<p>I'm a junior in high school and I'm definitely interested in pursuing a career in law. I'm very strong in reading/writing subjects, but only decent in math. How much math do aspiring lawyers (assuming not for tax law) need in order to be successful? Does being strong in math really affect your chances for success in law? What subjects and strengths really do help? If anyone here has gone to law school or started a successful career without being really strong in math, please tell me about it! I would really, really appreciate advice of any kind.</p>
<p>You don't math of any kind to be a successful lawyer or get into law school, only a college degree and an LSAT score.</p>
<p>Studying math is reputed to be good for you; ditto lima beans. I never cared for either, myself. Richard Nixon was president when I took my last math course, and ate my last lima bean.</p>
<p>You don't need math for tax law.</p>
<p>I've been practicing law for twenty years.</p>
<p>Well, you need some mathy-type skills for the "logic games" part of the LSAT, but there aren't many actual numbers involved.</p>
<p>I'm taking Tax. I don't need a calculator for it. </p>
<p>Almost everyone I know here (who isn't an engineer) is scared of math. Some really talented students, top of the class, hate numbers.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. It's a relief to hear of a career where math isn't the focus! My science teacher was scaring me for a bit there, claiming that math is essential to all careers, etc. I'm solid in math, but I definitely do not want to study it extensively. Any other tips/advice for becoming a lawyer? For example, are high-school internships at firms valuable, or are they mainly just gopher jobs? Anything anyone can tell me would be great.</p>
<p>Law school admissions boil down to two things: getting a high LSAT score and getting a high GPA. You can't do much about the LSAT until you start prepping for it, so if you're deciding between two equally interesting majors, pick the easier one.</p>
<p>How do political science or law, jurisprudence, and social thought (Amherst) sound? What do most people major in before law school?</p>
<p>my stats prof tells me that if we go into law (or many other fields), having a knowledge of stats may one day come in handy.</p>
<p>Most people major in English, Economics, Political Science, or Philosophy, but you can major in anything. Majoring in these things does not necessarily give you an advantage or some weakness. The people that major in these things happen to be the kind that often go to law school, too (more so than other majors). Does that mean they do the best? Well, on the LSAT, mathematics majors do the best. Does that mean that you should major in math so as to do best on the LSAT? No, it's just that the type of people who major in math and then take the LSAT tend to do better on the LSAT on average than people from any other major who end up taking the LSAT. I bet the majoring in math itself helped somewhat, but isn't necessarily the reason why they tend to do best. Major in what interests you, as you will have the best chance of doing well grade-wise in that.</p>
<p>You don't really need math itself, but many philosophy professors are also quite good at math. That's to say that the logic skills one learns in math are very helpful, although not at all necessary.</p>
<p>The advice I've always been given is to take an undergrad you enjoy. I'm a History major, not because it'll help with law school, but because I enjoy it and think I can get a high GPA in it.</p>