wis75

I checked the UW-Madison Law school website recently and discovered that majoring in something outside the one most prelaw students choose gives you an edge there- eg there are many poli sci majors and few from the sciences. Major in something you like, regardless of its popularity, you want to enjoy studying and will do best.

Devilsrule

An engineering degree is not required for IP law. An engineering degree would only be essentially required if you choose to go into patent law, which is just a sub-category of IP law. Also within the field of IP law are trademark and copyright law, neither of which require any engineering knowledge.

arpster55

wait...so its less than ideal if I major in finance...I'm at uiuc right now.

I thought you could major in anything and still get acceptance into the top law schools (provided one has a kick butt GPA and LSAT)??

chessiestyle

You can. (10 char.)

arpster55

cause my goal is to get a 3.9 + and 175+....in finance at UIUC. So, being a finance major would not be that much of a hinderance to top law schools like Cornell, Chicago, or HArvard versus someone from Cornell AEM or Michigan Ross with a bit lower stats?

Also, I'm def goin to round my education by taking a lot of courses that require writing (english, philosophy) and also prolly gonna take higher level math courses as well just because calc 1 and 2 is not enough, imo.

And get involved in serious research as well.

any thoughts?

bluedevilmike

If you can do that, then nobody will care what your major is. If. But a 175 is like 3 out of every 1000 testtakers, so I wouldn't go around banking on that.

BerkeleySenior

arpster...sounds like you've got a lot you want to do. It is a good idea to take english/philosophy, but to be honest, unless you like taking upper div math courses, you excel at math, and/or it's part of your major, then sure. However upper div math courses are definitely no cakewalk and if they lower your GPA then don't do it. (i.e. everything is theoretical in advanced math, no longer numbers). Upper div math is way harder than calculus. As for serious research, sure, if you like it and excel at it and have time for it. But that won't help you that much for law school applications. Just focus on getting a high LSAT and GPA first and foremost.

I1uRveC0ke

I was planning on dual majoring in Journalism/Poli Sci. Is Journalism considered too "vocational"? I figured it would be journalism would be good major because it creates effective communication, writing, synthesizing, research, and forcing stuff out of people skills that are useful for lawyers.

bluedevilmike

Speculation: the PoliSci will cover it, even if it is vocational?

nor86

I'm looking between business school and law school.. I took some paralegal classes at a community college and I got a B and a C and W's on 3 other one's. This was like 2 yrs ago. Will this effect me if I apply to law school in a few yrs, even if they are vocational classes?

Right now I'm a double major in accounting and finance and minor in psych.

bluedevilmike

CC classes will affect your LSDAS GPA, which will affect law school applications.

nor86

what do you mean? they are vocational classes so most colleges don't calculate into the CGPA. I don't know if I want to go to law school but I'm just looking at options..

Would graduating in 6 yrs plus one semester for an internship look bad? I went to a 4 yr uni for a yr, transferred to CC, now am at a 4 yr uni. I'm probably gonna grad in dec.2010 the latest. Should have grad. this may but I did change my major.

bluedevilmike

LSDAS, when accumulating all your college-level grades, will include... well, all your college-level grades. What your university includes doesn't matter -- LSDAS wants it all.

nor86

it'll probably still be a 3.45

I was looking into smu since its right by my house. they've accepted ppl from my uni.

What about graduating in 6.5 yrs? looks bad or doesn't matter. I know for b-schools it doesn't matter (many ppl have told me that).

Devilsrule

I am currently a hospitality administration major and I know that law schools will see this as a vocational major. I am currently a business admin minor, but was thinking about switching to philosophy as a minor, just to stack up on some difficult courses over my senior year that all involve heavy reading, writing, and analytical skills. Will this switch, although it is just a minor, help me out in any significant way? Lets assume I do very well in those classes and maintain at least an A- throughout.