Science and Law

[boethian]

<p>I am interested in majoring in science for undergrad and then going to law school. I would like to do scientific research in undergrad and am wondering whether law schools take research into account. Is is a good thing assuming you still show passion for law? Is is a bad thing if you have none and a science degree?</p>

[nspeds]

<p>

What is the best “pre-law” curriculum? How does one prepare for law school?</p>

<p>The Harvard Law School faculty prescribes no fixed requirements with respect to the content of pre-legal education. The nature of candidates’ college work, as well as the quality of academic performance, is taken into account in the selection process. As preparation for law school, a broad college education is usually preferable to one that is narrowly specialized. The Admissions Committee looks for a showing of thorough learning in a field of your choice, such as history, economics, government, philosophy, mathematics, science, literature or the classics, rather than a concentration in courses given primarily as vocational training. The Admissions Committee considers that those programs approaching their subjects on a more theoretical level, with attention to educational breadth, are better preparatory training for the legal profession than those emphasizing the practical.

</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.law.harvard.edu/admissions/jd/HLSfaqs.php[/url]”>http://www.law.harvard.edu/admissions/jd/HLSfaqs.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This is merely one example.</p>

[lkf725]

<p>

The Admissions Committee considers that those programs approaching their subjects on a more theoretical level, with attention to educational breadth, are better preparatory training for the legal profession than those emphasizing the practical.

</p>

<p>Does this mean that top law schools look less favorably on a degree in engineering (practical?) than a degree in the pure sciences, social sciences or humanities?</p>

[boethian]

<p>And also they don’t even list engineering as a “field of your choice.”</p>

[aparent5]

<p>I would read that as they don’t want to see a degree in accounting or communications. The only trouble with engineering would be that it doesn’t generally involve a lot of writing. However, Ariesathena is your best bet for an answer to this question.</p>

[ariesathena]

<p>I read the “practical” thing as a way to discourage pre-legal studies, not as something aimed at engineering. Could be wrong, though.</p>

<p>I don’t know how top law schools look at engineering; it’s somewhat tough to say, given that only 1% of applicants are engineers and their GPAs tend to be significantly lower than those of their liberal arts peers. As with a lot of things, I think it depends on the school. I know people who were very successful as engineering applicants, and some who were struggling to get into schools that they would have gotten into if they were liberal arts - although the latter, IMO, is a result of the fact that there is severe grade deflation in engineering.</p>

<p>That all said, I strongly encourage anyone who is considering law school to take as many research courses as possible. History is good for this. Basically, learn how to research and write a long thesis paper, and keep your high school writing skills sharp. Even with my second major, my writing skills were rusty when I started law school.</p>

[boethian]

<p>All good points. I am personally straying away from engineering because it is so demanding and oftentimes does not allow you to take a fair number of writing intensive courses. Just from what I hear, engineering programs are commonly five-year programs crammed into four, which is in my opinion out of balance in terms of preparing for law school/doing what you are interested in.</p>

[aswat12389]

<p>a science degree teaches you how to think in a different way than does one in the humanities, not a bad thing just different.</p>