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I'll be starting my third semester in college next month, and I unsure of what I should look for in a minor. I'm strongly considering Economics, Finance, or Business. I fully intend on applying to law school once I have my bachelor's degree. My major is Pre-Law, which is basically a Poli Sci major at my university. Any suggestions?

mc89 wrote:I'll be starting my third semester in college next month, and I unsure of what I should look for in a minor. I'm strongly considering Economics, Finance, or Business. I fully intend on applying to law school once I have my bachelor's degree. My major is Pre-Law, which is basically a Poli Sci major at my university. Any suggestions?

Any of the minors you have in mind will do fine.

Make sure your major is not actually "prelaw". You want to get a real degree, not the "Prelaw" trap too many universities have now days. Law schools hate those.

OK They have me down as "Pre-Law" you would suggest I change it so the major is Political Science? Thanks for the quick response.

Bosque wrote:Make sure your major is not actually "prelaw". You want to get a real degree, not the "Prelaw" trap too many universities have now days. Law schools hate those.

Very true, but they're not really fans of Political Science degrees either. Any of your minors would make a better major.

I'm not saying you have to change it, though.

While I don't know how much it would hurt you, I would not do a pre-law major. One, it doesnt look good to law schools (they want diversity and they dont want undergrad kids learning the law), and two what if law school doesnt work out? get a real degree at least.

I was considering it, now that you mention it. I've completed 12 credit hours thus far of Poli Sci coursework. I suppose I could change my major to one of my potential minors and minor in Political Science. I want some kind of safety net in case I blow the law school thing, which I don't intend on doing but I don't want to be stuck with a worthless degree.

JJim1919 wrote:While I don't know how much it would hurt you, I would not do a pre-law major. One, it doesnt look good to law schools (they want diversity and they dont want undergrad kids learning the law), and two what if law school doesnt work out? get a real degree at least.

Good advice, but you also have to keep in mind that it's probably easier for the OP to keep his or her GPA up with a Political Science/Pre-Law major. The OP would be much better off with a 3.9 Pol. Sci. degree than with a 3.3 Economics degree.

I didn't even know "Pre-Law" was a major. I'm a Finance Major/Poli-Sci minor

Indeed it is a major and its the exact same criteria as a Political Science major. There is one Professor in the Poli Sci department who specializes in Pre-Law and he has been advising me. I'm just confused at this point as to what to do.

mc89 wrote:Indeed it is a major and its the exact same criteria as a Political Science major. There is one Professor in the Poli Sci department who specializes in Pre-Law and he has been advising me. I'm just confused at this point as to what to do.

I don't think you should worry about it. Just do really, really well and you should be fine. The better your grades, the less it matters what your degree is.

Ancitter wrote:

JJim1919 wrote:While I don't know how much it would hurt you, I would not do a pre-law major. One, it doesnt look good to law schools (they want diversity and they dont want undergrad kids learning the law), and two what if law school doesnt work out? get a real degree at least.

Good advice, but you also have to keep in mind that it's probably easier for the OP to keep his or her GPA up with a Political Science/Pre-Law major. The OP would be much better off with a 3.9 Pol. Sci. degree than with a 3.3 Economics degree.

Of course I agree. What I meant was to atleast do the political science major. I mean atleast employers know what that is and they know what kind of stuff you are learning. Maybe it could be used for some kind of gov't employment or employment in policy making or something.

The pre-law major, at my school at least is something different. I have no idea what courses you take for it, and I doubt employers would be very intrigued by it.

I was saying that i think he should switch his major to poli sci and not pre-law because pre-law as a major is pretty limiting (yes i know some think all liberal arts degrees are, but we'll leave that aside).

OK, I'll make sure I switch it to Political Science, it will be no change in coursework for me.

Also, while I have a lively and knowledgeable crowd to answer my questions....There is a Psychology class that I got a C in. Would it benefit me to retake it or will this not matter to law schools? Other than that C, so far everything is good.

JJim1919 wrote:

Ancitter wrote:

JJim1919 wrote:While I don't know how much it would hurt you, I would not do a pre-law major. One, it doesnt look good to law schools (they want diversity and they dont want undergrad kids learning the law), and two what if law school doesnt work out? get a real degree at least.

Good advice, but you also have to keep in mind that it's probably easier for the OP to keep his or her GPA up with a Political Science/Pre-Law major. The OP would be much better off with a 3.9 Pol. Sci. degree than with a 3.3 Economics degree.

