<p>I've been reading Running With the Bulls, and it seems that most kids at Wharton are hellbent on IBanking or consulting, surprisingly (or not) similar to NYU Stern which is where I'm transferring from. </p>
<p>However, I want to get more into politics, industry and international relations, and am planning on taking Business and Public Policy and a philosophy dual degree or minor, and then heading to law school. BPub and Legal Studies are "pre-law"ish majors at Wharton, and I'm thinking they are basically similar to getting an econ degree at other schools.</p>
<p>I'm wondering if anyone can msg me contacts of people (facebook maybe) who are taking BPub or Legal studies at Wharton so I can ask them about those programs at Wharton. </p>
<p>Any major can be pre-law. As one who went to Wharton and then law school, I'd personally recommend staying away from a Legal Studies major. You'll get 3 years of "legal studies" in law school, and I think it's a bit of a waste to spend much of your undergraduate career in pseudo-law-school courses. Such a major certainly won't give you any advantage for getting into a top law school, and might actually detract. Law schools look for students with a wide variety of majors, and not just stereotypical "pre-law" majors.</p>
<p>FWIW, when I went to Wharton (MANY years ago), about 1/3 of Wharton students went on to law school, and NONE of them were Legal Studies majors. In fact, there was no such major (although there were Business Law courses).</p>
<p>what about business and public policy? deals more with econ development, and that's why I'm thinking of going to wharton since its close to what I would do in an economics major at Columbia (which is where I am enrolled in right now). </p>
<p>But I mean, the times have changed. Most wharton kids now end up going to banking.</p>
<p>Wait, you first said you're transferring from Stern, and then from Columbia? Interesting.</p>
<p>Wharton doesn't have different majors. Everyone from Wharton graduates with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. You choose a concentration, which is basically just four courses, that can be in accounting, finance, global analysis, management, business and public policy, etc. But you're still graduating with a degree in economics.</p>
[quote]
Students considering going to law school should think twice before pursuing a Legal Studies and Business Ethics concentration for at least two reasons. First, an undergraduate concentration in Legal Studies and Business Ethics may not help a student’s chances of getting admitted to law school; admissions officers may prefer applicants whose transcripts show mastery of other fields. Second, law school in the United States consists of three years of intensive legal study, which tends to make previous undergraduate study superfluous. The Department therefore advises students interested in a professional legal career to take a broader range of courses during their undergraduate years at Wharton. Students who are thinking about attending law school are strongly advised to discuss their career plans with the pre-law advisor in the Wharton Undergraduate Division.
[/quote]
Regardless, I don't think you have to declare your concentration until you're a junior anyway, and you can switch at any time as long as you can fit the four courses in time. And I wouldn't worry about what is "usually" implied by a particular concentration because for each concentration there are dozens of courses to choose from.</p>
<p>As for your programs appropriate for law school, it may work in your advantage to major in something slightly uncommon among pre-law students to differentiate yourself in the applicant pool and show law schools that your diverse strengths (quantitative, analytical, logical, etc).</p>
<p>Unlike many years ago when lots of Wh. undergrads went straight to law school almost all go to work for a few years nowadays before going back to grad/law school. Definitely DON'T do Legals Studies - the between the lines message in the box above is law schools want to teach you the law THEIR WAY and a LS background is actually a negative. BPub is OK if you are interested.</p>
<p>As far as "thinking" of going to Wh., well keep thinking as your chances of transferring are next to nil - they only take something like 25 people/year. What is the deal w/ NYU / Columbia - which are you?</p>
<p>I know I was surprised when I found this out, but it's true.</p>
<p>A lot of people go back to school after a few years. Most of the i-banking "analyst" positions have a time fuse on them - you only do them for a couple of years.</p>
<p>But see the very top of that report: only 81% of the class responded. I wonder if a lot of those who go directly to law school are among the 19% who didn't respond (which would make sense, since it's a survey geared towards employment immediately after graduation).</p>
<p>I just know that traditionally, a large portion of Wharton undergrads (as I said before, it used to be something like a third) have gone on directly to law school (and many of them to top 10-15 schools). Maybe it's changed, or maybe it's somewhat cyclical. But given that the academic credentials of Wharton undergrads have only been rising over the last couple of decades, and that the number of people going to law school also has been rising during that period of time, I'd find it very surprising if the portion of Wharton undergrads going straight to law school has gone down significantly during that same time period.</p>
<p>Percy is correct. Very few Wharton seniors will choose to go straight to graduate school of any kind. The vast majority go straight into the workforce. The folks who want to go to law school now want a couple of years of work experience (and income) before applying. It is definitely not 1/3 going to law school anymore. Only about 1/2 go back for any degree.</p>
<p>The alumni survey is going on now and we'll have a better sense of this trend once the data is released. I wouldn't expect that to be for awhile though.</p>
<p>Well, that's certainly a major change and, for me at least, very surprising.</p>
<p>But it's probably a good development, since I think many people use to go straight to law school without really understanding what a legal career entailed (resulting in quite a few miserable lawyers).</p>