Pre law programs during undergrad Forum

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Trev315

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Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Trev315 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:33 am

Is it a good idea to minor in pre law during my undergrad years? Will this benefit me in any way? This includes moot court and basic law classes.

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Samara

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Samara » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:33 am

Trev315 wrote:Is it a good idea to minor in pre law during my undergrad years? Will this benefit me in any way? This includes moot court and basic law classes.
Nope.

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dingbat

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by dingbat » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:35 am

According to a study, of 29 different majors prelaw had the lowest average LSAT score

ironman2012

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by ironman2012 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:36 am

No. Also please get a major that can get you a decent job after graduation, even if you've already decided life is not worth living if one does not attend law school

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Richie Tenenbaum

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Richie Tenenbaum » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:43 am

If you're interested in doing it then do it, but don't expect it to help much in admissions or 1L classes. I took a con law class in UG and I really enjoyed it.

If you go to a top UG, you might have a chance to take a big name con law scholar for an UG class--if that's the case, I would definitely try to take a class like that regardless of the prelaw program.

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Trev315

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Trev315 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:47 am

I would major in psychology and minor in pre law. I guess it's supposed to get a student to realize if they really want to attend law school or not. I'm 99% sure I want to go, just wasn't sure if minoring in this would give me a step ahead when I start my 1L.

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dingbat

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by dingbat » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:49 am

Trev315 wrote:I would major in psychology and minor in pre law. I guess it's supposed to get a student to realize if they really want to attend law school or not. I'm 99% sure I want to go, just wasn't sure if minoring in this would give me a step ahead when I start my 1L.
Just don't be like that douche who mentioned Kant on the first day of Crim

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paratactical

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by paratactical » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:50 am

Trev315 wrote:Is it a good idea to minor in pre law during my undergrad years? Will this benefit me in any way? This includes moot court and basic law classes.
Probably not. No.

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Richie Tenenbaum

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Richie Tenenbaum » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:53 am

Trev315 wrote:I would major in psychology and minor in pre law. I guess it's supposed to get a student to realize if they really want to attend law school or not. I'm 99% sure I want to go, just wasn't sure if minoring in this would give me a step ahead when I start my 1L.
While there might be a tiny amount of value in seeing if you like moot court or UG law classes, it has little bearing on determining whether you will actually enjoy being a lawyer.

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Trev315

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Trev315 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:03 am

I think it would be an interesting course to take. However though one of my concerns is that I do not want it to steer me in the wrong direction. This is not an official law school class, more specifically I don't want to learn one thing and then learn it differently on law school.

I was thinking maybe it would make me more comfortable in LS? Probably not though. Tell me what you guys think.

http://castle.eiu.edu/~prelaw/

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paratactical

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by paratactical » Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:03 am

Trev315 wrote:I think it would be an interesting course to take. However though one of my concerns is that I do not want it to steer me in the wrong direction. This is not an official law school class, more specifically I don't want to learn one thing and then learn it differently on law school.

I was thinking maybe it would make me more comfortable in LS? Probably not though. Tell me what you guys think.

http://castle.eiu.edu/~prelaw/
No. No. No. No. No.

rad lulz

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by rad lulz » Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:06 am

Trev315 wrote:I think it would be an interesting course to take. However though one of my concerns is that I do not want it to steer me in the wrong direction. This is not an official law school class, more specifically I don't want to learn one thing and then learn it differently on law school.

I was thinking maybe it would make me more comfortable in LS? Probably not though. Tell me what you guys think.

http://castle.eiu.edu/~prelaw/
No.

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BullShitWithBravado

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by BullShitWithBravado » Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:06 am

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jrsbaseball5

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by jrsbaseball5 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:43 am

Do it only if you are really interested in learning about the law in general, but know that it won't help you at all in your application. In fact, I seems that many admin people say that a pre-law undergrad prep is actually worse for you because a broad skill set is helpful for law school. That being said take some courses if it looks appealing to you because you're likely to get better grades in classes that you enjoy.

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Tushbush » Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:38 am

I don't know about prelaw majors, but I feel like taking law classes in undergrad would help some. How wouldn't it?

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Swimp » Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:01 am

Tushbush wrote:I don't know about prelaw majors, but I feel like taking law classes in undergrad would help some. How wouldn't it?
How would it?

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John Mill

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by John Mill » Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:20 am

Philosophy can give you a bit of a leg up in the sense that it will train you to read a lot of very difficult stuff and analyze it, statistically philosophy majors do the best on the LSAT too. If you want to get an idea of laws and court systems and such Political Science is another popular degree.

The problem with prelaw is that it wont help you that much, and its useless if you decide not to go to law school. Its your life though and you should do whatever you feel the best about or enjoy the most. If you have an extra class take one prelaw class and see how much you like it, if you find that you enjoy it go ahead and make it your minor, but just dont expect it to mean that much when your 1L or on applications.

