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Hi, this is Beau Baez, and today I want to discuss the best major for law school.
Law schools don’t have any specific course of study requirements, which means anyone
with any major can go to law school.
So whether you majored in engineering, scuba diving, Medieval history, or Chinese language,
you can go to law school.
Having taught thousands of law students, I’ve observed certain college majors that make
for stronger and weaker students.
Before I go any further, what I am going to provide you are general observations, as there
are always exceptions.
By working hard and being willing to learn, you can overcome a major that did not prepare
you for law school.
First, let’s discuss some majors that can create barriers for law school success.
One: Journalism.
Journalism majors are taught to provide short and to-the-point conclusions.
That skill hurts them when they go to law school because law school exams are all about
fully explaining answers through the use of the IRAC method.
My standard advice to the journalism major is to be more verbose, and pretend they are
writing to someone that needs a detailed explanation.
Now don’t lose hope if you are a journalist.
One of my best students, Ashley, was a journalist and she is now teaching at a law school.
Two: English majors.
The problem here is that English majors often believe they know how to write, so they don’t
spend much time mastering law school exam writing.
The type of writing done in most English departments does not include the technical writing required
in law school.
My advice to English majors is to pretend they don’t know how to write, and practice
writing law school practice exams early in the semester.
Three: Paralegals, Pre-Law, and Criminal Justice.
These students come to law school believing they have a huge advantage because they know
how the law works.
That’s just not true.
They may understand how a law firm works, or have some basic legal knowledge, but that
is not useful when preparing for a law school exam.
This means that they usually don’t work as hard, believing they already understand
the law.
My advice to them is to pretend they don’t know the law, and to use the elaborative interrogation
technique to test their knowledge.
By the way, criminal justice majors have the lowest average LSAT scores of any major.
Now let’s look at the best law school majors.
One: Philosophy.
By far, the philosophy majors are the best prepared for law school.
This doesn’t mean they are all top students, but they generally do well.
Law school, like philosophy departments, use the Socratic method.
Also, both disciplines require students to compare two positions.
Finally, philosophy teaches some of the same critical thinking skills that you need in law school.
Two: Music.
Not many music majors go to law school, but they generally do well.
This may be because of the discipline it requires to be a music major, as they spend countless
hours practicing their instruments.
So its not the major per se that helps them, but rather the discipline they bring to law
school that is the reason for their success.
Years ago, when I was in high school, I was playing in a community orchestra, and there was the first violinist
in the orchestra, who was an exceptionally successful partner in a large Miami law firm.
Three: engineering.
Engineers tend to be serious and work hard at understanding.
Like philosophy majors, they're not always at the very top of their class, but they don’t
flunk out.
The main problem with engineering majors are their undergraduate grades.
It is very hard to get all A’s as an engineering major, and lower grades
keep them from getting into the top law schools.
My final bit of advice.
If you’re just starting your college journey and you are 100% committed to going to law
school, pick a major that you enjoy and one where you can get top grades.
This is because law school admission departments primarily value high GPA’s and high LSAT
scores.
I knew I was going to law school back in high school, so I picked a major that I thought would get me top grades.
I graduated from a lower ranked university with a degree in Speech Communications and
a 3.96 GPA with only two B’s in college.
My GPA and high LSAT score got me into a top 10 law school.
But be warned, if you pick a major like philosophy and you don’t go to law school, you may
find it difficult to get a job.
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