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What Are Best Undergrad Majors for Law School?
In this article, I will describe several more undergraduate majors which are better or worse for law school. Essentially, I will explain which law school undergraduate majors prepare for law school better than others, and which do not really add much value for applying to law school. I will tell which are best majors for law school. Best pre majors are those that get you high GPA, by the way. Good pre law majors are those that look favorably in the eyes of admissions officer.
This is the third article in a series of several articles related to evaluating which professional and/or educational background is helpful for law student and lawyer, and which is not. I will go over most common pre law majors here.
Spoiler alert: Some law school undergrad majors are beneficial than others for future law students, but there are really no bad majors for law school
Is pre law a degree? No, by itself it is not a stand-alone degree. Essentially, any college degree can be a pre law major.
For those who are strategically choosing undergraduate for law school applications in the future, this question is especially difficult due to a large volume of different opinions and contradictory information.
Choosing law school majors is really a lottery. There are really no best pre law schools, save for any top ranking college. In my opinion, it is not the undergraduate major that helps, but rather the attitude and skills developed in law school which can be very beneficial.
I already discussed some majors for law school in previous articles. For example, I am confident that any undergraduate major in STEM is viewed quite favorably by law admission officers and scientific, engineering and medical majors will continue to be in demand as attorneys in many positions ranging from being a private attorney at law firm practicing intellectual property to government attorney at major agencies like EPA and other.
You can read my blog for more details about the benefit of STEM degrees for law school. I also mentioned before that philosophy major is probably beneficial for law school due to the fact that in law school and in law generally there is quite a bit of thinking and analysis requiring to look at the topic from diffident angles.
So, very beneficial are:
- STEM degrees (for employment, and law school will seem like a walk in the park)
- Degree in Philosophy (for the ability to study and understand the law)
- A few other – read below.
Apparently, law schools do not like most common pre-law majors, who are less likely to be admitted to law schools than other majors. See US News info here.
I think law schools want a greater diversity of experiences and skills among their students, for the better possibility of employment success after graduation. I am sure that if pre-law majors did better, law schools would accept more of them because law schools are essentially a separate business sector in the economy.
Does Your Major Matter for Law School?
As I just said – there is no specific pre law degree that can help. Unless student’s pre law major is STEM, it does not matter as much as some law applicants think. What matters, however, are
- undergraduate GPA,
- LSAT score.
I will talk about these two in a separate article.
The other less discussed factor that matters a lot is undergraduate school rank importance for law school application and future attorney career. You will benefit from pre law degree form good ranking undergraduate college.
Also, some colleges have good pre law programs. For example, Pre law UCLA and pre law ASU look like decent pre law preparation programs. Now, I have researched neither Pre law UCLA nor pre law ASU, but since both universities have good ranking law schools, those pre law advisory services must be sufficiently good.
No matter how we try to pretend that everything is equal in education and in the job market – it is far from the truth. One student may have a slightly lower GPA and LSAT, but if his or her pre law undergraduate degree is from Harvard, Yale or another top undergraduate college, then any pre-law major will add significant weight in the law school admission process.
Therefore, the best pre law schools are Harvard and Yale and they grant best pre law degrees))) This is how it works. Pre law undergraduate major with good GPA from UCLA is also good for any top law school.
Admission officers understand that ex-Harvard or even ex-UCLA grad may be more employable as an attorney just for this pedigree, where post-graduation employment is a factor in ranking the law school itself.
The point of this is that for for any pre law major student should try to get into a highly ranked college as possible, especially if he or she wants to get into higher ranked law school sometime in the future. So, the undergraduate college rank matters for law school, not the major. There are many pre law majors who later go to law school, and admission officers know that any major can succeed or fail in law school equally well.
It is also an unspoken rule that law admissions understand the difference between the hardness of obtaining a high GPA in STEM or obtaining more easily same GPA in some easy humanities undergraduate program.
Beneficial pre law skills for law school and law career
The next big factor in choosing undergraduate major as pre-law degree for subsequent law school are skills that can be learned as an undergraduate student. In my strong opinion as a former law student and then legal professional is that the following skills are absolutely critical to success as law student and as attorney: ability to read complex material and thoroughly understand its meaning; ability to recognize, distinguish and analyze written material, facts, and circumstances and ability to articulate your point well – clearly, concisely and persuasively on law school exams and as attorney; Yep, this was long sentence.
