Does anyone have any more information on political science majors? Anyone have anything really in-depth?
It is best to learn a skill while in college. Everyone who goes through college learns how to write a paper and defend a point. Learn a solid skill that will provide a solid foundation for your future law career. I agree with the above that logic is necessary. Math courses in discrete math can help in this regard but I fear that even a sophmore level technical class is too high level for most lawyers and lawyer wanna-be's.
Technical majors include anything that provides a solid skill such as business (accounting, economics, finance), math, and engineering. Foreign languages is on the borderline as is philosophy. English and political science are a waste of time. Basically any curriculum that keeps you too busy to visit the bars will provide a solid foundation. Obtain an undergrad degree in business, math, or engineering (that is a logical inclusive OR. Check out some Venn diagrams.) and you will be able to walk over other lawyers with the solid foundation you forged for your life. Lawyers are competitive amongst each other and you will need an edge. Obtain that edge by investing in your education.
And it would be best to obtain a master's degree in your field before you go on to law school. Even as a lawyer, you will need to practice law in some field. Make it a good field.
Technical majors include anything that provides a solid skill such as business (accounting, economics, finance), math, and engineering. Foreign languages is on the borderline as is philosophy. English and political science are a waste of time. Basically any curriculum that keeps you too busy to visit the bars will provide a solid foundation. Obtain an undergrad degree in business, math, or engineering (that is a logical inclusive OR. Check out some Venn diagrams.) and you will be able to walk over other lawyers with the solid foundation you forged for your life. Lawyers are competitive amongst each other and you will need an edge. Obtain that edge by investing in your education.
And it would be best to obtain a master's degree in your field before you go on to law school. Even as a lawyer, you will need to practice law in some field. Make it a good field.
Something to consider..
I graduated law school this year and took the bar last week. Right now the job outlook for attorneys is not that great. Even though law is a very interesting area of study, the actual work can get very boring and tedious, especially the work you get starting out. It's a very competitive market and you need to have superior grades (law school is graded on a curve) or be good at networking (or both), otherwise it's not worth it IMO.
I graduated law school this year and took the bar last week. Right now the job outlook for attorneys is not that great. Even though law is a very interesting area of study, the actual work can get very boring and tedious, especially the work you get starting out. It's a very competitive market and you need to have superior grades (law school is graded on a curve) or be good at networking (or both), otherwise it's not worth it IMO.
From another angle, how does anyone in high school even know they want to be a lawyer? Such motivations these people possess typically lead to a quick burnout after a few years in their career. It is best to obtain an interest in something other than law so the rigors of law will not pull the person down later.
Just to add -
I agree with birdpup that there is a shortage of lawyers with specialized technical knowledge. If you enter law school with a run-of-the-mill liberal arts major, you have to work extra hard to make yourself marketable (top grades or strong talent for litigation). Whereas if you have an background in something like accounting or engineering, it would be really useful for getting a lucrative tax law or patent law gig.
I agree with birdpup that there is a shortage of lawyers with specialized technical knowledge. If you enter law school with a run-of-the-mill liberal arts major, you have to work extra hard to make yourself marketable (top grades or strong talent for litigation). Whereas if you have an background in something like accounting or engineering, it would be really useful for getting a lucrative tax law or patent law gig.
Exactly. My goals changed drastically from when I entered college until now (my senior year of college). It's great to have law school as an eventual goal, but remember, things can change quite a bit.
Everything you need to know about law will be taught to you in law school. When I was applying I read up quite a bit about what admissions is looking for and they universally said pre-law is useless and will hurt your chances to get in. Poli sci was also mentioned as a pretty useless major for going into law but not necessarily a bad choice. If you are aiming for a top end school (and when it comes to jobs at big law firms a top end school matter) the numbers for the applicants will be very similar, a tough major with good grades and a breadth of experiences will look far better than an 'easy' major. I didn't look too in depth into the picking a major portions as i have already graduated but that is more or less what I gleaned in that respect.
