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I'm interested in a political science and philosophy double major with a minor in physics. Is this a good idea for someone with a goal of getting into a T14 law school? Will it make me a more competitive candidate in the admissions process?

Won't help. Will hurt if it drops your GPA at all.

softmer wrote:I'm interested in a political science and philosophy double major with a minor in physics. Is this a good idea for someone with a goal of getting into a T14 law school? Will it make me a more competitive candidate in the admissions process?

The only things that will strengthen your app significantly are GPA/LSAT. Double major with a minor will not be seen as a plus from AdComs as they only have to report GPA/LSAT

softmer wrote:I'm interested in a political science and philosophy double major with a minor in physics. Is this a good idea for someone with a goal of getting into a T14 law school? Will it make me a more competitive candidate in the admissions process?

Drop the poli sci. Drop the philosophy. Major in physics then either:

A) don't go to law school --> profit
B) go to law school --> IP secure --> profit

Read poli sci and philosophy in your free time if you're interested. Double majoring will give you absolutely no advantage whatsoever and might actually hurt you if the bigger course load harms your GPA/reduces the amount of time you can study for the LSAT.

And don't listen to a word that any prelaw "advisor" at your school says

acr wrote:

softmer wrote:I'm interested in a political science and philosophy double major with a minor in physics. Is this a good idea for someone with a goal of getting into a T14 law school? Will it make me a more competitive candidate in the admissions process?

Drop the poli sci. Drop the philosophy. Major in physics then either:

A) don't go to law school --> profit
B) go to law school --> IP secure --> profit

Read poli sci and philosophy in your free time if you're interested. Double majoring will give you absolutely no advantage whatsoever and might actually hurt you if the bigger course load harms your GPA/reduces the amount of time you can study for the LSAT.

And don't listen to a word that any prelaw "advisor" at your school says

+1,000,000

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kwabedi wrote:

acr wrote:

softmer wrote:I'm interested in a political science and philosophy double major with a minor in physics. Is this a good idea for someone with a goal of getting into a T14 law school? Will it make me a more competitive candidate in the admissions process?

Drop the poli sci. Drop the philosophy. Major in physics then either:

A) don't go to law school --> profit
B) go to law school --> IP secure --> profit

Read poli sci and philosophy in your free time if you're interested. Double majoring will give you absolutely no advantage whatsoever and might actually hurt you if the bigger course load harms your GPA/reduces the amount of time you can study for the LSAT.

And don't listen to a word that any prelaw "advisor" at your school says

+1,000,000

seconded to all of this...If only I could go back to undergrad again....

acr wrote: Drop the poli sci. Drop the philosophy. Major in physics then either:

A) don't go to law school --> profit
B) go to law school --> IP secure --> profit

I will say physics might be kind of tough to keep your GPA up, but a much more useful degree if you decide not to go to law school.

If you're dead set on law school then major in communications or criminal justice and get a 4.0

acr wrote:

softmer wrote:I'm interested in a political science and philosophy double major with a minor in physics. Is this a good idea for someone with a goal of getting into a T14 law school? Will it make me a more competitive candidate in the admissions process?

Drop the poli sci. Drop the philosophy. Major in physics then either:

A) don't go to law school --> profit
B) go to law school --> IP secure --> profit

Read poli sci and philosophy in your free time if you're interested. Double majoring will give you absolutely no advantage whatsoever and might actually hurt you if the bigger course load harms your GPA/reduces the amount of time you can study for the LSAT.

And don't listen to a word that any prelaw "advisor" at your school says

Counter-point: life is about more than just profit, and studying philosophy is valuable in and of itself. Double-major in philosophy and physics so you can grow as a person and still have options after college.

edit: and actually philosophy is really good for preparing for the LSAT

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Tempo wrote:

acr wrote:

softmer wrote:I'm interested in a political science and philosophy double major with a minor in physics. Is this a good idea for someone with a goal of getting into a T14 law school? Will it make me a more competitive candidate in the admissions process?

