What Was Your Undergraduate Major? Forum

[BlueprintJason]

Music Performance.

Fun, GPA : ), and oh yeah: fun. UG should be enjoyable.

[Lawdood]

Mathematics is indisputably the best major.

Engineering's where it's at

I do think that Math is the best major if you're looking to keep your options open.

It's good for:

Law
Finance/ Quant Fin
Software engineering
Medicine

and anything else.

Now that I think about it, Physics would be the best major because you could go into:

Law
Finance/ Quant Fin
Software engineering
Medicine
Any science PHD
Any Engineering field

[jaysnooginz]

All the engineers in law school I knew got better grades on average than other majors. Shrug. Something about training to be an engineer trains you well for law school.

[salander]

.

[FrozenBananaStand]

If you're ambitious and capable of keeping up with the workload, I would recommend pursuing something practical (i.e. STEM) and something that you're passionate about in the liberal arts. This pairing might help make you employable from a practical skills standpoint while also giving you a well-rounded education in critical thinking/writing skills. The personable and relatable STEM people I know have all done very well for themselves immediately out of undergrad.

[salander]

The personable and relatable STEM people I know have all done very well for themselves immediately out of undergrad.

Are you implying that a lot of STEM people are not relatable and personable?

[FrozenBananaStand]

The personable and relatable STEM people I know have all done very well for themselves immediately out of undergrad.

Are you implying that a lot of STEM people are not relatable and personable?

Yep. And I don't think it's an entirely unfair characterization.

[salander]

Yep. And I don't think it's an entirely unfair characterization.

The media characterization of geeks and nerds doesn't help, either.

[Kluge]

Major in a language and study abroad extensively. I studied abroad for 2 semesters and my biggest regret in life might be not spending even more time abroad.

[salander]

Yes, do study abroad! Easily the best months of my life...

[fisheatbananas]

You could just do what I did and MAJOR in philosophy then the fear of unemployed life will force you to study hard in law school.

lol yay another phil major

[jaysnooginz]

You could just do what I did and MAJOR in philosophy then the fear of unemployed life will force you to study hard in law school.

lol yay another phil major

Philosophy is often a very rigorous degree and is really good prep for law school, unlike say, marketing or poly sci.

[salander]

Philosophy is often a very rigorous degree and is really good prep for law school, unlike say, marketing or poly sci.

Why isn't political science good prep for law school?

[rnoodles]

Poli-Sci and Sociology

[Ron Howard]

Philosophy is often a very rigorous degree and is really good prep for law school, unlike say, marketing or poly sci.

Why isn't political science good prep for law school?

I don't think that political science (usually) involves the same level of critical thinking and precision in writing as philosophy, economics, mathematics, and history necessitate.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I like the idea that history requires better writing and more critical thinking than polisci does, but I don't think it's necessarily true - that's going to depend a lot on the school/faculty/department. (for one thing, poli sci majors often require taking stats.)

But really any major is just as good prep for law school as any other.

[ChemEng1642]

Mathematics is indisputably the best major.

Engineering's where it's at

+1

Although I probably would have done computer science if I wouldn't have gotten completely demolished at my school...

[urbanist11]

Post removed.

[FullRamboLSGrad]

Like an idiot I majored in Political Science with the notion that law school would help leverage me into politics. 1 year into UG I learned the PS types were not for me and decided to do Econ major Philosophy minor and felt this was a more appropriate combo for LS.

But the overarching point should be that if you are dead set on Law School (and don't be) then pick heavy reading/writing/reasoning studies like English, Philosophy, Political Science or Psych., if you can earn a very high GPA in one of these studies you'll be atleast okay for Law School.

BUT! Don't set yourself up like that, do something that makes you employable before LS, Econ was useful for Corporate and Tax Law for me, but also in financial services (I live in a city with a lot of wealthy retirees) and I simply loved Philosophy but majoring would be a waste of $$. Stick with a real skill like Computer Science or Econ then decide if LS is worth it from there. If you major in a hard science you can also apply for the patent bar which is less saturated with bozos like me and can be very lucrative.

[totesTheGoat]

Something about training to be an engineer trains you well for law school.

I think it was all the 80+ hour weeks spent locked in a lab trying to parse three words in the (poorly written) technical manual to figure out whether I need to write 15 hours of software assuming one meaning of the words or another.

It's not entirely unlike reading a (poorly written) court decision to figure out whether I need to write 15 hours of arguments assuming one meaning of the decision or another.


Seriously though, engineering students are exposed to exams where the professor knows you're not going to finish, and that the average exam will be so bad that it'll only get 30-40% of the available points. If that isn't preparation for law school, I don't know what is.

[HxAxDxExS]

Polisci

But if I could do it again I'd do a BBA, so there's that

I am a double major Economics/Psc and I am taking some Finance/Accounting courses. Originally I wanted to be a finance/accounting major. At my school, any business degree is a BSBA (Bachelor of Science-Business Administration) So there is 45 Business core requirements. Classes I find interesting, but don't like being forced to taking a list of classes, even if it is one class I dont want to take (one too many). That's why I went with the Economics degree (the only one that offers BA and BSBA, but if you're BSBA why you would go economics is beyond me-vice versa) So getting a BA, with the 45 free credits, I chose another political science degree. I agree that taking a class that will potentially lower your gpa isn't worth it (Again, one too many) But then again, it sounds kind of dumb not taking classes because theyll lower your gpa because they will all potentially ruin it unless you have a bit of discipline and then you won't have to worry about that. What i'm basically saying is if I were to get a minor in Finance/Accounting which is 21 credits is basically the same thing as getting a BSBA when you're only taking 30 upper course for that specific major. So an Economics degree should be able to do anything a BSBA would do, right? I mean if you plan on going to law school it is really irrelevant, but I just like the freedom a BA offers.

[HxAxDxExS]

Poli-Sci and Sociology

Why not drop one of those for an economics major, I mean it's basically what you're studying. One or the other will provide you with the same, you learn Sociology when you take Political Science, especially with Economics.

[redtalun]

nobody's even mildly worried about Alice?

[Lawdork]

obama majored in Poli Sci and we all know how that ended up.

[totesTheGoat]

you should pick a major that you (1) are fascinated by or (2) can see yourself using if you didn't get a law degree to get an actual job.

This is the right advice. You can expand your mind, expose yourself to the classics, and have fun on your own time. When you're paying 5-figures a year, make sure that you're developing a resume, not just a set of hobbies.