Of course I agree. What I meant was to atleast do the political science major. I mean atleast employers know what that is and they know what kind of stuff you are learning. Maybe it could be used for some kind of gov't employment or employment in policy making or something.

The pre-law major, at my school at least is something different. I have no idea what courses you take for it, and I doubt employers would be very intrigued by it.

I was saying that i think he should switch his major to poli sci and not pre-law because pre-law as a major is pretty limiting (yes i know some think all liberal arts degrees are, but we'll leave that aside).

I agree with you completely. Political Science looks better than Pre-Law, but I'm not sure the OP's school knows the difference.

mc89 wrote:OK, I'll make sure I switch it to Political Science, it will be no change in coursework for me.

Also, while I have a lively and knowledgeable crowd to answer my questions....There is a Psychology class that I got a C in. Would it benefit me to retake it or will this not matter to law schools? Other than that C, so far everything is good.

It will be factored in and averaged no matter what.

Ancitter wrote:

mc89 wrote:OK, I'll make sure I switch it to Political Science, it will be no change in coursework for me.

Also, while I have a lively and knowledgeable crowd to answer my questions....There is a Psychology class that I got a C in. Would it benefit me to retake it or will this not matter to law schools? Other than that C, so far everything is good.

It will be factored in and averaged no matter what.

So its basically worthless to do so.

mc89 wrote:

Ancitter wrote:

mc89 wrote:OK, I'll make sure I switch it to Political Science, it will be no change in coursework for me.

Also, while I have a lively and knowledgeable crowd to answer my questions....There is a Psychology class that I got a C in. Would it benefit me to retake it or will this not matter to law schools? Other than that C, so far everything is good.

It will be factored in and averaged no matter what.

So its basically worthless to do so.

I think the higher grade gets averaged too, but if you were thinking of making that C disappear, nah, it's not gonna happen. One C isn't a big deal, though. You'll be fine as long you keep getting As.

I'm a philosophy/political science double major. I love philosophy, and I think it helps with the LSAT, but I'm not sure how law schools look at it.

If I had it all to do over again, though, I definitely would have done something other than Poli Sci. Econ seems like a solid choice.

Well I still have time to figure out what I'm going to do. Thanks for the insight. It seems like there's much more open space in the Finance classes than Economics..

I agree with what most people have said so far. I was talking to a law professor over thanksgiving about majoring or minoring in legal studies and he cringed saying that law schools hate that. In terms of what you minor in, it should be something that you enjoy if possible. I originally was only a political science major but ended up also majoring in women's studies because I enjoyed it so much. It ended up serving me well as women's studies made me stand out to law schools and the dean of georgetown even mentioned it in a handwritten note on my acceptance.

To the OP, I think you should strongly consider a minor in philosophy regardless of what major you choose (unless of course you major in philosophy). The reasoning and argumentative skills you will learn from analytic and logic classes will not only help you prepare for the LSAT, but IMHO they will definitely give you a head start in law school. Also, and this is strictly hearsay, I've heard that philosophy is looked upon well by adcomms, probably because of the reasons I mentioned. Good luck!

Do what you want. Don't let your undergraduate career be ruined because you picked a major based on what people on admission councils MIGHT like to see. I majored in polisci because I enjoyed it and was able to take some law-related classes that I found really interesting (and some political philosophy classes that I ended up loving). I minored in film because USC has a fantastic film school and the classes were amazing.

Will my major/minor hold up as strong as some others in the application process? No, probably not. But I loved the last 3 1/2 years of college (well, minus the days where I was in business and doing GEs) and I'm glad I didn't let something like that decide the course of my studies.

Hope this helps.

you should study what you enjoy. don't pick a major/minor because you think it will look good on a law school application. the easiest way to do well is to study something that genuinely interests you.

with that said, I probably would pick up an econ minor if I could go back.

ezpar wrote:you should study what you enjoy. don't pick a major/minor because you think it will look good on a law school application. the easiest way to do well is to study something that genuinely interests you.

with that said, I probably would pick up an econ minor if I could go back.

Amen to that. Study what you love. You'll be good at it and you'll have a passion to show to an admissions committee. Says the French and English major...

If I could go back, I'd get my minor in neuroscience. Something really different from your major can really build an ability to "think outside the box."

Maybe you should drop PoliSci or Econ down to your minor (so you have an understanding of the material) then get a science BS. A BS is required for patent law and patent lawyers are in demand.