For context, I’ve arrived at the plan to pursue law school after my undergrad education (after much turmoil if you’ve seen my post history). After talking to a lawyer in the family and some of my friends in college, political science seems like the degree to consider if I’m going that route, which seems right up my alley considering my involvement in Speech and Debate in high school.
However, I do want an “out” from law school in case I find that another 4 years of school sounds repulsive/isn’t financially feasible/etc in 4 years time. So I’d like to choose a law school major that gives me more options, even better if it’s in a different flavor than just law.
Given that, what can you do with a Political Science degree outside of lawyering? And what might be some good minors or even double majors that might give me some additional options?
If you are strong in math, poli sci can lead to polling/public opinion careers. Very lucrative if you are good at it. If you are more interested in issues, think tanks, other non-profits hire poli sci majors. Every public company in the country has a government affairs department- if you are Microsoft, that could be 100 people, smaller staff for smaller companies. They trace legislation at both the local, state and national level which impact their business; they work with politicians and policy makers to better understand their business before legislation is drafted- everything from tax policy to minimum wage laws to environmental concerns to tariffs/trade restrictions.
Law school is only three years btw, not four.
Double major in anything- depending on what you’re interested in. Poli Sci and urban planning? Poli sci and econ? Poli sci and CS or applied math? Poli sci and a strategic language is a terrific combination for the CIA or other federal agency… you can look up the strategic languages on the federal government website…
Or don’t double major at all- just take classes in interesting things.
First of all, I challenge the recommendation that political science is the best degree for a law school applicant.
The best major for law school is one that you’re actually interested in and where you can perform well (as high GPAs are important for law school admissions) and one that prepares you well for the kinds of skills you’ll need in law school. Those include things like analytical and critical thinking, writing, strong reading comprehension of complex topics, conducting research, verbal communication, presentation, and logic. Political science is one major that can teach you that - but so can philosophy, mathematics, psychology, history, physics, English, economics, religion, international relations, computer science…really, many majors.
An interest in speech and debate might lead you to political science, but there are lots of other places in a college curriculum that would be useful (certainly all of the social sciences and humanities, but I’d also argue they’re useful skills in business and the sciences as well).
What are your interests, other than speech and debate? What classes did you enjoy most in college? When you read, what do you like to read? When you take classes, what kind of work do you prefer to do in them? (Discussion, reading, writing, experiments, problem sets, etc.) What kind of lawyer would you like to be? (Multiple answers is fine!) If you didn’t want to be a lawyer, what else might you like to do?
It depends where your interests lie in relation to political science. If you have no interest in political science except you think that is what you need to be a lawyer, think again. You need good grades and you need to do well on the LSAT. Take a look at the test and think about what you need to do well. Really you need to be able to read well for content and accuracy with good speed and you need to be able to do logic puzzles. Any kind of problem solving major will get you there. Think of what kind of lawyer you want to be. Do you want to be a prosecutor? Then double major in criminal justice. Do you want to be a family lawyer? Then double major in sociology. Do you want to be a contract lawyer? Then double major in business. Do you want to be a solo practice lawyer who does a bit everything? Double major in marketing. Non lawyer jobs still in that general skill set might include risk manager, insurance adjuster, investigator, social worker, corrections official etc. . . Think about what you picture your job as being when you have grade school age kids. Aim for a major that fits that.
While I think that the above post is well intentioned, I disagree with the suggestions of majoring in criminal justice, business, marketing, or sociology in order to better prepare oneself for a particular type of legal practice. Especially important to avoid majoring in “criminal justice” as the major is too easy & criminal justice majors tend to do very poorly on the LSAT.
Major in any subject area that is of interest to you as the LSAT is a learnable test.
As a second major, consider:
Economics
Finance
Life Sciences
Foreign Language
P.S. Doing well in law school depends upon one’s ability to think and communicate in an analytical manner.
Selecting a major to assist one in performing well in law school can be a bit different from employability concerns.
@juillet my favorite academic interests are in the sciences. Particularly Environmental Science, but I’ve ultimately decided I’m not cut out for the math the degree would require. (The current career goal is an Environmental lawyer) I did also enjoy Statistics but found performing the tests a bit tedious. In part because of Speech and Debate, I love reading current events and analyzing policy. In a way, being old enough to “spectate” this most recent election was a very worthwhile experience, which is why I’m pretty happy with the major choice I came to. My other academic interests include economics, writing, and history.
@Theaterforme I appreciate the concern you brought up about choosing Political Science specifically for law. The other areas that the degree can take me, particularly with a minor of choice, sound appealing to me, I was more worried about the viability of those degree choices, or whether I would be doomed to a job as a barista out of college if I chose not to pursue law school. In my research so far, those career options don’t seem as lucrative as a vocational degree like Engineering but they still exists.
I also found what @Publisher said about LSAT preparation and the different considerations used when picking a degree for undergrad only vs law school preparation. I’m looking for a degree with a good balance, which is why I’m pretty happy with PoliSci. I’ll keep everything said in mind.
If anyone else has any feedback, I would appreciate it. Thanks again!
In the world of biglaw (loosely defined as law firms with more than 500 attorneys in all of their offices combined), employers get frustrated with attorneys who cannot read & understand a balance sheet, or with attorneys unfamiliar with life sciences concepts or with principles of economics or principles of finance.
So majoring in something to exercise one’s analytical thinking abilities in preparation for the LSAT & for law school exams often differs from what biglaw employers seek in young attorneys (beyond a high class rank from a prestigious law school or other law school accomplishments).
If you intend to go to law school, then most important is earning a high LSAT score & earning a high undergraduate GPA.
You might consider an environmental studies program instead, which usually emphasizes the human/social science element of the environment. Bu yes, most sciences degrees are going to require some level of calculus and statistics, and some classes in which you have to employ those analysis skills.
Honestly, it does sound like political science is a great choice for you, as it’s connected to all the things you’re interested in.
That’s not necessarily a cause and effect relationship, though; it’s also possible that folks who go into the criminal justice major would do worse on the LSAT no matter what they majored in. That said, I have heard this point made before - that criminal justice majors don’t prepare one for the LSAT. I think it depends a lot on the specific university and how their major is structured (at some schools it’s a sub-discipline within sociology).
I would be curious to know why employers would get frustrated with an attorney who did not know life sciences concepts, particularly if they are not working in that particular area of the law. Why would a BigLaw lawyer working on, say, mergers & acquisitions need to know about cell meiosis or something? Likewise, very few majors teach people how to read and understand a balance sheet (you typically learn that on the job), yet there are thousands of attorneys who are thriving in the field without that skill; I’d imagine that most BigLaw firms have accountants who handle that? (I’m asking this as a genuine question, as I’ve never heard this before!)
@juillet As an attorney, you often need to be able to understand the underlying concepts of your client’s businesses. For example, if you are defending a class action suit about pipe leaks you need to be able to understand the science behind it to be an effective advocate. If you are in the M&A department working on a deal with one of these companies involved in one of these lawsuits, at the very least, you need to be able to evaluate your the risk of ongoing lawsuits. BigLaw firms are often seen by clients as being the best out there and then clients are disappointed to find out their lawyer can’t understand the technical side of their problems. BigLaw firms don’t have accountants on staff that they use for clients. They retain experts in various areas on behalf of clients, but the lawyer still has to be able to understand what the expert is saying. All this to say, attorneys with broader backgrounds are very much in demand. So an attorney who had an undergraduate degree in environmental policy or construction or even accounting is not a bad thing.