Drop the poli sci. Drop the philosophy. Major in physics then either:

A) don't go to law school --> profit
B) go to law school --> IP secure --> profit

Read poli sci and philosophy in your free time if you're interested. Double majoring will give you absolutely no advantage whatsoever and might actually hurt you if the bigger course load harms your GPA/reduces the amount of time you can study for the LSAT.

And don't listen to a word that any prelaw "advisor" at your school says

Counter-point: life is about more than just profit, and studying philosophy is valuable in and of itself. Double-major in philosophy and physics so you can grow as a person and still have options after college.

edit: and actually philosophy is really good for preparing for the LSAT

1) Physics majors consistently top the rankings for best LSAT scores

2) It's difficult to advise someone via an anonymous message board that majoring in philosophy will help them "grow as a person," whatever that means. I'm sure majoring in philosophy does this for some people but it's hardly a binary category where majoring in Phil./not majoring in Phil. will/won't help OP grow as a person.

3) Even if OP does not major in philosophy, OP can still "grow as a person" by reading philosophical materials/textbooks/articles and in doing so reap the benefits of LSAT preparation.

4) Physics majors (i.e. HAVING THE DESIGNATION "PHYSICS" ON A DEGREE) are objectively more employable than Philosophy majors (i.e. HAVING THE DESIGNATION "PHILOSOPHY" ON A DEGREE) and reap the benefits of patent bar eligibility

physics is not incredibly attractive for ip. even more true if its a BA. i mean, i guess it qualifies you to sit for the patent bar, but so does a civil engineering degree, and that won't get you very far to being IP "secure" per se either...

(also, physics topping the lsat scores likely has more to do with self selection of the people going into that major. pretty sure simply getting a physics degree does not really have any lsat prep value...)

softmer wrote:I'm interested in a political science and philosophy double major with a minor in physics. Is this a good idea for someone with a goal of getting into a T14 law school? Will it make me a more competitive candidate in the admissions process?

Double major, but make sure one of those majors will get you a job. Even if your only goal in life is to be an elite lawyer, you'll probably want work experience after college. Professional work experience is much more valuable in admissions than your college majors, and work experience will also help you get a good job after law school.

I'm not sure how marketable a physics degree is. Go econ, business, or applied science (like some kind of engineering) and then pair that with phil or poli sci.

Double majors aren't as special as you might think. Major in whatever interests you and whatever gets you the highest GPA. Whether you have 1 major or 2 majors, your GPA and LSAT will be the top factors in admissions.

acr wrote:

Tempo wrote:

acr wrote:

softmer wrote:I'm interested in a political science and philosophy double major with a minor in physics. Is this a good idea for someone with a goal of getting into a T14 law school? Will it make me a more competitive candidate in the admissions process?

Drop the poli sci. Drop the philosophy. Major in physics then either:

A) don't go to law school --> profit
B) go to law school --> IP secure --> profit

Read poli sci and philosophy in your free time if you're interested. Double majoring will give you absolutely no advantage whatsoever and might actually hurt you if the bigger course load harms your GPA/reduces the amount of time you can study for the LSAT.

And don't listen to a word that any prelaw "advisor" at your school says

Counter-point: life is about more than just profit, and studying philosophy is valuable in and of itself. Double-major in philosophy and physics so you can grow as a person and still have options after college.

edit: and actually philosophy is really good for preparing for the LSAT

1) Physics majors consistently top the rankings for best LSAT scores

2) It's difficult to advise someone via an anonymous message board that majoring in philosophy will help them "grow as a person," whatever that means. I'm sure majoring in philosophy does this for some people but it's hardly a binary category where majoring in Phil./not majoring in Phil. will/won't help OP grow as a person.

3) Even if OP does not major in philosophy, OP can still "grow as a person" by reading philosophical materials/textbooks/articles and in doing so reap the benefits of LSAT preparation.

4) Physics majors (i.e. HAVING THE DESIGNATION "PHYSICS" ON A DEGREE) are objectively more employable than Philosophy majors (i.e. HAVING THE DESIGNATION "PHILOSOPHY" ON A DEGREE) and reap the benefits of patent bar eligibility

1) that's why I suggested both, not just philosophy

2) I honestly believe that studying philosophy in school is always a benefit, and that a philosophical education is invaluable for life. You can do this on your own too, of course, but I think school is a good way to truly get a good sense of the subject.

