Your pre-med friends have no doubt been taking science classes since freshman year as they work their way towards the MCAT and applying to medical school. If you’ve got law school on your mind, you probably already know that there’s no particular course of studies recommended and there’s no single path to prepare you for a legal education.
Still, a big question law school applicants ask is, what can you study as an undergrad to position yourself well for the admissions process and for law school itself. We’ve devoted a whole show to this topic, What’s Your Major – The Courses That Help You Get In and Succeed in Law School.
To start, Associate Dean for Admissions at the University of Chicago Law School, Ann Perry, says there isn’t one major in particular that will help you prepare for the LSAT. Perry sees and accepts a variety of majors. “I’ve admitted into the law school here music majors, math majors, political science majors, engineering majors, biology majors, accounting majors, philosophy majors. So, there’s a lot of majors represented in the law schools across the country.”
Of course, each major comes with its own strengths, Sarah Zearfoss, Senior Assistant Dean for Admissions, University of Michigan Law School says. “If you’re talking just about grades, it is… basically, it is very rare at Michigan Law School, at least, to see students with science, math or engineering majors who end up at the bottom of the class. Those students always seem to do pretty well. But grades are not the entire story. I also think that people with those majors may have a bit more work to do to get up to speed in terms of learning the historical context behind the evolution of law. So from that perspective, history and poli sci majors have a huge advantage. And English majors are very, very well-trained in close reading of huge amounts of text, which is another important skill in law school, and so forth. I do think that most majors will give you some specialized training or knowledge that will give you an edge in some law school subjects.” Dean Zearfoss also shares some insight about faculty preferences for students with different backgrounds and areas of study.
In our podcast, host Diana Jordan also interviews the following guests:
- Chloe Reid, Associate Dean & Dean of Admissions, University of Southern California, Gould School of Law
- Debbie Chizewer, Senior Assistant Dean for Admissions and Director, Chicago Careers in Law, University of Chicago
- Richard Montauk, Admissions Consultant & author, How to Get Into the Top Law Schools