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What would be the best major for me if I wanted to go to law school?
I want to go to law school, and I want the best chance at getting in #law-school
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3 answers
Jeanette Roch
Associate General Counsel at American General Life Insurance Company
25
Answers
United States
Updated
Jeanette’s Answer
It has been a while since I was in law school and my classmates had every kind o major you can imagine. I recommend that regardless of what your major is you take as many courses a possible that give you a good command of the English language and good reading and writing skills. If you have an interest in being a trial lawyer include speech and/or communication classes and some drama classes. The best trial lawyers have excellent verbal communication skills and the ability to tell a good story which is where acting skills come in. Think about what you are interested in. If you want to practice business law a business degree will provide a good background. If you want to practice public interest law a political science degree will provide a good background. It is important that you keep your grades up as high a possible.
Jeanette Roch
Associate General Counsel at American General Life Insurance Company
25
Answers
United States
Updated
Jeanette’s Answer
I recommend that you include as many courses as you can that give you a very good command of the English language and good writing skills. If you have an interest in being a trial lawyer I recommend that you take speech and/or communication courses and drama. The best trial lawyers are those who have excellent verbal communication skills as well as the ability to tell a good story which is where acting skills come in. If you want to be a business lawyer, a business major would be helpful. If you want to pursue public interest law a political science major would be helpful. Think about what your interests are because that will help you decide what type of law you want to practice. Keep your grades up as high as possible.
Updated
Kyle’s Answer
Hey Benjum,
Traditionally, law schools like undergraduate degrees in philosophy, history, criminal justice, English, business, and others along those lines (not as much on art, science, phys ed).
However, that tradition has started to change quite a bit because law schools are looking for those candidates that stand out. I would look into the law schools you are interested in going to and research their most recent recruiting statistics (which you can get online or by contacting the school) to see what the average GPA, LSAT, and varying degrees they accepted were.
Also, the biggest factors for getting into the law school you want, are a great GPA and a high LSAT score. Law schools will calculate a combined ranking based off of those two scores and take the highest ranking applicants first.
If two people have matching/similar GPA & LSAT scores, then the college may look at the degree type, extracurriculars, a writing sample you'll submit with your application, and a recommendation letter from a person in the legal field you'll submit with your application to decide which to go with. Traditionally, they'd be more likely to go with the student that had a degree in philosophy and a 4.0 than the student with a 4.0 in Phys Ed (as Phys Ed doesn't translate to law as well).
I hope this helps. I am currently enrolled in law school myself, so I am familiar with the application process.
Again, find the schools you're interested in going to and do some research on what their recent classes had as a background. Focus the most on a great GPA and start practicing for the LSAT as soon as possible...those will be the two biggest deciding factors!
Good luck!
Traditionally, law schools like undergraduate degrees in philosophy, history, criminal justice, English, business, and others along those lines (not as much on art, science, phys ed).
However, that tradition has started to change quite a bit because law schools are looking for those candidates that stand out. I would look into the law schools you are interested in going to and research their most recent recruiting statistics (which you can get online or by contacting the school) to see what the average GPA, LSAT, and varying degrees they accepted were.
Also, the biggest factors for getting into the law school you want, are a great GPA and a high LSAT score. Law schools will calculate a combined ranking based off of those two scores and take the highest ranking applicants first.
If two people have matching/similar GPA & LSAT scores, then the college may look at the degree type, extracurriculars, a writing sample you'll submit with your application, and a recommendation letter from a person in the legal field you'll submit with your application to decide which to go with. Traditionally, they'd be more likely to go with the student that had a degree in philosophy and a 4.0 than the student with a 4.0 in Phys Ed (as Phys Ed doesn't translate to law as well).
I hope this helps. I am currently enrolled in law school myself, so I am familiar with the application process.
Again, find the schools you're interested in going to and do some research on what their recent classes had as a background. Focus the most on a great GPA and start practicing for the LSAT as soon as possible...those will be the two biggest deciding factors!
Good luck!