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Br3v

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Br3v » Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:48 am

Samara wrote:
Trev315 wrote:Is it a good idea to minor in pre law during my undergrad years? Will this benefit me in any way? This includes moot court and basic law classes.
Nope.

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Legacy Rabbit

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Legacy Rabbit » Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:53 pm

With all due respect, there is no "pre-law" major. I have heard community colleges offering "majors" similar to "that", and if you are attending a school that even offers such a thing, you may want to consider transferring out.

You may want to look into majoring or minoring in Philosophy There was a post in this forum regarding majors / minors in Philosphy. Personally, one of my majors is in Philosophy; it has been nothing but a benefit as I study for the LSAT.

Resources for you: --LinkRemoved--

The Practical Benefits of Majoring in Philosophy
The study of philosophy furnishes you with skills that are useful in any career that demands critical thinking skills, creative problem solving skills, the ability to explain and see ideas, the ability to understand and organize complex information, analytical thinking skills, communication skills, writing skills, comfort with disagreement, calm and rational thinking, and an ability and interest in understanding ideas.

Pre-Law in Philosophy
The Chronicle of Higher Education compared popular pre-law majors and determined that philosophy majors consistently outscore other majors, by a large margin, on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). See the Chart Below.



Major LSAT
Philosophy +8.7%
English +5.6%
History +2.9%
Psych +0.9%
Political Science -1.6%

This data is not surprising given the rigorous logical training one gets as a philosophy major. Philosophy majors excel in law school, and in the practice of law because philosophy students are continually required to build logical and well-argued causes for their ideas. By the time a student graduates with a degree in philosophy, they have developed an expertise for distinguishing good arguments from poor arguments. This skill is essential to the practice of law.

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franklyscarlet

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by franklyscarlet » Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:01 pm

Tushbush wrote:I don't know about prelaw majors, but I feel like taking law classes in undergrad would help some. How wouldn't it?
It might hep you decide if law school is really for you, and it might be fun. Beyond that, no. Don't be that asshole who gets to law school and thinks you know how stuff works because you took an undergrad con law class. you don't.

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John Mill

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by John Mill » Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:33 pm

Im actually giving some serious thought to transferring to a different school just so I can major in philosophy. The current school Im going to only offers a minor, I really like my school, but I really love my philosophy classes so far and I feel like Im getting more from them than any other classes Im taking. Atm Im doing PoliSci major Philosophy minor.

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Br3v

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Br3v » Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:17 pm

John Mill wrote:Im actually giving some serious thought to transferring to a different school just so I can major in philosophy. The current school Im going to only offers a minor, I really like my school, but I really love my philosophy classes so far and I feel like Im getting more from them than any other classes Im taking. Atm Im doing PoliSci major Philosophy minor.
Follow your heart (though use your brain when it comes to $, aka tuition)

I am assuming you are a John Stuart Mill fan?
Do you mostly enjoy economic philosophy?

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John Mill

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by John Mill » Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:41 pm

Br3v wrote:
Follow your heart (though use your brain when it comes to $, aka tuition)
Well the thing is I want to stay at home during undergrad so I can save up some cash to live on when I go away to law school and maybe help me take out a few less loans. Theres only two other colleges I can go to that are near by enough (as it is Im making a 45 minut drive to school), one of them is in about the shittiest neighborhood you can imagine, a buddy of mine attends that place and there was a stabbing less than 100 feet from where he parks his car. The other is just over the border to CT so I would wind up having to pay twice as much money to attend there.
I am assuming you are a John Stuart Mill fan?
Do you mostly enjoy economic philosophy?
I will be honest with you, I just picked this name at random off my book when I signed up here, although since then I have become somewhat of a fan. Im still just taking entry level philosophy courses but I did enjoy his views on utilitarianism and the greatest happiness principle.

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by Tushbush » Sat Oct 27, 2012 10:12 am

For instance, I have a class at my school in which our prof is a lawyer and 75% of the students have plans for law school. Because of this, our prof decided to teach the class exactly like 1L law classes to give us an idea of how law school classes will be taught (so he claims). Granted, we have basically covered every required 1L class, (crim law, crim procedure, civil procedure, etc. in one semester, so we have not gone into too much depth. But, this should give us a baseline knowledge that Econ, polo sci, and finance majors may not have. No?

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John Mill

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Re: Pre law programs during undergrad

Post by John Mill » Sat Oct 27, 2012 10:23 am

Tushbush wrote:But, this should give us a baseline knowledge that Econ, polo sci, and finance majors may not have. No?
No more so than lurking on TLS for a few months.

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