I will give you these three most necessary skills as a bullet point list:
- Reading
- Analyzing
- Writing
- Persuading with logic
You can check a larger list of pre law skills required for lawyers on the web-site of American bar Association here.
With this background, let us review several undergraduate majors which I think are best undergrad majors for law school
NOTE: Most importantly, keep in mind is that law is a very language-intensive subject. In fact, the whole meaning of law lies in words, phrases, sentences, their meaning and how they are structured. Law is probably among the most language-based profession. So, a good understanding of language is key to the legal profession. That is why it is sometimes so hard for foreigners to get into law in another country.
The major skill that can beat lack of language or even writing skills is logic. Ability to think and argument logically, by properly applying the law to facts is hugely important. This is probably most important pre law skill to have.
Philosophy Major for Law School
Philosophy is probably one of the best pre-law undergraduate majors for law school applicants.
- Fact: law schools accept about 82%-86% of applicants with philosophy majors. See this source and this source. And that is a very high number.
- Compare to criminal justice majors – only 52% get accepted by law schools. See here.
- Fact: there are over 2000 annual such applicants and their average LSAT score is OK – 157-158. See here.
Maybe, this is because law admissions people know that philosophy is not an easy major and involves plenty of training on reasoning, persuasion, analytical thinking, and logic – all skills essential for law students and attorneys. Or maybe it is because law and philosophy are closely related and both disciplines essentially stem from the same logic and same historical origins. A philosophy degree is good pre-law major for law school for these reasons and statistics support such an assumption.
Is philosophy degree good pre-law degree for law school? Yes. Obtain a philosophy major before law school and law school will seem like a walk in the park? Maybe. Does it help to find a job as an attorney? Not really – this undergrad will not make newbie attorneys stand out from the crowd, unlike undergraduate degrees in STEM.
Now, I should mention that philosophy is not very marketable skill otherwise, and that may be the reason so many philosophy majors obtain other graduate and professional degrees like Juris Doctor. Do not major in philosophy as a pre law major just to subsequently get into law school. Major in STEM instead, and you will have a backup shall you decide not to pursue law school. By the way, I think accounting undergrads may enjoy decent employment opportunities in the next ten years, but this is outside the scope of this article.
Please note, that philosophy major is a difficult one and may lower overall undergraduate GPA, which that is not a good thing for law school application. Also, as a philosophy major, you will be competing with many other philosophy majors for admission.
English Major for Law School
Could you believe that plain old English undergraduate majors can do so well in law school? Well, yeah! English majors study the English language (see the importance of language just above).
Therefore, they are able to easily read and understand legal texts involving complex legal structure, including complicated statutory scheme or lengthy convoluted legal opinions by courts. They are able to understand the meaning of those words and sentences. Bachelor’s degree in English may help to open law school doors and is another good choice among pre law majors.
Law students with undergraduate degrees n English studies most often write very well and without mistakes – another key important skill for an attorney. Especially, for litigation attorneys. Going into law with an English degree seems to be quite a popular choice. In my law school class, there were few formerly English majors or even former teachers of English. They did very well in law school, and most likely later as attorneys.
I am sure that senior partners in law firms and judges are very pleased when they read well-written materials. Law professors on law school exams – too, and that probably allows such law students to get few extra points on final exams just due to clarity of their writing. And judges LOVE well-written and easy to read papers.
Please forgive my writing and grammar flaws because I am not a native English speaker. It was harder for me in law school because of that, so I had to rely on logic and analysis to counter my English language flaws. Nevertheless, I was able to obtain 3.4 plus GPA as law student Rutgers School of Law, which means that I have done something right and I know what I am talking about.
I relied on analysis, logic skills and proper study methods, including focusing on right topics and using supplemental materials. If I could do it – so can you.
I was told by my fellow English major law students that legal writing is different from English writing and it was hard for English major to adapt their writing style to legal style. Legal style is very rigid, boring, conservative and quite not interesting.
But, having learned structure and composition, they felt it was easier for them to eventually master legal writing and excel in it if they liked to practice the law. Oh, and some say it also hugely helps with LSAT language portion. As usual, it depends on how hard students worked in their undergrad program.
I did a little bit of research, and, apparently, there are about 3500 annual law school applicants who were English as their pre law degree. Their average LSAT score is about 154-155, and the average undergraduate GPA is 3.4. See here. Many of English pre-law major applicants are admitted to law schools.
