<p>I am a Junior in high school and plan on attending Washington University in St. Louis and my safety is the University of Iowa. I am heavily involved in Mock Trial and have a passion for law. I know that I am going to go to law school after my undergrad but I am having a hard time picking out my major.</p>
<p>I have considered Philosophy and Religion, Political Science, International Relations, Pre-Law, English Literature, Speech Communication and have heard negatives from all over the web. I don't want to be the average Pre-Law student because I feel like it would negatively affect my chances of getting into Law School. Academically I enjoy history and some types of literature classes, and my highest areas in the ACT were reading and english. I find the brain and its workings really interesting but I know that is not a realistic major. I don't see myself getting into politics, and I am keeping my mind open to jobs abroad (International Relations major). </p>
<p>What I'm asking is some advice as to the best undergrad major at a mid-sized private school in St. Louis. Which major is going to look best on a resume? Which major am I leaving out? What major is overrated? Is one of the majors pointless for a future law student? Thank you for any help you might have.</p>
<p>Don’t major in “pre law.” It’s the kiss of death for law school admissions. Otherwise, all of the majors on your list are fine. Unfortunately, gpa is VERY important for law school admissions. So, choose whatever you like and can do well in.</p>
<p>WashU offers a Legal Studies minor. It isn’t really a pre-law minor, but is law related.
It won’t do any harm for law school admissions, but it probably wouldn’t help either, since law school admissions isn’t looking for any particular undergrad major or minor.</p>
<p>I agree with jonri and urge that you don’t take “pre-law” or legal studies. Law school will teach you the legal procedure and it’s going to be very difficult to re-learn it again because their methods are different from your major. </p>
<p>If you want to attend a good law school, then you’ll have to score high on the LSAT’s on top of maintaining a good GPA. Here’s a table where 400 students took the LSAT with their majors corresponding with their scores. </p>
<p>As you can see, the pre-law majors did not fare so well. In contrast, the physics and math majors and econ majors performed the best. This is most likely due to the logical nature of the LSAT. Within your list, I suggest philosophy, as you will definitely learn how to deal and think logically, and that will assist you in taking the LSAT. Good luck with your endeavors.</p>
<p>Thank you, I will most definitely steer clear of the Pre-Law major. That table is really helpful, and I am not looking into a possible economics major. I am taking AP Microeconomics next year, so we will see my level of interest for that. </p>
<p>KarmaGo - that table will probably be a big factor when deciding my major, so thank you very much.</p>