Hello,
I am starting this thread because I want to have my major picked and not stress about it anymore. I will be getting my JD after getting my Bachelors. Many law school admission counselors have told me that it really didn’t matter (which I truly believe, as the LSAT and GPA is basically all that matters), but that isn’t enough for me. I really want to do something in the political realm (as I definitely see myself going into politics after 10-15 years in the law field), but political science just seems like the easy way out. If I were deciding today, I would probably do a double major in political science (or comparable major) and economics. I am open to something in the Business realm and really any suggestions. I just need some advice on what you guys think would be best. Thanks!
Environmental science, with a senior thesis on climate change.
Check this to see which majors had the highest LSAT scores:
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/students_with_these_college_majors_had_the_highest_lsat_scores/
You can get into many law scores with LSAT scores at a decent level, but if you want to get into the best law schools or get significant merit aid, you need a high score. For state and local politics, the law school at your state flagship might serve you better than the top schools due to the local networking. On the other hand, the top schools confer some advantages at the national level. Another consideration is that certain majors might provide better preparation for certain areas of legal practice.
You are a rising senior. You do not know what college you are going to go to. You do not know what the people in the various departments at that college are like- and you won’t until you get there. You don’t even know what you don’t know about the kinds of options you will have and how they will suit future you.
So, there is absolutely no reason to ‘stress’ about what your exact major will be until at least second semester of your first year at college- ie, in a year and a half. None of the majors that you are thinking of are ones that you need to know at the get go (for a small number of science subjects it helps, but not so much in humanities).
Most people do best if they do best if they are doing something that they enjoy. Get to college, take courses in the subjects that you enjoy. Identify the ‘can’t miss’ professors- the ones that everybody says you have to take a class with b/c they are so great- and take them. Then choose the major that suits future you.
A practical suggestion: be sure to take some challenging courses that require a lot of reading and analysis: the content doesn’t matter as much as strengthening your reading and analytical skills, which you will need a lot in law school.
Thanks guys!
Ack! just saw that you are a rising JUNIOR @tigerrocks13. Seriously, you are waaaayyyyy too far ahead of yourself stressing about college majors. Relax…your major is truly the least of your worries for a good while yet. This year will have enough challenges in it! Good luck…
It’s not that I’m necessarily stressing about it, that was the wrong word. I just want to have it decided so that I can target EC’s dealing with the major I want to apply in. For instance, I’m on the political science track right now, so I am volunteering for Marco Rubio’s campaign, starting to write political articles to send in hopes of getting published, etc. It’s not an act, as I truly enjoy these things. But, I’m saying, if I change my mind and decide to go in Business, then I feel as if I could have been using my time for Business-type EC’s. Do you understand what I’m saying @collegemom3717 ?
I do, and I think that’s a more helpful way for you to come at it 
The good thing is that those two things are not as far apart as they may seem (cf, Mitt Romney, Carly Fiorino and many others who first succeeded in business and then went into politics, and a fair few who went from politics into business).
But a little bit it’s still putting the cart before the horse: rather than setting a course and shaping your activities to it, keep doing the activities that are interesting to you - and see where they lead you. No matter what the eventual outcome is, you won’t have ‘wasted’ anything- you will definitely learn more about yourself (what you like, your strengths/weaknesses, etc), and where you want to go. One of the interesting parts of life is seeing how seemingly unrelated parts of life add up to a coherent whole. Very random example: I used things that I learned from volunteering in a hospital in high school (when I thought I wanted to be a doctor) in my PhD research in business.
All a long-winded way to say: what you are doing is great. Keep following your interests and reflecting on what you are learning about yourself…which, btw, is great material for college essays
I was political science and history and it seemed to work. But my English major friends did the best.
Majors like English and History teach you to think critically for tests like the LSAT. PoliSci probably works just as well. But if there’s a particular type of law you’d like to specialize in, (Human Rights, IP, Environmental) I’d pick a major pertaining somewhat to that.
YES. I think it’s very common in high school to look at the working adults around you and assume that they made it to where they are by laying out a straight path and doing things that made sense at every turn. Not so! Let your interests guide you. Also, don’t think that the fields have such hardcore barriers; really, the lines between fields are blurry and sometimes nonexistent. Volunteering for a political campaign has payoff in both politics AND business - you show leadership skills, you learn how to work on a team, you can make important contacts that will serve you later.
Plus, politics and business are not mutually exclusive. For example, when I was job hunting I found out that many businesses (including Google, who is sticking out in my mind for some reason) have offices in DC where they staff analysts whose job it is to do research on how pending legislation will affect their business and lobbyists whose job it is to represent the interests of the business to Congress. Conversely, political campaigns big and small need money managers, PR agents, secretaries, executive assistants…you get the deal. They are businesses in and of themselves. So are PACs.
Like @collegemom3717 said, I use the weirdest stuff from time to time in my work and life. For example, I studied abroad in the Netherlands and took a college-level Dutch class. Completely useless, right? Except that there are a lot of English words (and names) with roots in Dutch, and the little bit I learned helps me pronounce them. More career-related, a lot of large companies these days place emphasis on community service and activism. Several of the hot tech companies I applied to asked about community service and civic engagement on their applications.