<p>I am under pressure to find a major that will suit me. I know that I want to apply to law school but I am not sure what major to choose. I am currently in the early childhood education major which would be good for me If I either didn't end up going to law school or If I didnt get into law school. Is this major acceptable for law school or should I stick to another major such as Creative Writing(which is a huge passion of mine), Spanish, German(which is a another huge passion of mine), or English. Would a law school look at an early childhood degree as a disadvantage because dealing with education children is completely different than practicing law? Thank you for replying.</p>
<p>Stick with your current major.</p>
<p>There is absolutely no reason to change your major if it is one that you have a keen interest in or a passion for. Law schools care about your LSAT scores and GPA with little consideration, if any, given to your major.</p>
<p>^ Not sure where the above info is coming from. Your major doesn’t matter so long as it’s academically rigorous. Foreign languages + pre-professional majors (education, pre-law) + creative majors (dance, creative writing) make things more difficult. Given your list of interests, I’d recommend English.</p>
<p>Childhood education is a legit major. It’s not exactly on the same level as “dance” or “pre-law”.</p>
<p>I’m going to have to vote with MTM here. I think foreign languages are borderline, but CW and ECE should both definitely be out.</p>
<p>Your major doesn’t matter… with some exceptions. And those happen to be among the exceptions.</p>
<p>“Not sure where the above info is coming from. Your major doesn’t matter so long as it’s academically rigorous. Foreign languages + pre-professional majors (education, pre-law) + creative majors (dance, creative writing) make things more difficult. Given your list of interests, I’d recommend English.”</p>
<p>“I think foreign languages are borderline, but CW and ECE should both definitely be out.”</p>
<p>Beats me. Maybe from being a practicing attorney for over 30 years, managing partner of my firm for 17, interviewing a gizzilion young attorneys or law students looking for jobs, and speaking regularly to hiring attorneys at other firms. 
As a parent, my son, who is finishing college as a “dreaded” criminal justice major, was recently accepted at all 5 very well respected law schools to which he applied with significant merit scholarships. He had great LSATs and a very strong GPA. I know students who had degrees in performing arts who were accepted to well respected law schools. Language majors too. I know lawyers who have degrees in education. Lawyers and prospective law clerks I have interviewed have come from every conceivable major.</p>
<p>Look at what I wrote again. The reality is that law schools give little weight to your major as compared to your LSAT score and GPA. With respect to the OP, the question was with regard to Early Childhood Education. There is absolutely no reason for the OP to abandon that major in favor of another simply out of a concern over law school admission. </p>
<p>Seriously, the amount of angst and hyper anxiety often reflected on this board about “which major” is way over the top. It’s also short sighted. It is much more important to your college experience to choose a major for which you have a real interest, that moves you, that you have a passion for, instead of trying to calculate whether your major will enhance your marketability for law school. Bring your passion and dedication to your major, whatever it is, get the best grades you possibly can, take time to explore your world while in college. That’s what your college experience should be, not worrying about whether you have selected the right major to get into law school 4 years later.</p>
<p>While I’m glad to see that your son – and your family as a whole – has had so much success, I am still going to have to plead the contrary case.</p>
<p>Law schools, as a whole, don’t talk much about admissions. Most of the conventional wisdom is inferred. Most of it, we have to reverse-engineer by looking at their decisions and trying to figure out what they are doing. Most of the time, we have this black box and we’re trying to figure out what it is.</p>
<p>Major is one of very few times when law school admissions committees actually TELL US what they want. They specifically tell us that they don’t like vocational majors, and they especially don’t like criminal justice majors. They don’t tell us hardly any of their secrets, but this is one they’re willing to talk about.</p>
<p>So while I congratulate MK’s son, I have to further congratulate him for overcoming the handicap of his major. Admittedly, CJ is an extreme scenario. But I do still think ECE and CW would fall in roughly the same class of vocational majors.</p>
<p>Your major doesn’t matter – mostly. But there are exceptions, and for some reason the OP seems drawn to several of them.</p>
<p>bluedevilmike, I’m not sure who “they” and “us” really are. All I can state with certainty is that my day to day practical experience is very much different than the “inferential knowledge” or “reverse engineering” that may be applied in an effort to figure out what law schools are looking for. As to law schools that “tell” what majors they don’t “want”, I would submit that perhaps it depends on the law school. There are many very fine law schools out there that really care very little about major - including what you might characterize as a “vocational major”. As to criminal justice specifically, my son’s outcome is not unique. I personally know several other students (the kids of friends) with degrees in criminal justice who are off to well regarded law schools next fall.</p>
<p>If what you are talking about is admission to what is fondly referred to on this board as “Top 10” or “Top 14”, well that’s another topic of frenzied worry that is in contrast to what I have observed as I deal with a multitude of lawyers everyday, from big to small firms, who did not go to one of those “must have” institutions and have somehow overcome that handicap to have very successful careers. Don’t get me started on that! 
.</p>
<p>So, to go back to my original point, pick a major that excites you, one for which you will be inherently motivated to devote the time and energy necessary to get the best grades possible, one that will make your college experience a rich and rewarding one. Don’t pick your major as a calculated strategy to get into law school - it’s unnecessary and you run the risk of a very unfulfilling time in college.</p>
<p>I think ECE, foreign language (especially if you reach a high level of fluency), or creative writing could all be ok, so long as the student took some classes in other departments and did well there too. I go to a T14 school and one of the guys in my section had an MFA in creative writing. Another student I know has an education degree and a master’s in special ed–this is actually a huge advantage in some areas of law. There are also people with nursing degrees, music degrees, and other things that aren’t exactly the norm. </p>
<p>I could imagine early childhood education could be a really helpful degree if you wanted to work on child welfare (abuse/neglect, serving as a guardian ad litem, etc.) cases…when your clients are kids, knowing how to talk to them could be a big asset.</p>