Major Question Forum

[lukebyalibi]

I have seen this discussed in other posts, but wanted a response more tailored to my situation.
I am majoring in Criminal Justice, and recently heard that CJ majors tend to perform rather poorly on the LSAT? Is this just a random assumption, or are their facts to back this up? I plan on putting 25-30 hours a week this summer in to studying for the Oct LSAT so do you guys think this will offset my lack of a challenging major?

Thanks

[cmraider]

I have seen this discussed in other posts, but wanted a response more tailored to my situation.
I am majoring in Criminal Justice, and recently heard that CJ majors tend to perform rather poorly on the LSAT? Is this just a random assumption, or are their facts to back this up? I plan on putting 25-30 hours a week this summer in to studying for the Oct LSAT so do you guys think this will offset my lack of a challenging major?

Thanks

Don't read too much into it. The fact there is a correlation between CJ majors and low LSAT scores doesn't mean anything relative to your specific situation. There's not a major which helps you on the LSAT. Yeah, philosophy majors may be better versed in formal logic, but almost everything on the LSAT is learnable.

Your post isn't the first place I've seen a trend between CJ majors and low LSAT scores mentioned, but there are so many factors that could affect why that is. Some may include: really smart people gravitate toward challenging subjects such as science and math, CJ majors have fewer post-grad options so a higher percentage of them take the LSAT compared to other majors, etc. You get the picture.

If you really want to go to law school, ignore the correlation and study your ass off for the LSAT.

[lukebyalibi]

Yeah that is kind of what I was thinking because I carry an A- average no matter what class I take. I just never understood how a Criminal Justice major was considered to be a negative for law school? Although I would assume it would depend upon ones desired focus in law school? I mean would it be hard for a CJ major student to land a big law job doing Corporate work?

[cmraider]

I mean would it be hard for a CJ major student to land a big law job doing Corporate work?

I don't have any concrete anecdotal or statistical evidence to validate this, but I'll give you my uninformed opinion.

I doubt it will matter what your major is when you're looking at jobs. Just look at the majors on any law school's admissions profile, there are a lot of different majors. With a few exceptions (i.e. IP, tax) your UG major will likely not come into play. Look at some of the attorney profiles at some big firms and you will see plenty of attorneys with Lib Arts B.A.s. I mean do you think an art history or an English literature or a political science major has a leg up on certain jobs due to their UG degree? Those people got where they are because of what they did in law school, not UG.

However, I'm not an expert on this by any means and there are many TLS posters who can speak on the subject with more authority than I.

[cmraider]

I just never understood how a Criminal Justice major was considered to be a negative for law school? Although I would assume it would depend upon ones desired focus in law school?

You answered your own question (and with a question which wasn't a question). Being a CJ major isn't a negative for law school, it's just, statistically, a negative for performance on the LSAT. Having a good LSAT score and GPA account counts more than everything else in your application combined.

There's only one scenario I can conceive which would suggest a CJ major will be a detriment. Law schools attempt to put together diverse entering classes and your UG major is a part of the diversity your bring to the table (although a small part). If a school is choosing between two candidates with equal GPA, LSAT, work experience, etc., and one is a CJ major while the other is a biology major, you may get bounced in favor of the bio major if the school has already admitted 10 CJ majors and no biology majors. In your case, I'd say a lot of CJ majors do apply to law school (I'm not exactly sure what one does with a CJ major anyway), so you could get dinged if the above situation came to life.

[rman1201]

Was the "Major Question" pun(?) intended?

But I don't think there's anything about the major itself that causes students to under-perform on the LSAT, the major just likely either manages to attract a higher amount of dumb ones, or the students think they're solid because of their super cool and related major and just slack off when it comes to LSAT studying.

So if you're not an idiot and you prepare, you should be fine.

[lukebyalibi]

The Pun was intended! Thanks for the insight, it makes me feel a lot more at ease. I can't wait for this semester to be over so I can study my butt off for the LSAT this summer! Anything sub 165 I am going to be pissed!!!

P.S. Thanks for actually answering my questions!