athenegoddess

My parents are pushing for me to do business as an undergrad, as they say that if i change my mind about being a lawyer, i'll still be able to get a high paying job and if i do become a lawyer, the knowledge i'll gain from the business degree will help me in real estate/tax/ etc law. My teacher who used to be a lawyer, agrees. Is this true?? or will law schools prefer students who take political science instead? or could i do business and minor in political science and still be looked favorably upon for law school admissions ??
Thanks

bluedevilmike

Polisci is fine but not necessary. Prelaw is bad, even for law school. Business tends to be seen as a borderline vocational major, which is bad. Feel free to major in any academic discipline, however: economics, sociology, literature, biology, etc. Minors never matter.

BerkeleySenior

^ TITCR

Law schools don't usually care about your major but they tend to dislike vocational or pre-law majors.
"Pre-law"/"legal studies" is:
1) Not very useful in terms of looking for a job
2) Disliked by law schools
3) On average "pre-law" majors score near the bottom on the LSAT.

Average LSAT Scores for 29 Majors with over 400 Students Taking the Exam

Pardon my generalization, but this is why majoring in "pre-law/legal studies" is probably one of the worst decisions to make.

PoliSci is one of the most common majors for law school applicants, but not preferred over any other non-vocational/non-pre-law major. Major in what you excel in and can get a high GPA in.

Devilsrule

The major you choose isn't terribly important. What is important is that you maintain a high GPA in whatever major you choose and score very well on the LSAT. It is a very numbers-oriented game. I know of students at the BU School of Law (I am an undergrad here and know many law students) who come from every major imaginable, from anthropology to performing arts. Law schools will take people from any major if they believe that they have the necessary writing and logic skills to succeed in law school.

Milton Roark

The best way for you to have flexibility (between law and work in some other field) is to major in something that fits your interests (maybe not perfectly, but enough) and interning in that field during your undergraduate years. Many majors will give you that opportunity.

athenegoddess

thanks for all the advice!

so going to business school won't help me specialize in an area like real estate law at all if i want to go to law school?? darn it.

^ my interest is history. i don't think i can intern in that area. But i also really like politics so maybe i will major in political science. My parents are just worried i'll come out with nothing to show for four years of school because apparently a bunch of their friends majored in political science as undergrads and had a terrible time looking for jobs. hence why they want me to business school. but i could always go to grad school maybe?? or do econ ?? (i hate math though. so that might not be likely)
money plays a huge factor as my family can't support me going to college at all (low-income family, immigrant) and i don't think many grad schools/law schools offer FA.

btw, BerkeleySenior, what does TITCR mean??

BerkeleySenior

Maybe you can double major if your family is worried?


Despite what we have said about business being vocational, it's not really all that detrimental for law admissions. The only concern is that it may not help you much in areas of writing and analytical thinking, which you need for law school. The business major targets getting business jobs immediately out of undergrad.

By the way, Econ doesn't have to include too much math unless you are applying for Econ grad programs. I am an Econ major and only took up to multivariable calculus, which is about Calc 3 or so and one semester of statistics. There are the "quantitative" Econ pathways to take if you want to go to graduate school for Econ which require basically a double major in math, but the more qualitative only requires about 3 semesters of math, well at least at my university.

You're right in that law schools don't offer much financial aid, since most T-14 grads come out with starting salaries in the 6 digits.

Maybe you can major in poli sci but apply for internships in business? To be honest, business is a very "hands on" field. You learn most of it on the job, not in the major.

TITCR= This Is The Credited Response

bluedevilmike

If you can end up in a top-notch school, your major won't matter at all for hiring purposes. History, English, etc. end up in investment banking pretty routinely at (say) Princeton or whatnot. If you want a really practical major, double in something plus Arabic. Push comes to shove, you'll always have a central intelligent position waiting for you.

jonri

IMO, whether a business major helps or hurts you in your LS apps depends upon the level of law school you are aiming for and the level of business school you attend.

For example, Wharton is usually seen as the #1 undergrad business school in the nation. However, as I understand it, most Wharton folks get a diploma saying they majored in econ. If you go to Wharton, with the possible exception of Yale--which seems to take a biz major about once every 5 years--you'll have a great shot at any law school. There are Wharton grads in every class at Harvard Law. Indeed, if you wanted to go to UPenn law, you might even be able to submatriculate and save yourself a year.

If you are aiming for a law school outside the top 40 or so, having majored in business anywhere won't hurt you at all. Business is one of the most common UG majors at them.

However, if you go to a good, but not outstanding UG business program--so I'm not talking Wharton, Stern, Haas--and want to go to a top 14 law school, your major is going to hurt you a bit. You'd be much better off majoring in liberal arts or some sort.

Again, this is just my opinion, based on observation.

Anything you learn can help, so yes, if you know a lot about biz, it might help you get a job in corp law--that's a different question than getting into law school.

athenegoddess

I guess i wasn't rather clear in my wording. Glad to know that if i attend a top business school that won't ruin my chances of getting into law school! I quite honestly don't know why i should major in business if i want to do law though, though i'm rather afraid that a) i'll change my mind about doing law after UG and b) not be able to get a high enough GPA/ LSAT to get into a good law school.
So do people specialize in one area in law school (ex. corp law) and that previous knowledge in one field will help??
BerkeleySenior: glad to know that econ doesn't have that much math!! What other topics does it cover then ?? and i'm guessing from your screenname you go to Berkeley?

Milton Roark

It can certainly be helpful to have past experience in a certain field when practicing law in that field (although usually this is only a large benefit in engineering, some of the hard sciences, and finance).

BerkeleySenior

Athene: Macroeconomics, microeconomics, Econometrics, Game theory, Econ history, these are all classes that you can take. Upper div Econ courses require some basic understanding of calculus, but it's not too bad. Econometrics incorporates statistics and Economics and uses this to generate models to relate independent and dependent variables. Elective course require rudimentary calculus (i.e. slopes= elasticities, etc.) All in all if you have a good grasp of the three semesters of math you will be fine. Most classes do not require proofs or anything like that.

(fyi,the Econ major varies by school so you should check out the requirements at your school. At Berkeley we have 2 paths for Econ: one relatively more qualitative, the other more math-intensive which requires linear algebra and upper division math.)

I will warn you that upper division is much harder in my opinion than introductory econ. I know some people who drop Econ because of Intermediate Micro for example. It's not that bad if you study early and don't cram for the exams, but Econ is a subject where you should let the material soak in a bit before taking exams.

Also, regardless of your major I don't think you should be too worried. If law school is your goal, then study hard for the LSAT, take a prep course, do well on it, and you will get into a good law school. If you know you want to do law, major in something that you can get a high GPA in and study early for the LSAT and take it early.

notmytime

pretty sure major doesnt matter unless you want to go into IP law

athenegoddess

what's IP law??

and what's a good way to find out if law would be a good field to go into for you??

CountingDown

IP is intellectual property -- engineering is pretty much a pre-requisite.

DH was Wharton, accounting and decision science concentrations. Worked for five years for Fortune 500 company and went to Penn Law. 3.2 UG GPA, perfect LSAT. Law review, magna, federal circuit clerkship. (He got serious about studying when he gave up that paycheck.) Finds his business background the most useful part of his work as a regulator. Loves being able to wear many hats!