<p>Hi, I'm not sure what to major in. I came into Cornell as a physics/comp sci double major with the ultimate intention of going to law school. I thought that law schools would take the difficulty of the major into consideration when deciding who to accept. However, after doing some research online and later verifying with pre-law upperclassmen, it seems as though law schools are more major-blind when deciding admissions and care almost solely about GPA and LSAT scores.</p>
<p>So, as my grades this semester are not nearly what i would like them to be and I really don't think i can handle this for the next four years, I'm looking to switch majors for next semester. I'm not sure whether to do Communications in CALS, ILR, or Government in Arts and Sciences though. I feel like they would all help me learn how to be a more effective lawyer in different ways, but I'm not quite sure which would be the best. In terms of difficult, interesting classes, how helpful they would be to prepare me for law school, which would you say is the best?</p>
<p>While I wasn’t pre-law at Cornell, I was an econ/govt double major so I knew plenty. Comp sci/physics is actually a good major for pre-law if you can maintain a high GPA. Traditional “pre-law” majors actually tend to score worse on the LSAT. Economics is the best prep for law school if you want to switch to the social sciences, but econ in CAS is certainly no easy way to a high GPA since most courses depend on a curve (meaning you’d need to be above average to get A’s/high GPA). </p>
<p>I know very little about communications, except that it’s very easy to get the requisite high GPA and by reputation, among the easiest major at Cornell. ILR also isn’t difficult either. As I said, I did econ/govt in CAS and I always considered ILR to be a “light” version of that (plus the obvious labor focus). Government is also a pretty easy major as well in terms of getting good grades. Since I’m assuming you are in CAS, you are probably aware major requirements aren’t that stiff. Government only has a 10 class requirement, giving you the freedom to pursue other courses, especially easy ones. </p>
<p>Quite honestly, if I were you I’d read a sample of the course descriptions for each major, and see which appeals more to you and that would probably take less than 30 mins. Of the majors you listed, ILR is probably the most common pre-law program at Cornell. In terms of a law-prep focus for Government, Government has courses on American/international politics, as well as political philosophy.</p>
<p>Cornell alum here heading to a top 6 law school. Since I’ve been through the whole process, I think I can offer some insight.</p>
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<p>Law schools don’t care about you major or what college you come from much at all. At elite law schools, your LSAT would count for about 60%, and GPA about 35% of the equation, and remaining 5% as combination of your essays, recommendations, and maybe your major, what college you went to, etc.</p>
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<p>If your goal is to simply get a high GPA with relative ease for the sake of getting into a top law school, major in something easy. Communications is up there, along with AEM, PAM, and some others. I actually heard from some of my friends that PAM is one of the easiest majors on campus. (I can’t verify this because I wasn’t a PAM major) The general rule of thumb is that majors tend to get easier the more they deviate away from math. You can expect majors such as Sociology being easier than a major that involves heavy math, such as Physics or Computer Science.</p>
<p>Now, that said, I would heavily discourage you to pursue this path: picking an ‘easy’ major as a stepping stone to get into a law school. There are several reasons for this:</p>
<p>1) You may change your mind and may not want to be a lawyer later on. Remember, there are many people at top law schools, and actually many of the practicing lawyers, who don’t like practicing law and want to pursue career change. What that means is that as a college freshmen, you have no way to tell if this is the career path you want to pursue for sure. I would recommend you talk to some law students, lawyers, and maybe take an internship at a large law firm to see if you are cut out for this profession. </p>
<p>2) ‘Easy’ majors tend to be not so marketable post-graduation. It is true that majors such as engineering and computer science are harder than other majors out there, but you will be awarded with a much stronger job prospect if you go through these ‘tough’ majors and do decently well.</p>
<p>3) In case you don’t want to attend law school, you probably want to fall back onto your computer science degree to get a good job, rather than a degree in communications.</p>
<p>4) You have no clue what your LSAT and GPA will be for law school applications. Hence, you have no idea what type of law school you can get into. The general consensus nowadays is that if you can’t get into a top 14 law school, forget it. There are people from Harvard Law School having trouble finding jobs that start out at 45k a year. The legal market is hyper competitive and there is a serious over-supply of lawyers, and outside of top 10 law school, your odds of landing a big law firm job are very slim. </p>
<p>Hence, my overall advice is don’t count on going to law school from now. Only consider going to law school if you get into a top 10-14 law school in future. Also, don’t try to make your college education as merely a stepping stone to get into a law school, because it isn’t worth it.</p>
<p>Thank you both so much for the advice! I definitely think that I have the potential to get into one of the top 10 law schools – I perform fairly well on both the debate and mock trial teams here and am scoring pretty well in my psychology and law course. I also appreciate your concern that law school may not be for me and it’s good to have backups. That was one thought I had for majoring in comp sci as well, actually, but after taking my first law-oriented course here and doing mock trial and debate in high school and here, and absolutely loving it, I really do think that I’m going to stick with it. I am also taking two computer science courses, and those just aren’t as interesting to me as I thought they would be. </p>
<p>The only thing about my resume that I really wish was doing better were my grades. I wouldn’t say my grades are horrible, but I am not getting a 4.0, and looking at the top 10 admission statistics, it seems to me like at least a 3.8 is necessary to even stand a chance. I don’t think I can pull off a 3.8 doing a physics or comp sci major while juggling debate and mock trial and my a capella group (on top of definitely joining a pre-law frat and possibly also a social frat next semester). However, if I did perhaps an easier major that would also help me with pre-law, it seems to me like a win-win situation.</p>
<p>However, like I said, I don’t want to do the major just because it will give me a good GPA. I also want to do something substantial, which is why I’m leaning now more toward ILR than either of the other two. What are your thoughts on this?</p>
<p>Again, I really appreciate your advice guys. You’ve been very helpful. :)</p>
<p>Studying law (or law-related subject) and practicing law are completely different. The best way to know if you want to pursue this career path is by talking to lawyers or taking an internship at a law firm.</p>
<p>Also - in my opinion, finance/ investment banking >>> law. Don’t pigeon yourself with one career possibility and try to be open to other possible career routes, because other more lucrative and arguably better career paths are available after college other than law. (I would say getting a job at Bulge Bracket I-banking or top Management Consulting beats out a top 10 law school acceptance) </p>
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<p>Are you a freshmen in CAS? Feel free to pursue a major that you think is interesting, but don’t do it because of your belief that it will prepare you as a pre-law. There is no such thing as pre-law. I don’t know if ILR is easy, but I’ve heard over the years that PAM and AEM are pretty easy. If I were you, I would take some sample courses in each prospective major and talk to advisers to figure out which major would be a good fit.</p>
<p>Lastly - in the world of law school admissions, LSAT is king, followed distantly by GPA. So, if you are really serious about getting into a top 10 law school, make sure to score 170+ on LSAT. (This is far more important than getting a 3.8+ GPA)</p>