<p>The thing is, I'm planning to major in Econ./Finance or Engineering as an undergrad. (Yeah big pretty discrepancy huh) Would any of the two majors affect me negatively towards law school later on? Would taking Econ. give me an edge towards admissions? Or does it basically come down to GPA, LSAT, and ECs? yeah... help please :)</p>
<p>bumpity bump</p>
<p>Law schools don't care about your major...all they care about is your LSAT and GPA for the most part, as well as EC's/internships....</p>
<p>I actually read in the USNews book concerning law schools that physics majors were the most numerous in entering law school classes, overall.</p>
<p>Anna Ivey- former Dean of Admissions at U of Chicago Law school and now private consultant, and author of The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions: Straight Advice on Essays, Resumes, Interviews, and More
has an Ask Anna Column on Vault.com. </p>
<p>In her column, she answered the question this way:</p>
<p>Question: I am a freshman in college who is interested in going to law school after college. My question is, is there a particular major that impresses law school admissions officers? Some people have told me that Political Science is the best. I am particularly interested in an English major but will choose whichever major is most appealing to law schools. Thank you! </p>
<p>Anna's Answer: Good for you for starting to plan ahead so early! Make sure to keep an open mind, though, because you don't want to lock yourself into a particular career goal too early. It's tough trying to make career-related decisions as a freshman. You wouldn't start law school for another four years at the earliest, and who know what you'll want out of life at that time? Think back to four years ago, when you were about fourteen, and think about how much you've changed since then, your priorities, your outlook, your maturity. Your personal development proceeds at lightening speed during your high school and college years. You'll need those first couple of years in college to try out different subjects and disciplines and to think about different career paths. </p>
<p>Once you're a junior and ready to pick a major, go with your heart. That will be the best outcome for you personally, and it will be the best outcome for you in terms of law school admissions (if that's still what you want down the road) for two reasons: </p>
<p>First, while it's true that the most popular majors for law school applicants are Political Science, History, and Economics, that phenomenon just reflects the popularity of those majors among people who end up applying to law school; it does not reflect a preference on the part of law school admissions officers. You absolutely do not have to pursue one of those majors to be a successful law school applicant; if anything, you might have a harder time distinguishing yourself from the pack as a Poli Sci major.</p>
<p>The other issue is that Engineering is a hard major with serious grade deflation so at schools which emphaze grades and scores, engineering majors get the short end of the stick.</p>
<p>Net-net econ majors are a dime a dozen and engineering majors get killed at top schools in the law school process because there are very few if any easy A courses so the gpa is not there.</p>
<p>Don't go into this with the mindset of "Is this major good for law school" because they really don't care about your major. Major in something that you are passionate about and are excited to learn about because you will most likely do well.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you are capable of doing well in physics or engineering, you will do well in law school (or med, or pharmacy school), and admission people know it.</p>