Mathematicians And Lawyers Forum

[JCFindley]

Yes perhaps philosophy would be a good route as well, especially considering the writing component.
If your going to go to college anyway and study for the LSAT, I believe you can do both at once.
The catch is that you have to be competent enough to do well in proof courses to have a decent GPA.
If you can do well in proof courses then I believe this route would prepare you the most for a career in law.
However law is a people's business. I will concede that most students in math programs at top universities (i know from experience) are not proficient in their ability to communicate effectively with others.
However, if you are it seems this would be the route to go.

If you are smart enough to take complex math course and earn high marks in them while obtaining a technical degree AND on top of that, you have developed the insight necessary to be good at communicating with others, why the hell would you want to go to law school? It seems like a limiting choice.

Because I always wanted to do so......

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Philosophy is one of the top performing majors for law school.

Source? Philosophy is one of the top performing majors for the LSAT, but that doesn't mean it actually PREPARES you the best, it could be about those who self select into these majors. Even if it does prepare the AVERAGE student better, that shouldn't matter for the LSAT student who is willing to put in the time and effort to maximize his score.

The ability to rationalize and apply logic is crucial for law school as well as law, which is why it's examined in the LSAT.

Meh, logic was more important for the LSAT than it is for succeeding in law school.

While i'm sure accounting is fine, I wouldn't gain anything out of it to help me in being a good performer on the LSAT, in law school, or after.

The class I hear I should try and take the most, from professors who have their students' best interests in mind and practicing attorneys at big law firms, is accounting for lawyers. Most lawyers are 1) idiots when it comes to math and 2) don't have a clue what an account looks like. If you want to work at a big law firm, a decent knowledge of both of these things can be helpful (much more helpful than knowledge about Sidgwick). This knowledge would have been extremely helpful for the Tax class I've taken as well as the Corporations class I took. Knowledge about philosophy can be helpful...hmmmmm...for a jurisprudence class? For background information about the history of legal thought? For background knowledge about some issues in Property and Criminal law?

Frankly it's argued that one should take courses in their undergrad that enhance their ability at analytical thinking as well as intensive writing. English and Philosophy really stand out for this.

Both of these things are completely credited. That said, LSAT prep is sufficient by itself to prepare you to think analytically. Intensive writing is a helpful skill, but by no means a necessary one to be able succeed in law school. Exam writing is usually word vomit and LRW writing is more technical writing with a very strict format.

I would recommend in a major that would get you a job straight out of undergrad.

[outsidethescope]

Because I always wanted to do so......

You must be a masochist that likes a lot of risk for little gain.


Wiser...take whatever classes you can get a 4.0 in. If you're certain law school is the right choice a 4.0 will serve you better than the minimal prep you'll get from either accounting or philosophy. Just do well, end of story.

[JCFindley]

Because I always wanted to do so......

You must be a masochist that likes a lot of risk for little gain.


Wiser...take whatever classes you can get a 4.0 in. If you're certain law school is the right choice a 4.0 will serve you better than the minimal prep you'll get from either accounting or philosophy. Just do well, end of story.

Right on both counts here.....

Though, since my GI Bill is paying for LS 100% it is simply a risk of time but not money.....

[outsidethescope]

Because I always wanted to do so......

You must be a masochist that likes a lot of risk for little gain.


Wiser...take whatever classes you can get a 4.0 in. If you're certain law school is the right choice a 4.0 will serve you better than the minimal prep you'll get from either accounting or philosophy. Just do well, end of story.

Right on both counts here.....

Though, since my GI Bill is paying for LS 100% it is simply a risk of time but not money.....

Well that makes more sense.

[JoeFish]

Yes perhaps philosophy would be a good route as well, especially considering the writing component.
If your going to go to college anyway and study for the LSAT, I believe you can do both at once.
The catch is that you have to be competent enough to do well in proof courses to have a decent GPA.
If you can do well in proof courses then I believe this route would prepare you the most for a career in law.
However law is a people's business. I will concede that most students in math programs at top universities (i know from experience) are not proficient in their ability to communicate effectively with others.
However, if you are it seems this would be the route to go.

If you are smart enough to take complex math course and earn high marks in them while obtaining a technical degree AND on top of that, you have developed the insight necessary to be good at communicating with others, why the hell would you want to go to law school? It seems like a limiting choice.

Because I always wanted to do so......

Hey hey. Math major in lawl school here. Going to law school was the best choice of my life. I love it. I feel like the math skills translated incredibly well (although, of course, you have to like reading a lot too; I had philosophy and creative writing minors). Part of the reason I wanted to do law, in fact, was to be able to apply the logic and thinking and whatnot in a way that involved working with people and real world problems.

And yellowblue, you're absolutely right, at least in some sense, with your original observation. I'm not sure I'd recommend that the average 0L take a formal math proofs course to get ready for the LSATs, but I completely agree that if you have taken one or more in the past, the LSATs are usually pretty snappy.

Personally, I am a huge proponent of math competitions and written tests and the like. Mathcounts, high school competitions, the Putnam Exam... studying for that stuff is where you really learn to think

[JoeFish]

Also:

No one is arguing that majoring in Mathematics is a bad decision for law school. I think it's a great major to choose before law school for those who enjoy i it (as long as that person has some writing ability as well).