How do technical majors fare in Law School? Forum

[achewood]

I guess I would define technical major as any STEM major.

I haven't read on any significant difference between the average STEM major and a non-STEM major they get into law school but did anyone see any slight benefit or detriment in their classes?

[D'Angelo]

if there is a bump it is probably not that much overall! however it seems like there are a lot of professors with STEM UG majors...

as a STEM major I did feel less worried about some of the mathy things but if your contracts professor for example is remotely fair it should not be an issue!

[Hawkeye Pierce]

I doubt UG major has any correlation with law school success.

You don't need prior knowledge, and no one has experience with taking law school exams.... so it's a pretty level playing field.

[ben4847]

I guess I would define technical major as any STEM major.

I haven't read on any significant difference between the average STEM major and a non-STEM major they get into law school but did anyone see any slight benefit or detriment in their classes?

In my experience, very few of them make the top 10% of their class. Probably not more than 1 in 10.

[LockBox]

I guess I would define technical major as any STEM major.

I haven't read on any significant difference between the average STEM major and a non-STEM major they get into law school but did anyone see any slight benefit or detriment in their classes?

In my experience, very few of them make the top 10% of their class. Probably not more than 1 in 10.

Is that greater or less than the percentage of STEM majors in your class?

[englawyer]

STEM coursework trains you to take X,Y,Z simplifying assumptions and then within that closed system, find the correct answer (ex F=M*a, i know M and a so I can calculate F). Part of our training is looking at a complex system (ex a balcony) and simplifying that system into a simple model (ex a cantilever beam).

LS exams are setup to do the opposite: take a factual situation and make it more complex through the use of alternate rules, hypos, etc. The better response is not the one that finds the "right" answer, but the one that uncovers the richest complexity in the situation (spots the most issues).

The result of this (at least from experience as a STEM major) is that our exam responses will tend to be too short and too conclusive. By training, we simplify situations and make instinctual assumptions, exactly what you should NOT do in LS. We also tend to value the right answer and the search for the right answer over the process, again the opposite of LS.