CptObvious was definitely right on job prospects, admissions is very competitive to get in to law school, school itself its extremely competitive (firms will require applicants to be at least say top 5% of their class to even apply for example), and jobs afterwards are also very competitive to get. So doing a major that has job prospects itself is not a bad plan.
CptObvious was definitely right on job prospects, admissions is very competitive to get in to law school, school itself its extremely competitive (firms will require applicants to be at least say top 5% of their class to even apply for example), and jobs afterwards are also very competitive to get. So doing a major that has job prospects itself is not a bad plan.
as a poli sci major, i can honestly tell you neither will give u a huge advantage over the next for law school. law school is a whole new can of worms
Just do any major you're interested in, but keep in mind that something pertaining to your future goals is good. If you plan on business law, I strongly recommend a business degree such as finance or accounting. Environmental law could use a different background, etc. Pre-law isn't a great idea. You could even do an engineering degree, you pretty much need it in some areas of law.
law school is pretty much always three years unless you decide to get a PHD or a joint degree
there are absolutely no high school classes that would be particularly beneficial to you
...
You make that statement and include business in your suggestion for majors. I don't know about most other schools but all the Business majors at UW (one of the top ten business schools) are always out partying.
And just to reinforce what everyone else is saying: Don't go with pre-law. You are going to have to pick some type of field of law to go into so pick a major that goes along with the field of law you want to study.
Before you go to law school, be SURE you want to be an attorney. I suggest that you work in a law office to make sure you know what you want, because law school isn't like the practice of law.
Oh yeah, schools like hard majors (i.e. hard sciences), and the better you do in them, the better it'll look. A 4.0 in poli sci might not look at as good as a 3.7 in bio, even if applying to law school.
Oh yeah, schools like hard majors (i.e. hard sciences), and the better you do in them, the better it'll look. A 4.0 in poli sci might not look at as good as a 3.7 in bio, even if applying to law school.
My bro couldn't get into law school (his LSAT scores sucked). He's working on his Masters in Poly-sci, he'll probably end up joining the Navy like I did 
Good point, yet the best students in business typically do not visit the bars because they are too busy getting their work done. It is difficult to quantify exactly which majors/curriculums to get into because interests vary widely and like bamacre mentioned, lawyers with skills in an obscure area such as environmental law possess some technical skill and they do very well because of it.
I think the most common and lucrative technical skill majors will be Engineering and Business with Accounting, Economics, or Finance. There will also be areas such as environmental policy, medicine, educational policy, ... (my mind goes blank here).
Maybe others else can help fill in these obscure technical areas that can help with a law degree. That would surely make this a more useful thread.
If you go to law school full-time it takes 3 years. I know a few people who are going for JD/MBA programs which usually add an extra year on and allow you to earn an MBA at the same time while giving you a bit more variety in the classes you can take, but this doesn't seem to be for you from the fields you're interested in.
I'm not even considering doing anything outside the realm of criminal law/prosecution. However, I have done plenty of other things in law school. The beauty of law school is that you can take whatever you want for the most part. There are courses that you will want to take to prepare for the Bar as well as for your career, but with few exceptions you can work in fields you have no classroom experience in.
As far as technical majors, this is especially useful if you have ANY interest in taking the Patent Bar. Without a technical background you are precluded from taking the test and if you want to work in the field of Intellectual Property this could hinder you greatly.
As far as what you should do now? Relax. I'm going to tell you again to enjoy yourself. Do a lot of different kinds of things, have a good time, diversify yourself. If you REALLY want to do more to help yourself, I guess you could join the debate team if your high school has one, but honestly, I did nothing to prepare for law school prior to my last year of college and I think I'm going to be just fine. (I'm also looking at relatively low-salary government jobs, so my job search isn't quite as competetive as it could be.)
