Deciding on an Undergraduate Major Before Entering Law School

One of the great things about applying to law school is that you have a wide range of majors and minors that you can take in undergraduate school in college. I often have people ask me who are interested in law school, what major should they take in college? The answer is anything.

Law schools don't particularly care what major people have when applying to law school. The old myth was to major in political science or go on a pre-law tract but that isn't necessarily true today. College students applying to law school now have a wide range of minors and majors that they are taking that law schools are accepting. Simply put- law schools won't reject a student's application just because they are majoring in a particular subject.

However, majoring in political science, going on a Pre-law major or tract can be very beneficial for a student once they are in law school because often a lot of the same subject material is covered under a political science major. For example, I am currently a political science major and I believe that my current class in Labor Rights and Law will help me greatly for law school when I take classes. Other students I know who are majoring in political science are taking Constitutional Law which is one of the best classes to prepare you for law school.

On the other hand, if you decide to major or minor in another academic field, it can help you specialize in a field of law at law school. Some people who are majoring in business or Economics want to be corporate lawyers once they graduate from law school. Understanding business theories and finance will greatly help you in law school. In fact, some law schools like accepting students with different majors because it contributes to the diversity of the law school.

Perhaps using the best of both worlds, I know many undergraduate students who are double majoring in political science and business or economics. Double majoring with any field in academics is extremely tough and you have to take on additional courses and seminars. However, if you are able to pull it off and receive high marks in both subjects, it will greatly help you in law school.