<p>I'm a Duke freshman who is currently wrapping up the first year and as I think about what I want to major in I am, well, totally confused. I know that I want to go to Law School, but I was wondering if there was any advantage to take one major over another.</p>
<p>I am interesting in Public Policy, Political Science, History, Classics, Journalism, Psychology, English, Philosophy...you get the point.</p>
<p>Is it true that GPA and LSAT matter for law school so much so that they cancel out what major you do. Like, does your major matter? Or do law schools not care much at all? Do law schools look down on poli sci. or history majors since there are so many of them who apply to law schools?</p>
<p>Your major is only important in that it prepares you with the skill set needed for law school (strong writing, critical thinking, logical reasoning, etc.). History and PoliSci are very popular because they are good prep majors, as are English, Philosophy, Psychology, etc. Law schools will not look down on you for majoring in something a lot of law school applicants major in - there’s a reason these majors are popular. GPA and LSAT do indeed reign supreme in the realm of law school admissions.</p>
<p>In addition to what agc wrote, what I’ve been told from law school admission offices is that your major only matters to a certain extent. All of which you have listed, except for journalism, are majors most applicable to law school. The reason why I separate journalism from that group is because I was given two majors as an examples of ones that would be border line unacceptable, one of which being journalism and the other, theater. You can take this with a grain of salt if you want. Also, I’ve been told that law schools have been trying to extend their scope to other areas of academics, particularly, engineering and biology. Not to say that a history or philosophy degree is of less value, but more so that there are other majors you may not necessarily expect to be of equal value.</p>
<p>Furthermore, you can go into journalism with any of those degrees. From my experience, as an undergraduate History major about to grade and is in the prospective stage, if you want to get involved with journalism it’s all about getting a solid internship. The way you get a solid internship is if you have good writing abilities, which you can obtain in most other academic fields.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. Also, I want to go to professional school, and law school seems to cater most to my abilities. However, after law school what can you do other than the standard (being a lawyer). Perhaps I am wrong, and that is not the standard. Still, I do not want a “9 to 5” job that is routine, and am wondering what options open up that might be more interesting.</p>
<p>Again, thanks! </p>
<p>Also, I like Duke a lot and might choose Duke Law. If I go to Duke undergrad., would that give me an advantage for the law school, or no?</p>
<p>Nobody cares about majors as long as they sound something resembling useless (i.e. it’s a liberal art or a science and not like, communication or something).</p>
<p>What’s wrong with communication, btw? I looked up some courses in the communication dept and it’s things like Theory of Persuasion and Media Criticism. It doesn’t sound like BS and seems at least somewhat writing intensive.</p>
<p>Law schools would like to know that you’re learning things in college and training your mind to think, whereas a large portion (not all) of Communication degrees tend to focus on training skills rather than fostering intellectual vitality. </p>
<p>By the way, just wondering if you read the post stickied at the top of this board named, “Undergraduate Law” or something like that. Lot of repetitive questions, so might want to check that out.</p>
<p>only go to law school if you want to become a lawyer. the exception is Yale law school, which will allow you to pay back your loans doing literally anything (for example, kindergarten teacher). even then, it is a dubious investment. if you go to law school, you should plan on practicing law for at least 5 or so years in my opinion, even if your larger goal is something else like politics. </p>
<p>btw law is not really a 9-5 job, it is more of a 9-9 + random weekends + cancel wedding type job ;)</p>
<p>And for the lucky 25 (or whatever) people that get to work at Wachtell, it’s more of a 8-11+almost every weekend+cancel all plans+tons of travel type of job.</p>
<p>Ok, so I was thinking of Classical Civilizations most recently. My final, last question is: would Classical Civilizations (Classics) be a good major for law school. It is basically history, except of ancient societies like Rome and Greece, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I was thinking of pairing Political Science with it and then minoring in English…so two majors and a minor.</p>
<p>Do you want two majors and a minor? If so, do it, but don’t do it because you think it will help with law school admissions. It doesn’t matter. Major in what interests you - nothing more, nothing less.</p>
<p>Yeah, but I want that because I am interested in all three and can do it without taking more classes than I would have to otherwise.</p>
<p>But so Classical Civ. is as good a major as any other for applying to law school? I find it interesting and think the analysis of information/consolidation/writing really appeals to me and my skillset, kind of like law.</p>