The Best Pre Law Majors | A Comprehensive Guide
Table of Contents
If you are a high school student looking for a suitable career in law, explore the activities and best pre law majors that will increase your chances of admission into a law school. The truth is that no undergraduate major will guarantee admission or rejection from law school. However, the path to a successful legal career starts with selecting an undergraduate major. Many options are available, and the type of law you plan to practice may help you choose your undergraduate pre-law major.Â
Particular pre-law majors are more famous among law school applicants than others. Law schools consider the applicants’ grades and the rigor of the coursework they pursue. You should consider these factors when planning your education and career. This blog will identify the best undergraduate majors for law school students.Â
Essential Skills Required to Excel in Law School
While the law school admissions team isn’t looking for something special, it’s essential to have specific skills that will help you survive in the law school’s challenging environment. For instance, lawyers must be skilled at looking for and gathering information from multiple sources and complex documents. Lawyers must be able to read lengthy documents and synthesize the information. Here are the core skills that the American Bar Association highlighted that you will need as a successful lawyer:Â
- Research, Editing, and Writing Skills.
- Oral Communication and Listening.
- Problem Solving and Critical Reading.
- Collaboration and Relationship Building.
- Promotion of Justice and Public Service.
- Organization Management.
You can develop and improve these by combining extracurricular activities, such as joining the school debate team or interning in a law office. These skills will help the students to succeed in law school.Â
What is the Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
The law school admission test (LSAT) is a standard test for law school admission. It consists of multiple-choice questions in four primary areas: analytical reasoning, reading comprehension, logical reasoning, and an unscored writing sample. The LSAT test score significantly impacts your application and admission prospects. It’s good to work with a tutor or take a prep course that will help you improve your skills and increase your chances of passing the test with a good score.
How to Select the Best Pre-Law Majors for Law School?
To select the best pre-law majors for your law school, ensure you cover all areas of law. It’s best to choose an area of study you enjoy and like spending time in. Following your interests will make your learning process easier and help you to get the grades you require to improve your probability of gaining admission to law schools.Â
One of the most well-known ways to find out about a specific major that is good for you is to take admission in college summer classes before you complete high school. For instance, if you want to pursue finance law, you can take an undergraduate introduction to economics and see if you understand and enjoy the class.Â
Here are some of the best pre-law majors for law school:
Arts and Humanities
Arts and Humanities is one of the majors that rigorously prepares students for law school. This course includes reading, writing, and critical thinking, among other coursework. It also contains languages, music, art, logic, literature, philosophy, religion, theater, and social sciences. Furthermore, art and humanities hone the students’ communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills. Students with a liberal arts degree can take many different classes.Â
English
Although the connection between being a lawyer and English may not seem as obvious as with other pre-law majors, it does help the students, particularly with reading and writing. Furthermore, this study area will help you enhance your critical thinking, grammar, and overall communication skills. By enrolling in this major, you can develop knowledge of society and culture.Â
History
History is an excellent field of study that covers a broad range of topics, including geography, specific eras, civilizations, and cultures. Choosing this major will help you develop research and analysis skills and provide you with a vast knowledge of different races, cultures, and backgrounds. This comprehensive knowledge will help you in any type of law.Â
Moreover, this coursework also provides information about specific laws that have failed in the past and why other specific laws have survived for decades. Majoring in history will help you to decide the direction for your legal career if you’re especially moved by specific discriminatory laws that persist today.Â
Political Science
If you want to understand the connection between politics and legislation, this undergraduate major is for you. Law students must also know how the judicial systems and government work. This popular major enables students to start learning about decision-making, transfers of power, politics, and how rules and governments are created and work. Furthermore, the students applying for this major will also get to explore other countries’ legal systems and understand how laws are formed and executed.Â
Criminal Justice
Criminal justice is the best pre-law major for those who want to defend people accused of false crimes. This coursework covers many topics, including proceedings and the legal and correction system. It includes social policies, forensics, human behavior, research, and management. Choosing a criminal justice major may not offer you a high academic challenge. Still, it will help you to become a defense attorney, and most importantly, many top law schools look for applicants who have completed their major in this field.Â
Economics
Economic coursework is best for those students who want a blend of quantitative and qualitative courses. It covers different topics, including micro and macroeconomics, social security, market outcomes, fiscal and monetary policy, and basic economic modeling. This major is an excellent choice for aspiring tax and corporate attorneys. Furthermore, the economic coursework requires students to develop proficiency in logical reasoning, which is a critical component of the law school admission test (LSAT).Â
Finance
Choosing a finance major is an excellent choice for those students who want to learn business economics, cost analysis, ethics, accounting, and business law. This coursework is also for corporate, tax, or real estate law students. This major teaches students about financial regulations and tax planning in tax law. Regarding corporate law, this coursework provides information on mergers and acquisitions. Understanding finance is crucial for property transactions in real estate law.Â
Philosophy
If you want to flex your logic and reasoning muscles, which are essential skills for lawyers, then studying philosophy is your best pre-law major. This coursework includes topics like metaphysics, logic, social and political philosophy, ethics, epistemology, and the history of philosophy. Additionally, this major develops various skills in students like communication and analytical and logical argumentation, which are essential for any law practice.Â
Psychology
Many law students choose psychology as their undergraduate major in law school. This major is one of the most famous majors among the other pre-law majors. It gives the students an understanding of topics like stereotyping, prejudice, cognitive dissonance, discrimination, and other valuable topics for future lawyers. Furthermore, it also provides information on concepts like racial profiling, true and false confessions, and punishment and rehabilitation. Choosing the psychology coursework will hone your critical, analytical, and research skills.Â
Final Words
Aiming for law school requires exploring different pre-law majors. Each coursework provides essential information on topics related to law. Through this blog, we have thoroughly discussed every major and its essentials. History is a great major when looking for the background of law and how it was implemented first. If you want to study tax and corporate law, choose the finance major, which will provide you with all the necessary information.Â
Lastly, check your goals and interests and choose a major that fits them. With proper planning and working with academic advisors, students can utilize any coursework to prepare for law school. All the majors will prepare you for law school and legal career success. However, you should remember to find coursework that enhances the specific skills you’ll need in your legal profession. Even if you don’t select a particular major, what you decide to follow can be a factor in your law school admission process.Â
Key Takeaways:
- Best Pre-Law Majors: Choosing the best pre-law major is crucial for success in law school; areas like Criminal Justice and Philosophy offer specific advantages.
- Skills Enhancement: Developing research, writing, and critical thinking skills through selected majors aids in excelling in law school.
- LSAT Preparation: Economics and Philosophy majors enhance logical reasoning, aiding in the preparation of LSAT.
- Career Direction: Majors like History provide insights into law’s background, guiding legal career direction.
- Interest Alignment: Selecting a major that aligns with personal interests and goals is key to law school admission success.