<p>I want to major in economics in college but go into law or politics from there, rather than continue studying economics further. In that specific case, what college should I go to. Originally, I thought attending a college with a strong econ program would be helpful but now I'm not so sure.</p>
<p>Instead of going to a school with a top econ program, would it be more beneficial to attend a school that produces more lawyers or people that go into law? Think Georgetown, where its proximity to D.C. could help a future lawyer/politician, rather than Uchicago, which is superb for econ majors.</p>
<p>You would ideally want to go to a school that has a good reputation and does well in sending kids to law schools. When in doubt, the better the school, the better your pre-legal preparation. It's hard to draw the line once you're comparing one good school to another, so there are many other criteria you should look at. Law school admissions is very numbers-based, so if you have a high GPA and LSAT score from a decent (i.e. not necessarily ivy) school, you will get into a good law school. I know so many kids who went to top law schools from mediocre state schools, so if you have to go to your state school, it's fine. Overall, it doesn't matter who has a stronger program in what. Pick a school that's good overall and that you like, and do well in it.</p>
<p>By the way, if your university has a law school, I heard it doesn't help that much to apply to your "own" law school, like NYU CAS to NYU Law, for example. But you'll still have access to their library (I guess this depends on the school, however), and you can talk to students in the program.</p>
<p>Georgetown would be more plugged into political internships and things of the like. UChicago would (arguably) be better preparation for law school because it is playfully called "where fun goes to die." That is to say that it is quite rigorous in its workload. This may be better preparation for the rigor of law school. This is quite general, both are great schools and one wouldn't help you in admissions (in and of themselves) much more than the other.</p>
<p>Go to Georgetown for their Political Economics program.</p>
<p>Both UChicago and Georgetown are fully capable of sending students to top law programs. So the factor of UChicago having a better econ program isn't really that much of an advantage in terms of law school admission. In fact, if UChicago is significantly more rigorous than Georgetown, it could be a detriment because you might have a harder time getting a higher GPA at Chicago than at Georgetown (GPA is a major factor in getting into law school).</p>
<p>Georgetown's Economics or Political Economy programs would be good choices. You would be in DC which gives you access to a lot of law-related internships. Just be sure to graduate with a really high GPA.</p>
<p>Bottom line: You can't go wrong when choosing between UChicago and Georgetown. Just be sure to have a great GPA, great letters of recommendation, great LSAT scores, and great internships/extra-curriculars, and you'll end up in a great law school.</p>