Please help. Forum

[hannahb]

Hi! I just completed my first year in college. I'm currently majoring in Criminal Justice, but I'm considering minoring in Psychology or Philosophy. I plan on attending law school and have done pretty well on a few practice LSATs. I know people say Criminal Justice is the worst major for trying to get into law school, but I love it. This is strictly about whether I should minor in Psychology or Philosphy. Which one do you all believe will help me succeed on the LSAT and in law school? Thank you!

[BeachBear]

If you are serious about law school, then take the class that will get you the highest grade. Law school look at pretty much only three things 45% GPA, 45% LSAT and maybe 10% everything else, including major, interests, star charts, etc.

If you can get As in either one, then either one is good, pick the one you will enjoy the most because personally I have yet to hear from anyone in law school that their undergrad major helped them one way or another.

[raven1231]

Neither will make a difference on LSAT success. As for what major makes better test takers, I think the correlation has more to do with self selection than the major somehow preparing students better.

[HonestAdvice]

CJ majors do poorly on the LSAT, because for the most part, only bad colleges offer CJ. There's nothing about it that is bad for law school in and of itself.

[AntsInMyEyesJohnson]

While Philosophy, depending on what you focus on, could give you a boost in picking up LSAT techniques quicker, I don't see how Psychology would help.

[hipcatdaddio]

While Philosophy, depending on what you focus on, could give you a boost in picking up LSAT techniques quicker, I don't see how Psychology would help.

This. Kierkegaard, Camus, Beauvoir and other forms of existential philosophy won't do any good for the LSAT, but an advanced logic course could make your LSAT prep a little smoother. A little.

[Nachoo2019]

CJ majors do poorly on the LSAT, because for the most part, only bad colleges offer CJ. There's nothing about it that is bad for law school in and of itself.

CJ majors might do poorly on the LSAT but bad schools don't just offer CJ majors.... Just about every flagship state school in every state offers CJ and a lot of top private schools(including ivies) offer CJ. I have seen you give a lot of "Honest Advice" on TLS and it's largely a load of shit....

[Barack O'Drama]

CJ majors do poorly on the LSAT, because for the most part, only bad colleges offer CJ. There's nothing about it that is bad for law school in and of itself.

CJ majors might do poorly on the LSAT but bad schools don't just offer CJ majors.... Just about every flagship state school in every state offers CJ and a lot of top private schools(including ivies) offer CJ. I have seen you give a lot of "Honest Advice" on TLS and it's largely a load of shit....

[Rupert Pupkin]

I think you should make the decision based on whether you enjoy that major/minor and are passionate about it. Sometimes taking a major just because its easy will shoot you in the foot- I know in undergrad it was hard for me to put in work in BS classes that I just needed as credit and weren't apart of my major. I personally also wanted a major that was challenging and wanted to take away a skill-set from college.

Furthermore, I would consider what type of practice you are interested in and that could help you make your decision.

Best of luck to you!

[Mack.Hambleton]

CJ majors do poorly on the LSAT, because for the most part, only bad colleges offer CJ. There's nothing about it that is bad for law school in and of itself.

this

[kd5]

Philosophy helped me in terms of (a) small boost on the LSAT prep from logic classes, and (b) helping me build up a tolerance for lots of long, dense, reading assignments written in really old-fashioned styles.

Don't do it if your school's philosophy dept. is tough on GPA though, that was my mistake and was not remotely worth the small boosts described above.

[L_William_W]

Hi! I just completed my first year in college. I'm currently majoring in Criminal Justice, but I'm considering minoring in Psychology or Philosophy. I plan on attending law school and have done pretty well on a few practice LSATs. I know people say Criminal Justice is the worst major for trying to get into law school, but I love it. This is strictly about whether I should minor in Psychology or Philosphy. Which one do you all believe will help me succeed on the LSAT and in law school? Thank you!

It's counterintuitive, but being a criminal justice major won't increase your chances of getting in. Instead, pick a random liberal arts major (psychology, sociology, political science...) and take every non-math and non-science class you can. Take the bare minimum amount of math and science classes. Also, participate in internships and school clubs (EX: a club that raises money to help starving African babies...).

[KMart]

Just a fyi - stop taking practice tests. You have plenty of time for the LSAT and enjoy your 3 remaining years of college.

[Tempo]

Philosophy is great for LSAT prep (critical reading/logic/arguments). I would wager that I owe at least 5 points on my LSAT to my philosophy major.

