Anything that’s rigorous and that you’ll get good grades in.
“Hard” majors don’t necessarily result in bad grades; if you love something, it’ll come naturally. For example, I’d do much better in something like calculus than something like early childhood education or social work.
Ideally, the major would also be marketable (in case you decide not to go to law school) and would require you to read and write with precision.
There are only a few “bad” majors for law school: criminal justice, prelaw, any “fluff” major such as basketweaving. Law school admissions committees are not idiots; they’ll look at your GPA and see what your GPA “really” means by looking it in the context of your school and your major–meaning that a 3.85 GPA in dog petting at Junk State isn’t the same as a 3.85 in electrical engineering at MIT–despite what one poster on this board says, without supporting evidence.
@HappyALumnus what about something in political science, economics or public policy? Are those consider as basketweaving majors?
Those are all excellent majors, certainly not at all like basketweaving.
Don’t knock basketweaving. One of my H’s friends in college took the minimum required courses in chem, etc. to get into med school and majored in painting. He got a 4.0 and got into a top medical school.
A 4.0 in the required chem, etc. courses shows brains and painting is a legitimate major.
Dog-petting, criminal justice and the like are all “basketweaving” majors.
@HappyAlumnus I did not know there’s a major in dog-petting. I would still think political science would be better than criminal justice. What are some careers options other than a lawyer?
Major in whatever you like. I think you should aim for a nice, broad education if you want to become a lawyer.
My husband is an Intellectual Property attorney, one of the few higher growth areas of law. I would love to share info about this area with potential future attorneys as I am trying to convince our daughters to follow in Dad’s footsteps…
In addition to the JD from an accreditied school & passing the state bar exam, in order to prosecute patents, one must be take & pass the Patent bar. In order to take the Patent bar, the undergrad major becomes important. It does require a degree in the hard sciences such as engineering (EE’s seem to be in high demand) or enough elective classes that would constitute the requisite knoweldge to pass the Patent bar. https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/organizational-offices/office-general-counsel/office-enrollment-and-discipline/becoming.html
Patent attorneys review inventions and performs the necessary legal analysis to determine if the invention is eligible to receive a patient protection. They are responsible for filing the necessary paperwork with the USPTO and meeting regularly with the agents from the patent office and their clients. They can also become involved in litigation.
Do know the major centers for jobs in this field include NYC, NY San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, Austin, Texas and of course Washington, DC.
Hope this helps!
@rscgrad Indeed it does help! Do you mind me asking you if your husband was in the Top 20 schools for law, and what was his average salary?
So do you want to be a lawyer or doctor? You’ve posed threads on both careers.
Maybe just take a step back and get a broad liberal arts education. You can get into med school or law school with many majors. If you think you might go med route just make sure to take the required science courses.
@surfcity Both careers interest me, but I don’t really know much about the future. For instance, people have told me that the job market for law isn’t good as healthcare. They’ve also said usually the students in the top 20 law schools get hired. By far my two favorite subjects are biology and U.S history/politics. I understand that I only can choose one major and they cannot interchange.
I know biology majors who became lawyers; they do intellectual property or healthcare law.
OP, why can’t you do a double major in biology and history/politics, or a minor in one of these?
@inthegarden I’m not sure if I can major biology because I’m not that good with math.
Pharmacy Student… He did not go to a Top 20 law school. However, he did graduate in the top 10% of his class, was on the editorial board of the Law Review and clerked for both a Federal and State judge and also for a small firm in our area. I think in hind sight, while it is important to go to a good school, it is EQUALLY, if not more imporant, to do the absolute best you can in school and be in the top 10% of your graduating class. My husband also is unique that his going to law school was delayed byt a significant amount of time. He has several years experience in the tech industry. He had a long successful career to back up his entry into law and in a field that was seeing a growth from a legal perspective. For him, it didn’t matter that he wasn’t going to HYS or a top 20 school (though he was accepted at other law schools that were “better” or ranked higher than where he graduated, we were established in the neighborhood of his Alma Mater & ultimately decided to not move across the country). So many of his colleagues are under- employed, but they are also not patent attorneys; this is I believe this to be the key difference. He initally was offered a job at the small firm he was a law clerk for his last year and starting salary was not that high- 80K. That being said, 3 years into it, he was picked up by a sizable firm in the MidWest and had a significant salary increase to boot.
Make no mistake, his job is difficult & he does put in A LOT of hours. He had also considered going to medical school at some point. I would HIGHLY recommend you not chose a career for the $$ aspect. You will likely be unfulfilled and miserable later in life. I recommend you spend some time talking to a few lawyers… They READ AND WRITE MORE THAN ANY OTHER PROFESSION I"VE EVER ENCOUNTERED!!! & That is an understatement. Courtroom battles are rare in his field, and even then, it is usually the litigators that manage that piece, not the Patent Attorneys.
The cost of law school is not for the faint of heart. This needs to be taken very seriously. Taking on law school debt is akin to a mortgage on a home. A friend of ours left the legal profession (and the US) because he couldn’t find enough work to live on and pay his student loans. He now lives in China (no joke) and teaches English in a Chinese boarding school!
@rscgrad That is scary that a friend of his left the country. Imagine if it was med school, that will be like 2x the amount of debt for a law school. I don’t know if I should still pursue law school… Thinking of debt gives me the chills.
sister is a securities lawyer. she studied english for her undergrad. she does very well. Works her tail off ALWAYS. sometimes she wishes she taught english; but knows she’d miss the world-wide opportunities she has had.
@ Pharmacy Student- The difference is (well, besides the type of work obviously), you don’t ever really hear of unemployed physicians, do you? At least not for the sake of there not being jobs. A mismatch of entry level jobs for new lawyers is a truth you must consider. Good luck to you…
Would a double major in political science and economics be too basic for selective law schools like Yale or Harvard? I also plan on minoring in philosophy and would love some feedback on whether or not my collegiate plans are too plain and simple?