Top Law Schools

Possibly a strange question, but I was just curious if there were any particular college classes current students or anyone else thinks would be useful to have in one's wheelhouse before attending law school? I have some time and opportunity to take some cheap classes this summer if I want to before I go to law school.

Would economics or statistics, or anything else, be something useful to someone attending law school? Obviously I know writing, but as a liberal arts major, that's the one skill I do have!!

Thanks

hopingtogetin wrote:Possibly a strange question, but I was just curious if there were any particular college classes current students or anyone else thinks would be useful to have in one's wheelhouse before attending law school? I have some time and opportunity to take some cheap classes this summer if I want to before I go to law school.

Would economics or statistics, or anything else, be something useful to someone attending law school? Obviously I know writing, but as a liberal arts major, that's the one skill I do have!!

Thanks

If you can get a class taught by a legal heavy hitter academic it may be worth your time, but I doubt they teach summer classes. It may, or may not give you a leg up, but 1) you don't want to be the guy in class who keeps saying "well, this past summer in my con law class" 2) you're going to have to relearn it anyway.

That being said, take an Econ class. I think that every person in America should be forced to take at least macro before they're allowed to graduate college. It probably won't help you in law school, but being economically literate has never hurt anyone.

Family financial planning down at the community center so you can see how stupid of an idea law skool is

rad lulz wrote:Family financial planning down at the community center so you can see how stupid of an idea law skool is

I understand your opinion, but that seemed a little rude.

hopingtogetin wrote:

rad lulz wrote:Family financial planning down at the community center so you can see how stupid of an idea law skool is

I understand your opinion, but that seemed a little rude.

You haven't been around here for long, have you?

txdude45 wrote:

hopingtogetin wrote:

rad lulz wrote:Family financial planning down at the community center so you can see how stupid of an idea law skool is

I understand your opinion, but that seemed a little rude.

You haven't been around here for long, have you?

lolz.

Yeah, radlulz is a douche.

There is no class that can help you with law school. That includes things that claim they are "prelaw."

Scotusnerd wrote:Yeah, radlulz is a douche.

There is no class that can help you with law school. That includes things that claim they are "prelaw."

I'm just going to pretend that we can all get along on here.

Brixton wrote:

Scotusnerd wrote:Yeah, radlulz is a douche.

There is no class that can help you with law school. That includes things that claim they are "prelaw."

I'm just going to pretend that we can all get along on here.

If everyone always got along, we wouldn't need lawyers.

Basic knowledge of econ is useful. Tons of concepts have a foundation in microeconomics or game theory. The level of sophistication isn't very high though. If it were incredibly sophisticated, it probably wouldn't gain much traction with most practicing lawyers.

Logic classes. Econ. Journalism writing classes (because they tend to be direct and to the point). Sociology, Political Science, and U.S. History classes are all useful too.

But, as others have said, it basically doesn't matter what you take as long as you get a good GPA.


ETA: It really tells you something when a generally "Liberal Arts" degree is probably the most useful. LOL.

rad lulz wrote:Family financial planning down at the community center so you can see how stupid of an idea law skool is

lol, +1

Some sort of intro to the legal system and symbolic logic may be helpful but by no means necessary. I really feel like the thing undergrads need is to learn logic/how to recognize weak arguments...

Take personal finance classes, so that if you end up making money, you know what to do with it, and because it helps if you go into transactional practice

Scotusnerd wrote:Yeah, radlulz is a douche.

There is no class that can help you with law school. That includes things that claim they are "prelaw."

Says a dood name Scotusnerd attending a TTT.

Well, are you going to a T14 school, are you going to a regional school with an actual chance at a market paying job, or are you going to a lower-ranked school?

The answer to this question will impact which classes I recommend.

Desert Fox wrote:Says a dood name Scotusnerd attending a TTT.

Scotusnerd wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:Says a dood name Scotusnerd attending a TTT.

How witty bro.

TaipeiMort wrote:Well, are you going to a T14 school, are you going to a regional school with an actual chance at a market paying job, or are you going to a lower-ranked school?

The answer to this question will impact which classes I recommend.

I'm going to what I guess you would call a regional school, but it's within the top thirty so it's not a TTT or anything.

Thanks to those that have responded! I may consider taking econ over the summer-I never took it in college or high school so from what you guys suggested, it sounds like it could help.

hopingtogetin wrote:

TaipeiMort wrote:Well, are you going to a T14 school, are you going to a regional school with an actual chance at a market paying job, or are you going to a lower-ranked school?

The answer to this question will impact which classes I recommend.

I'm going to what I guess you would call a regional school, but it's within the top thirty so it's not a TTT or anything.

Thanks to those that have responded! I may consider taking econ over the summer-I never took it in college or high school so from what you guys suggested, it sounds like it could help.

Top 30 doesn't mean anything

Quite a few of those schools have employment stats that look like TTTs

rad lulz wrote: Top 30 doesn't mean anything

Quite a few of those schools have employment stats that look like TTTs

Yes, I know that it is not T14 or anything, but I just wanted to try and answer the other person's question because regional schools can range from #20 to #120 so that while I am aware ratings above the T14 don't really make a difference, there is probably at least a minor difference between a school in the mid twenties to one in the mid one hundred twenties. But I'm not trying to make a T30 sound like a special snowflake school.

I don't know how much this ultimately prepares you for anything, but a lot of schools offer Constitutional Law classes as part of a polisci or philosophy program. It at least exposes you to certain issues and language that may come up, but it probably won't give you a measurable head-start.

magp90 wrote:I don't know how much this ultimately prepares you for anything, but a lot of schools offer Constitutional Law classes as part of a polisci or philosophy program. It at least exposes you to certain issues and language that may come up, but it probably won't give you a measurable head-start.

I took two semesters of Con Law and while I'm sure I didn't learn enough to make a difference in law school, it did expose me to the law and help me decide if I would even like learning that kind of material. I also had a great professor who practiced at a big firm in Atlanta who was always willing to meet in his office hours to talk about law school or a legal career. I'd say undergrad courses can help you by teaching you how to read and brief cases, get you used to being called on in class and the essay style tests of law school, but don't expect it to give you headstart in law school.

.

if you take an accounting course you may not have to take bullshit accounting for lawyers if you're trying to do transactional stuff