But also, philosophy is just great for life. I really recommend it as a field of study.

[Stardust84]

Philosophy, especially analytical/logic philosophy would definitely help on your LSAT. LSAC hires philosophy Phds to write questions for a reason. That said depending on your university/philosophy department, it's a harder major than criminal justice so I'm not sure if the potential trade-off in GPA is worthwhile or not. There is no data on how much going through a philosophy degree gives you a boost on the LSAT, just that philosophy majors score better than most majors.

[Dcc617]

Minors are bullshit. It doesn't matter. Pick whichever one you like. Or both. Or neither. Nobody will care.

Also, stop preparing for the LSAT. Chill out until you're at least a junior.

[BNA]

Get out of criminal justice RIGHT NOW. It is worthless. Do literally anything else.

[Nachoo2019]

Get out of criminal justice RIGHT NOW. It is worthless. Do literally anything else.

Lol at this anti CJ sentiment. OP, take whatever you're interested in and can excel in. Get the highest GPA possible for now and start prepping for the LSAT as a junior.

[BNA]

Get out of criminal justice RIGHT NOW. It is worthless. Do literally anything else.

Lol at this anti CJ sentiment. OP, take whatever you're interested in and can excel in. Get the highest GPA possible for now and start prepping for the LSAT as a junior.

I only say that in case law school doesn't work out for whatever reason. I have a CJ undergrad because I wanted to work investigations for the DoJ after the military. Wound up realizing I'd be miserable working for the fed and had zero options other than careers I could have secured with any major. Unless you want to be a cop, pick a degree with some value (STEM)

[Nachoo2019]

Get out of criminal justice RIGHT NOW. It is worthless. Do literally anything else.

Lol at this anti CJ sentiment. OP, take whatever you're interested in and can excel in. Get the highest GPA possible for now and start prepping for the LSAT as a junior.

I only say that in case law school doesn't work out for whatever reason. I have a CJ undergrad because I wanted to work investigations for the DoJ after the military. Wound up realizing I'd be miserable working for the fed and had zero options other than careers I could have secured with any major. Unless you want to be a cop, pick a degree with some value (STEM)

Well this changes things. In that case you are correct haha. I was in the same boat but I took it cause it was easy, I qualified for tuition reduction through our CJ/public policy program, and I absolutely knew I wanted law school.

[kfh37]

I was a criminal justice major at a Big 10 school. I loved my classes, but it was ridiculously easy. I double majored so that I would have at least one major that got some respect. Criminal justice is perceived by law schools as a very weak major, so it could hurt your chances at top schools.

[Nachoo2019]

I was a criminal justice major at a Big 10 school. I loved my classes, but it was ridiculously easy. I double majored so that I would have at least one major that got some respect. Criminal justice is perceived by law schools as a very weak major, so it could hurt your chances at top schools.

This is wrong.

For example, A 4.0 in CJ is going to get the same results as any other non-stem 4.0 GPA. A stem 4.0 would give you a slight boost, but the same GPA in CJ won't hurt you.

Not saying CJ is prestigious by any means, but T-14s will have to report your 4.0 GPA not majors.

[ChicagoKid27]

Start studying a language. You need to the view the LSAT as a foreign language. Train yourself to recognize patterns by learning a language that is unknown to you.

[blueapple]

Start studying a language. You need to the view the LSAT as a foreign language. Train yourself to recognize patterns by learning a language that is unknown to you.

Don't give advice like this if you're a junior in college and haven't taken the LSAT. It's great that you're learning Russian but the reason to learn Russian is not because it will help you on the LSAT.

[ChicagoKid27]

Start studying a language. You need to the view the LSAT as a foreign language. Train yourself to recognize patterns by learning a language that is unknown to you.

Don't give advice like this if you're a junior in college and haven't taken the LSAT. It's great that you're learning Russian but the reason to learn Russian is not because it will help you on the LSAT.

You do realize that I plan on studying for the LSAT right? I'm learning a foreign language to keep my mind sharp and to help increase analytical skill, I'm only a junior, yea your right. I also plan on taking a year or two between graduated and starting law school. If I start studying for the LSAT now there's a good chance I could burn out. Besides, there are many benefits to being bilingual such as improved memory, increased perception, and better decision making skills. All of which will come in handy when studying for the LSAT. Plus, your understanding of the English language also improves, which is kind of important if you want to be a lawyer.