3) See above.

4) I agree that's why I suggested both

As someone with one major and four minors (one of which was physics), I can tell you that I outperformed my purely numbers-based profile, both in terms of admission decisions and scholarship offers. I wasn't planning to go to law school when I started undergrad, so I pretty much just added minors when I wanted to learn more about a field. Of course, that's just one data point, but I'm ending my admission cycle wishing there had been someone on TLS telling me that I could possibly outperform my numbers and should apply to higher-ranked schools.

That said, your primary concern should be to keep up your GPA. Do what it takes to do that.

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mukol wrote:

3pianists wrote:As someone with one major and four minors (one of which was physics), I can tell you that I outperformed my purely numbers-based profile, both in terms of admission decisions and scholarship offers. I wasn't planning to go to law school when I started undergrad, so I pretty much just added minors when I wanted to learn more about a field. Of course, that's just one data point, but I'm ending my admission cycle wishing there had been someone on TLS telling me that I could possibly outperform my numbers and should apply to higher-ranked schools.

That said, your primary concern should be to keep up your GPA. Do what it takes to do that.

Bro, if you really have a 3.9 it is highly unlikely your 4 minors had anything to do with your performance this cycle.

Also, his major is playing the piano, so his situation isn't exactly typical. I wouldn't infer much from his results.

RZ5646 wrote:

mukol wrote:

3pianists wrote:As someone with one major and four minors (one of which was physics), I can tell you that I outperformed my purely numbers-based profile, both in terms of admission decisions and scholarship offers. I wasn't planning to go to law school when I started undergrad, so I pretty much just added minors when I wanted to learn more about a field. Of course, that's just one data point, but I'm ending my admission cycle wishing there had been someone on TLS telling me that I could possibly outperform my numbers and should apply to higher-ranked schools.

That said, your primary concern should be to keep up your GPA. Do what it takes to do that.

Bro, if you really have a 3.9 it is highly unlikely your 4 minors had anything to do with your performance this cycle.

Also, his major is playing the piano, so his situation isn't exactly typical. I wouldn't infer much from his results.

Despite my admiration for Captain Picard, I'm actually a she.

RZ, I prefer to describe my major as finger-wiggling. It sounds more mysterious.

I bet you're right that my results were atypical; that's kind of my point. What I'm saying is that I got admitted with $ when lsn told me by GPA/LSAT that I had a small chance of admission, and that I got $$$ when GPA/LSAT said I should have gotten $. So do with that what you will.

I triple-majored and it has made virtually no difference throughout the process. Given the chance I'd do everything the exact same anyways (I loved what I studied) but no one seems to care in the end.

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mukol wrote:

3pianists wrote:

RZ5646 wrote:

mukol wrote:

3pianists wrote:As someone with one major and four minors (one of which was physics), I can tell you that I outperformed my purely numbers-based profile, both in terms of admission decisions and scholarship offers. I wasn't planning to go to law school when I started undergrad, so I pretty much just added minors when I wanted to learn more about a field. Of course, that's just one data point, but I'm ending my admission cycle wishing there had been someone on TLS telling me that I could possibly outperform my numbers and should apply to higher-ranked schools.

That said, your primary concern should be to keep up your GPA. Do what it takes to do that.

Bro, if you really have a 3.9 it is highly unlikely your 4 minors had anything to do with your performance this cycle.

Also, his major is playing the piano, so his situation isn't exactly typical. I wouldn't infer much from his results.

Despite my admiration for Captain Picard, I'm actually a she.

RZ, I prefer to describe my major as finger-wiggling. It sounds more mysterious.

I bet you're right that my results were atypical; that's kind of my point. What I'm saying is that I got admitted with $ when lsn told me by GPA/LSAT that I had a small chance of admission, and that I got $$$ when GPA/LSAT said I should have gotten $. So do with that what you will.

Bro is gender neutral, Janeway.

That is perversely true, but RZ's pronouns weren't...