to to staff the school paper, play in the orchestra, be on the debate team, pitch a baseball, and sing a cappella. Preferably, they would get people who are really good at these things and will do them throughout their time in university. </p>
<p>Law schools really do not care what you major is; they want to see a GPA that will help their rankings, but that’s about it. They don’t much care if everyone in their criminal law class has taken poli sci, or if there’s a few economics majors out there, too. They don’t care if the IP club goes belly-up because not enough STEM majors enrolled; they just want to make sure that kids get jobs.</p>
<p>When you think about the motivations of colleges versus law schools, you understand why it’s all about GPA and LSAT, with a few tip factors for geography (so that they can get all fifty states) and work experience (for a slightly more interesting, and older, class).</p>
<p>Cornerback,</p>
<p>I’ve taken a few econ, English, and physics courses. It depends where your strengths are. Honestly, I think physics is probably the hardest major on the planet. There are way many more kids who could get an A in our college’s Econ classes, and not in our Physics classes, and we have a top business school. </p>
<p>When it comes to English, you’re not talking about black and white grading, anymore. Your English grade usually is a mix of your willingness to improve upon your writing from beginning to end of the semester, the eccentricities of the teacher and what he or she is looking for, and the difficulty of the program you get into. With all that said, however, I would say that, in general, English is the easiest of the three to get an A in. Then, again, I’m partly an English major : P</p>
<p>EDIT: I also know some brilliant Physics majors who got a B in Econ. They are very different. You need to figure out what you’re interested in. That’s what everyone keeps telling you. Use your head and follow what you like, not what that stupid list above says.</p>
<p>If your college offers it, another interesting major is writing and rhetoric. It’s relatively new and limited (only offered at about 110 colleges nationwide so far), but it’s completely separate from the English major and instead focuses on critical thinking and the art of persuasion as it applies to student writing, the college writing classroom, and the rest of the literary world. </p>
<p>I’m also taking my 2nd philosophy class, and the two fields go well together. I’m learning how to break down arguments to their simplest forms and evaluate their validity in my philosophy class, and I’m making arguments more complex and meaningful in my writing and rhetoric classes. I have to sift through pages upon PAGES of scholarly writing stuff since the only “textbook” we have is the raw research in the field that’s meant for professors and scholars, and I just can’t help but feel very efficient and accomplished with it. </p>
<p>Overall, though, I agree with everyone else. Follow your heart and study what you want to study because you’ll more likely do better and you’ll also have plan B already in motion.</p>
<p>I appreciate all of the feedback!! Yeah I’m just getting really nervous because EA is Nov 1st and I’m trying to decide on my major. I don’t want to go in undecided and then cram to get a major later in college. I could be fine with CJ, Poli Sci, ECON, Pre Law, anything like that. But if I were to not go to law school how much do CJ and Poli Sci help you? I’ve always wanted to be a State Trooper as well and my cousin is getting admitted to be one right now but it’s so risky to go all that way with a CJ major and have the possibility of getting denied. Also, business is something I would enjoy but UMass, a school I’m really interested in, has an amazing business school and if I don’t get into it I want a backup plan. I just want a major that is efficient for law school and the LSAT that I could use with a bachelors regardless, and something I would enjoy preferably</p>
<p>Cornerback,</p>
<p>In all seriousness, do you think you could do well in Economics? Economics would prepare you well for law or business. You will not regret the math you would learn. I think of all the degrees you mentioned, that would be the most valuable for the careers you are considering. In and of itself it is valuable, and it also is the one that would leave you with the most opportunities. If you start getting bad grades in Econ, though, switch out to something else.</p>
<p>The other considerations:</p>
<p>English majors do not fit in well in most business scenes, but they could be great for law school.</p>
<p>Criminal justice is a pretty easy major, and I think you would miss out on some valuable work ethic (that you could carry into any career). I do not know anything about the career track of a police officer, though.</p>
<p>Honestly, I do not know anyone from PoliSci who is not going to law school or getting a Masters in Public Service. You may want to consider PoliSci, but it is also easy. Just remember you will have a better work ethic and more diverse skills from Economics that from PoliSci.</p>
<p>Finally, don’t be worrying about not wanting to switch majors. You should be willing to switch majors if it means getting you better situated for your future. As you learn more about yourself, you will have to tweak your career goals here and there to keep them fine-tuned to what you want to work on and achieve. Listen to your gut (as lame as that sounds) and be willing to change your path if it “feels right.”</p>
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<p>Calm down, most schools know that students change their mind and do not expect you to live and die by a major that you are choosing as a high school senior. At most colleges you will not have to declare a major until the second half of sophomore year, giving you an opportunity to try out different classes.</p>