Worst UG majors for Law School?

[jaso9n2]

<p>What are some of the worst undergrad majors for law school? I’ve heard pre-law get a pretty bad rep, as well as vocational majors (i.e. criminal justice).</p>

[bluedevilmike]

<p>That’s basically a comprehensive list – no pre-law, no vocational.</p>

[Vyse]

<p>Recreation Park and Tourism sciences :)</p>

<p>Is pre law bad if its a track within a respectable major? What if I chose law as my “track” (all of my directed electives deal with this subject matter) for a major in business management?</p>

[bluedevilmike]

<p>Well, business management itself is pretty vocational.</p>

[Vyse]

<p>Not really. Its mostly theory based unlike Information systems, Finance, and Accounting.</p>

<p>I guess I can see the law schools’ point. They want more of an intellectual major. But my problem is that I cant afford to go major in english or political science, not get into a good law school (or just flat out decide I’d rather not go), and then be stuck with an unmarketable degree.</p>

[Milton_Roark]

<p>Communications.
Yes, that was a cheap shot.</p>

[jaso9n2]

<p>Maybe it would be wise to balance out your transcript. Like, if you’re in a business major, try taking some English courses. I know one of my uncles is a real estate lawyer, and he majored in…real estate. He said he understood the business end of it, and he let his law school know he wanted to learn the legal side.</p>

[sybbie719]

<p>I would suggest purchasing 2 books:</p>

<p>Anna Ivey - THe Ivey guide to law school admissions
Richard Montauk- How to get in a top law school</p>

<p>The Montauk book the book is approximately 500 pages and gives a very comprehensive overview of the college process and discusses applications, essays, LSATs, majors, etc.</p>

<p>Chapter 8 of his book discusses Making the Most of Your Credentials, Montauk states:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Your specific major matters less than the type of major you choose. What matters is that you choose a serious major. Schools are leery of pre-professional subjects such as business, and those that reward performance talents such as acting. There are some majors that admissions counselors cringe at seeing; communications, criminology and pre-law (even though theoretically pre-law is not a major)
Any subject that requires serious analytical work and dedication attract at least a reasonable % of the best and brightest will meet with approval.</p>

<p>The ideal undergraduate record would thus include all of the following:</p>

<p>Top quality school</p>

<p>Demanding course load (no path of least resistance) advanced work in a second unrelated (to your major) filed is particularly helpful</p>

<p>Top grades throughout (with few courses taken pass/fail) but especially in junior & senior years</p>

<p>Courses requiring substantial reading, strong writing ability good research skills and analytical prowess</p>

<p>Courses developing useful substantial knowledge for your future legal field.</p>

<p>When posed with the question: What factors do you consider when evaluating an undergraduate record admissions officers at various law schools state :</p>

<p>What ever the major, there should be variety including some clearly demanding analytical courses. There is not set preparation for law school, but some majors may be of less value than others (for ex. Pre-law) I examine the undergraduate transcript very closely. I look at what the applicant has done both in and outside of their major- Faye Deal, Stanford</p>

<p>What we are looking for is both breadth and depth. We favor applicants who come to us from broad liberal arts education. They learn about human vision from the arts, how the world works from math and the sciences and the human condition from philosophy and history. We don’t want academic dilettantes however; we want applicants to have taken the most analytically rigorous courses in their field- Jim Mulligan, Columbia</p>

<p>Not all UGPAs are created =. Swat and William and Mary, for instance have refrained from inflating grades; their averages are between 2.8 & 2.9. At the other end of the spectrum, Stanford and Yeshiva have mean GPAs over 3.4- Mulligan, Columbia</p>

<p>The GPA number is just a starting point. Our first concern is how rigorous the course load has been. We look at academic letters of recommendation, which are particularly helpful if they address the difficulty of the course load ex: the grading policies of professors from whom the applicant took multiple courses. Other factors we c examine is whether there were substantial barriers to performance such as the need to work many hours per week- USC</p>

<p>I know what the strongest and weakest programs are at some 50 to 60 schools. At some smaller commonly seen schools (and programs) it can be helpful for the student to provide detailed information. –GWU</p>

<p>We see a # of pre-med students who did poorly as pre-meds but then did well in their next field. The key for them is to make sure they get out of pre-med early so they can fully demonstrate their talents.- UCLA</p>

<p>

</p>