Is there really a degree that prepares your for law school? Forum

[albusdumbledore]

"Is there really a degree that prepares you for law school?"

No. Law is a unique field of study, and beyond good reading comprehension, solid writing skill, and sufficient analytic ability, you don't need any other preparation for law school.


Are there degrees from which graduates have the propensity to succeed in law school?

Yes, but probably only inasmuch as those graduates would be inherently better at law school whether or not they had earned that specific degree.


I don't understand what these last 4 pages are about.

This would assume you can't gain better reading comprehension, writing skills, and analytic ability from one undergrad degree over another, which I think is patently false. Anyways, the answer to this thread is philosophy. If it is done right, it's heavily analytic (formal logic), forces you to read and understand ridiculously complex material, and will hone your writing skills at least as much as any other liberal arts major.

Misinterpretation.

The people with the "best" reading comprehension don't always get the highest grades, those are thresholds you need to succeed, not correlations. If you major in Philosophy and all the sudden you're able to enjoy reading The Critique of Pure Reason, it doesn't mean you're gaining an edge in LS, because the RC of the law itself is incredibly not that difficult.

I didn't say that and I'm not sure how you can infer that from what I wrote. You only took one of the three areas I mentioned (reading, writing, analyzing). I fail to see how law school is mythically different from every other intellectual endeavor insofar as sharpening those skills doesn't help. I don't doubt that a fair amount of luck is involved in grades, but is it really so much that the top performers in the class could easily swap with the bottom dwellers? And if so, why doesn't that happen on a semester to semester basis?

[Mickey Quicknumbers]

This would assume you can't gain better reading comprehension, writing skills, and analytic ability from one undergrad degree over another, which I think is patently false. Anyways, the answer to this thread is philosophy. If it is done right, it's heavily analytic (formal logic), forces you to read and understand ridiculously complex material, and will hone your writing skills at least as much as any other liberal arts major.

Misinterpretation.

The people with the "best" reading comprehension don't always get the highest grades, those are thresholds you need to succeed, not correlations. If you major in Philosophy and all the sudden you're able to enjoy reading The Critique of Pure Reason, it doesn't mean you're gaining an edge in LS, because the RC of the law itself is incredibly not that difficult.

I didn't say that and I'm not sure how you can infer that from what I wrote. You only took one of the three areas I mentioned (reading, writing, analyzing). I fail to see how law school is mythically different from every other intellectual endeavor insofar as sharpening those skills doesn't help. I don't doubt that a fair amount of luck is involved in grades, but is it really so much that the top performers in the class could easily swap with the bottom dwellers? And if so, why doesn't that happen on a semester to semester basis?

Smart study habits, developed test taking skills, actual motivation, the inherent ability to write a test well.

reading, writing, and analytical ability are definitely all valued in law school, but the material is never difficult enough that "sharpening" those skills by taking philosophy classes is going to allow you to understand what you're doing any better than the finance major/oboe player who got the same LSAT as you.

Wait. Am I arguing with a 0L about success in law school? Dammit.

[albusdumbledore]

Smart study habits, developed test taking skills, actual motivation, the inherent ability to write a test well.

Lol. Ok. You really think that there aren't certain majors that cater to developing test-taking skills or study habits either?