<p>At Michigan State they offer a major called " General Business Administration - Pre-law"</p>
<p>Ironically, pre-law is probably one of the worst pre-law majors to have. Avoid legal studies, pre-law majors. Also avoid mass communications, and stuff like that.</p>
<p>Oh, I'm not considering majoring in pre-law or business (yuck). I'm double majoring in English Literature and Philosophy because I very interested in the subjects.</p>
<p>I'll say it again; don't bother with a major called "pre-law." Choose a subject and do well in it. Recommendations from your professors are quite important to law school admissions committees.</p>
<p>Why avoid mass communications? I've never heard that before.</p>
<p>Just some information for consideration, in case you haven't seen this: <a href="http://www.uic.edu/cba/cba-depts/economics/undergrad/table.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.uic.edu/cba/cba-depts/economics/undergrad/table.htm</a></p>
<p>Matt30...because it's a joke at Berkeley. Maybe it's only a joke at Berkeley, but yeah...avoid it at all costs.</p>
<p>Anyone care to explain why pre-law majors, in general, should be avoided?</p>
<p>1) They don't seem very rigourous. Most majors are fine for law school. Some, however, are fluffier than a new Ralph Lauren down pillow and make you seem unprepared for the rigours of law school. Pre-law falls into that category.</p>
<p>2) Why waste 4 years doing that? Everything you need to know for law school, substantively, will be taught there. The necessary skills for law school are: analytical thinking, writing, researching, logic. A "pre-law" major does not, in any way, demonstrate competency in any of those areas. History majors can read & research; English majors can write; philosophy & engineering majors have the analytical thinking down pat. Psych majors are familiar with the case study method. </p>
<p>Pre-law majors probably don't look like they can add much to the environment of a law school or to classroom discussion. </p>
<p>3) If you want to demonstrate your interest in the law, there are better ways to do it. Pre-law makes you look like you have no interests. You could do mock trial, work at a law firm, do independent studies, or do law-related things like politics. Those all show interest in the law.</p>
<p>Thanks. Though this is off-topic, where do you attend law school? (Your PM box is full)</p>
<p>it doesn't matter what your major is. major in anything--poli sci is popular, philosophy is good, even math and physics are good ones to look at.</p>
<p>My freshman year, a friend of mine was a legal studies and communication major. He is now in a JD-PhD program at Yale. :)</p>
<p>They don't call law students the smartest of the dumb without a reason.</p>
<p>I'm thinking of majoring in either Comparative Literature, English or Philosophy and minoring in either Government, History or Dance. What do you suggest? I want to go Harvard Law or Yale Law(but Harvard is my first choice)</p>
<p>Do either English or Philosophy and minor in History.</p>
<p>Same question came up in Anna Ivey's (former Dean of Admission at University of Chicago Law School) column on Vault.com Here is her response</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>What I wouldn't give to go to Chicago law school ....</p>
<p>hmmm, I'm feeling a bit discouraged here, guys. Any advantages to majoring in a foreign language ? Regarding the skills/capabilities one acquires with a certain major (History - analyzing, reading English - writing), what kinds of skills can you acquire by majoring in a FL ? Seems like no law students ever major in FL. I know we should all do what interests us, but 1) would you recommend against majoring in FL ? and 2) compared to other majors, how marketable/(dis)advantageous is FL when trying to find a job at a firm ? (Let's say we're talking about a difficult language to learn).</p>
<p>"Matt30...because it's a joke at Berkeley. Maybe it's only a joke at Berkeley, but yeah...avoid it at all costs."</p>
<p>Well, I'm a Mass Communications major and I plan on going to a top law school. The reason I chose that particular major? Because of the minimal core requirements; it allows me to pick and choose classes from all areas making it the perfect well-rounded undergrad education law schools are looking for. Not only that, but it also allows me to manipulate my GPA by taking more challenging classes for P/NP. The bottom line is, although my major may seem like "a joke" to some, I know as long as I get a high GPA and a high LSAT score..I will get into a top law school. Watch me.</p>
<p>***edit: Also, here are the law schools Mass Comm majors from Berkeley got into in the last few years...</p>
<p>Chapman University
Columbia University
Georgetown University
New York University
Santa Clara University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Davis
University of California-Hastings College of Law
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Southern California </p>
<p>I understand that there isn't a need to have a pre-law major to ge tinto a good law school; however how much elective credit should I be spending on taking pre-law related classes? I assume that you at least should show some sort of interest at the undergraduate level.</p>