If you know exactly what you want to do, research schools in advance and find out what kind of grades and LSAT scores you'll need to get in. Obviously you want to do the best you can, but it helps to have specific goals set and to have an idea of what you think you want so you can find out enough to make the right decision. You might find out that a certain field, school, city, etc.. is not right for you and you don't want to find this stuff out after it's too late. I've seen people leave law school despite doing well because they hate it and it sucks to see people put in so much time and money for nothing.
As a side note, I notice that birdpup feels like any major will be good for learning how to form arguments. I just want to point out that while this could be perfectly true, a lot depends on where you go to school and what you make of your time there.
College was a big joke for a lot of people I know. A monkey can get a Bachelor's degree. That being said, philosophy isn't the only way to learn how to write papers or make arguments, but I think it is a great basis for thinking about things in general. (So I'm biased, what of it?) I would suggest that everyone study some philosophy, even if just in their spare time, but obviously other people have differing opinions on this.
I can't reiterate enough how much you should just do what feels right for you. Most law schools are not going to deny you purely because of what you majored in. If you're already know where you want to go to school, go visit and ask them what you can start to do now to increase your chances of getting in, but don't ruin your life studying a subject you have no interest in. You'll hate yourself for it later.
I'm looking hard at schools right now. One of the things I was unsure about was the Pre-Law/PS path. That questioned has definitely been answered in this thread. What I get out of this thread is that I should major in something that matters...and that I have an interest in. However, what I am interested in doesn't seem to meet the standard set by the posters in this thread.
I have done Mock Trial as a cross for the prosecution and I loved every minute of it. I hate speaking in front of a lot of people in serious matters where I may have to talk for a prolonged period of time, but that experience has only left me wanting more. The debate team at our school is weak and I feel that my time could be spent more productively doing track and cross country.
Now, some people have said to look into business/accounting/patent/etc. because it is a better base for a career in law. What are your thoughts on doing PS and then going into international law? Those two things seem to complement each other nicely. Or constitutional law, does PS not complement that nicely as well?
I have done Mock Trial as a cross for the prosecution and I loved every minute of it. I hate speaking in front of a lot of people in serious matters where I may have to talk for a prolonged period of time, but that experience has only left me wanting more. The debate team at our school is weak and I feel that my time could be spent more productively doing track and cross country.
Now, some people have said to look into business/accounting/patent/etc. because it is a better base for a career in law. What are your thoughts on doing PS and then going into international law? Those two things seem to complement each other nicely. Or constitutional law, does PS not complement that nicely as well?
your undergrad major is not going to give you much of a foundation of what you will do in law school. take classes where you will read and write, as that is much of what you will be doing your first year.
only if you want to do IP will your undergrad major count, as you need to have the technical degree to sit for the patent bar.
when i was an undergrad, they offered a few "law school" type classes, and i was able to take a constitutional law course. it's interesting, but the poli sci major wouldn't necessarily complement what i would do in college. it's like when you first get to college - you learn everything all over again. high school is nothing compared to college, and law school will be different from undergrad.
my 2 cents: just don't do pre law or criminal justice. my cousin... oi... is a "legal studies" major and i'm afraid if she winds up not going to law school, she's not going to have opportunities coming out. and law school admissions wince at criminal justice majors.
read this book: "Law School Confidential."
only if you want to do IP will your undergrad major count, as you need to have the technical degree to sit for the patent bar.
when i was an undergrad, they offered a few "law school" type classes, and i was able to take a constitutional law course. it's interesting, but the poli sci major wouldn't necessarily complement what i would do in college. it's like when you first get to college - you learn everything all over again. high school is nothing compared to college, and law school will be different from undergrad.
my 2 cents: just don't do pre law or criminal justice. my cousin... oi... is a "legal studies" major and i'm afraid if she winds up not going to law school, she's not going to have opportunities coming out. and law school admissions wince at criminal justice majors.
read this book: "Law School Confidential."
Pre-law is advisement, not an actual major - at least not one that I've ever seen. There are degrees like Legal Studies, but no pre-law like there is pre-med.
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