Undergraduate major of lawyers, earnings and type of law practiced

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that a lot of philosophy departments "sell" their major by pointing out how well philosophy majors do on the LSAT. Not sure to what extent it's because philosophy just attracts better students to begin with and to what extent the study of philosophy prepares one well for the LSAT.

Philosophy is about logic and analysis, and so is the LSAT. Studying philosophy is excellent preparation for both the LSAT and law school.

[Anonymous]

Lawyer here from a top 5 law school. I have no idea what most of my classmates majored in. In most cases, it's irrelevant to the practice of law. There are a few exceptions. The people with accounting backgrounds who went into corporate/tax law, or the people with science/technical background who went into patent law.

Criminal justice wasn't even a major at my (top-ranked) undergrad.

[Anonymous]

OP, what is your question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lawyer here from a top 5 law school. I have no idea what most of my classmates majored in. In most cases, it's irrelevant to the practice of law. There are a few exceptions. The people with accounting backgrounds who went into corporate/tax law, or the people with science/technical background who went into patent law.

Criminal justice wasn't even a major at my (top-ranked) undergrad.

Right, criminal justice isn't something you can major in at an Ivy school. Too vocational.

[Anonymous]

I don't think undergraduate major matters at all. I majored in sociology. I did well in law school and joined a top tier biglaw firm, where I spent more than a decade before moving to a boutique.

My advice would be to major in whatever you enjoy and will be invested in. That will lead to better grades, which leads to admission to a better law school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Undergrad major to lawyer earnings is at best correlation, not causation.

If you want to make big $ as a lawyer, go to a highly ranked law school and get very high grades. Top of your class. Especially the first semester of your first year. IMHO, this is the #1 factor.

With very high first year grades, you are more likely to get interviews with (and offers from) the top-tier corporate law firms that pay top of market. These firms have very high grade cut-offs. They only hire law students with the very top law school GPAs.

Getting the summer offer is the hard part. If you do a decent enough job over the summer (arent completely incompetent or excessively awkward or weird), you’ll be fine.

At the college level - Do what you need to do to get into the best law school you can while also preparing yourself to get excellent first year grades for once you get there.

Above all else, this means having a high college GPA and LSAT score. (The lower-ranked your college is, the higher your stats need to be to get in to a good law school.)

College major doesn’t matter much. Just be sure to: (1) earn a high GPA; and (2) take as many classes as you need to become super skilled at reading and analyzing large volumes of texts, and writing clearly and persuasively. (Without already having this skill-set on day one of law school, you’re unlikely to do well first year, which in turn will limit your employment options and earning potential after.)

It doesn't because everybody starts again in law school, there is no advanced standing.

The only area where your undergraduate major matters at all is patent law.
.

my friend who now does patent law majored in physics in undergrad, wound up getting a masters in electrical engineering, then decided to go to law school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think undergraduate major matters at all. I majored in sociology. I did well in law school and joined a top tier biglaw firm, where I spent more than a decade before moving to a boutique.

My advice would be to major in whatever you enjoy and will be invested in. That will lead to better grades, which leads to admission to a better law school.

This is correct. I was History major. Great to learn research, reading, writing, critical thinking. Big law partner. Take what you like if you know you want law school.

[Anonymous]

Majors, 2024 Columbia JD entering class:

Political science 19%
Economics 11%
Philosophy 10%
STEM 10%
Other social sciences 9%
History 8%
Literature/English 7%
Business 6%
International relations 6%
Psychology 5%

https://www.law.columbia.edu/admissions/jd/entering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that a lot of philosophy departments "sell" their major by pointing out how well philosophy majors do on the LSAT. Not sure to what extent it's because philosophy just attracts better students to begin with and to what extent the study of philosophy prepares one well for the LSAT.

I think there is a lot of self selection at play. Cerebral analytical types who -also- enjoy reading and writing well are drawn to philosophy vs. engineering or math. The subset of philosophy majors that doesn't hate making money down the road will find a welcoming home in the law.

Those who aren't up for the grind, or who require open ended discussion over applied solutions and pragmatism, will avoid the legal field.

[Anonymous]

Accounting is great prep for tax law

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyer here from a top 5 law school. I have no idea what most of my classmates majored in. In most cases, it's irrelevant to the practice of law. There are a few exceptions. The people with accounting backgrounds who went into corporate/tax law, or the people with science/technical background who went into patent law.

Criminal justice wasn't even a major at my (top-ranked) undergrad.

Right, criminal justice isn't something you can major in at an Ivy school. Too vocational.

+1 I think that major is at less prestigious undergrads, they go on to lower ranked law schools, end up making less $.

[Anonymous]

I work in a law firm and don't think you're right at all about majors correlating to type of law. My cousin's a litigation partner and he majored in drama. Tax partner at my firm majored in music. Two corporate partners - one majored in English, one in early education.

[Anonymous]

11% of Columbia JD entrants majored in economics, vs. 4% of LSAT takers. 10% majored in philosophy, vs. 3% of test-takers.

These majors do well on the LSAT so not surprising to see them better represented at an elite law school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks OP. As you point out, this is not about causation and moreover, there's an open question as to which way the arrows point. The kind of person who majors in "justice" was probably always going to shoot for the local ACLU or housing authority, rather than Covington.

The kid with 2 parents on Wall Street who accelerated through linear algebra in his NYC top tier private was ALWAYS going to make money, whether in PE, corporate real estate, fintech or at white shoe firm. The econ major was just a means to a the end, and the end was always defined as "making bank, wherever it suits me."

I thought Criminal Justice is a major for aspiring cops, not something that really attracts social justice activists.

Putting dirtbags in prison is the most important form of social justice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks OP. As you point out, this is not about causation and moreover, there's an open question as to which way the arrows point. The kind of person who majors in "justice" was probably always going to shoot for the local ACLU or housing authority, rather than Covington.

The kid with 2 parents on Wall Street who accelerated through linear algebra in his NYC top tier private was ALWAYS going to make money, whether in PE, corporate real estate, fintech or at white shoe firm. The econ major was just a means to a the end, and the end was always defined as "making bank, wherever it suits me."

I thought Criminal Justice is a major for aspiring cops, not something that really attracts social justice activists.

+1

And the kids who watched a lot of CSI or other silly forensics shows on network TV and thought they looked cool.

Yes. I would not recommend that major if goal is law school.