The barrier to entry now is low, I must tell ya because many people choose to go into software development and law school does not attract as many brightest applicants as it did 20 years ago. Law school admission overall is less competitive, except for top (T14) law schools.
Having said that, because the English major is relatively easy, I do think that law school admissions do not really value English majors above most other most common pre law majors. It is hard to tell which are best pre law schools for English.
I also tend to think that the English major is even more beneficial to attorneys who write lots of memos or do litigation, than when they are law students. Good writing is a big deal in law, and you will often see good writing skills and correct grammar as a major requirement in job postings.
TIP: For above two – having a philosophy degree and a minor in English, or vice versa, may happen to be a best pre law degree for law school. I suggest taking at least one logic course. Having said that I do not think it is wise to major in Philosophy, English or anything else just because one wants to go to law school.
One must major in something he or she would major if he or she would not want to go to law school afterward. Going to undergrad just to obtain pre law degree and trying to figure out best pre law schools is improper and unnecessary effort. For example, if a law school application fails or you are not accepted into your dream law schools – then what? There is no pre-law major or pre law degree which most effectively and definitively prepares applicants for law school.
Focus on GPA and LSAT instead of pre-law major, because in the end, law schools care about those two more than just your undergraduate. Except, I am sure they do care for a rank of undergraduate school and for STEM undergraduate – see my other posts for statistics and links to law school’s web-sites.
Journalism Major and Law School
I include journalism major as one of the better undergraduate majors for law school for reasons similar to those mentioned above in English major sections. Journalism majors are trained to work with language, know how to compose and write essays, have good clarity and style writing skills. It is not best pre law major but is another good pre law degree to have.
Apparently, journalism undergraduate majors are also viewed favorably by law school admission staff because law schools accept about 76% of such applicants. Source. This alone makes journalism among good pre law majors.
On the other hand, after research on the internet, my opinion is that pursuing journalism these days maybe even a worse idea than pursuing law or English, because job opportunities are very scarce. Maybe that is why journalism majors end up working in other areas, including law.
However, writing is again becoming a very important skill and is so hugely required in law. Having journalism education and experience can be an advantage in law school and legal career. While English majors can write well and clear, journalism majors probably already knows how to write compelling and persuasive arguments.
My close relative is a journalist and I can attest to her persuasion skills. I also wrote a few articles myself and I think persuasion is an important modern soft skill even beyond the law. My experience and research for this blog post suggest that journalist majors may also do well in law school and as attorneys in areas where good writing is required.
Other considerations
I want to repeat – the law industry is all about the strong command of the language, ability to communicate, and logic. Put your good writing skills on the top of your legal resume and you will have a much better chance to get hired by a law firm.
Is Communications a Good Major for Law School?
Now, this is a more difficult question. Can a communications major go to law school? Definitely yes. In my research, I found quite a few attorneys, even partners of some law firms, who obtained a communications undergraduate degree before going to law school. Some of them say that such communications major allowed them to develop certain public speaking skills, or other skills, later useful in their career. It is among good pre-law majors.
Nothing prevents communications major from becoming a law student and then attorney, except for self-limitations. If the law is what he or she wants, then this pre law degree is as good as many others. Law schools do not look down on this pre law degree, but I do think that this major does not add plenty of extra points like STEM, English, Journalism or Philosophy may add in the eyes of law school admission officers. It could simply be my erroneous opinion.
I also did not find persuasive evidence that this pre law degree can offer any specific skills strongly useful in law school. Again, the ability to succeed in law school and in legal career depends also on law school rank, which, in turn, for the most part depends on undergraduate college rank, GPA and LSAT score.
If com majors can get a 3.8-4.0 GPA and LSAT score of 165-170 or more than he or she will stand out from the crowd and can beat many students of philosophy, English, journalism and even STEM in law school admission game because higher-ranked law schools will be open for applying. And that is the most important – better law school – better return on investment – better career.
Let’s summarize: contrary to the popular opinion, law schools do care what you major in, but only in relation to a few areas – see above. For the rest of the majors, they do not really care as much as they care about undergrad school rank, GPA and LSAT. What is important, is what skills you develop which can later help you in law school and in a legal career. And that is what it is all about – about your career, work, and life leverage.