Better prep for law school: philosophy/political science or philosophy/history?

[Anonymous]

My sister is a nurse and over the years knows a number of nurses who have gone to law school. Apparently that life experience and expertise can be useful in things like medical malpractice. In some ways this seems like a better path than straight to law school from undergrad. Former special ed teachers who eventually represent parents who are suing a school district for ADA issues, etc. And I could see how that might be a more compelling narrative than "I majored in political science."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister is a nurse and over the years knows a number of nurses who have gone to law school. Apparently that life experience and expertise can be useful in things like medical malpractice. In some ways this seems like a better path than straight to law school from undergrad. Former special ed teachers who eventually represent parents who are suing a school district for ADA issues, etc. And I could see how that might be a more compelling narrative than "I majored in political science."

I'm a lawyer and I know other lawyers with these exact same backgrounds. Agree it could be very useful. But also these people came to it organically by what interested them. They didn't pick their first profession strategically based on what would help them as a lawyer. Law wasn't even in their mind.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Some of the best lawyers I know majored in disciplines that demand and cultivate analytic skill, like chemistry, math, and music.

I'm a STEM major who went to law school and graduated at the top of my class.

I thought the law degree was easier than my undergrad degree.

My neighbor was advising my kid that getting a STEM degree would be a great major for undergrad and then going to law school. The STEM degree would be beneficial for understanding cases dealing with tech/science businesses or patents. He was an appeals attorney for death row inmates before retiring.

For "cases"? Meh. That's what your experts are for.

You don’t sound like a lawyer. I agree with the lawyer’s advice. It’s super useful to have knowledge in your area of the law.

Well, I am. And I'm a tax lawyer who did not study accounting.

Another lawyer here. That's fine. You don't have to have an accounting degree to work in tax law. You don't think it would be useful though?

I practice in an area in which I had no prior specialized knowledge or background. I do fine, but I have also put in a lot of time educating myself. I often think how useful it would be if I had a degree in x.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Some of the best lawyers I know majored in disciplines that demand and cultivate analytic skill, like chemistry, math, and music.

I'm a STEM major who went to law school and graduated at the top of my class.

I thought the law degree was easier than my undergrad degree.

My neighbor was advising my kid that getting a STEM degree would be a great major for undergrad and then going to law school. The STEM degree would be beneficial for understanding cases dealing with tech/science businesses or patents. He was an appeals attorney for death row inmates before retiring.

For "cases"? Meh. That's what your experts are for.

You don’t sound like a lawyer. I agree with the lawyer’s advice. It’s super useful to have knowledge in your area of the law.

Well, I am. And I'm a tax lawyer who did not study accounting.

Another lawyer here. That's fine. You don't have to have an accounting degree to work in tax law. You don't think it would be useful though?

I practice in an area in which I had no prior specialized knowledge or background. I do fine, but I have also put in a lot of time educating myself. I often think how useful it would be if I had a degree in x.

Useful? Yes. Necessary? No. My DH is a CPA and tax attorney. Not only is it useful, he uses it. When I need help with a complex accounting issue, which happens, but not often, I just get a CPA to help me with it. I do have the luxury of having several in the office though, and I get that not everyone's practice is like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister is a nurse and over the years knows a number of nurses who have gone to law school. Apparently that life experience and expertise can be useful in things like medical malpractice. In some ways this seems like a better path than straight to law school from undergrad. Former special ed teachers who eventually represent parents who are suing a school district for ADA issues, etc. And I could see how that might be a more compelling narrative than "I majored in political science."

I'm a lawyer and I know other lawyers with these exact same backgrounds. Agree it could be very useful. But also these people came to it organically by what interested them. They didn't pick their first profession strategically based on what would help them as a lawyer. Law wasn't even in their mind.

And many (if not most) of those who go to law school with a practice area in mind don't end up choosing to pursue that work (or they don't land a job in that practice area).

[Anonymous]

I majored in fashion merchandising ...worked for me.

[Anonymous]

New poster. Thanks to OP and others. I have actually found this thread very helpful (for my current college sophomore Math major and my high school junior) even though posters seem to be contradicting each other.

The takeaway seems to be: where you went to undergrad and what you majored in really don't matter for law school admissions (there's no gatekeeping as long as you get excellent grades and esp a strong LSAT) BUT both of these can make a difference in your experience in law school (critical thinking, writing, high rigor are a big part of law school).

The one contradiction I am left unsure about is the poster who said that since Covid, you need a compelling narrative. Is this true? I have heard from 99 different people that there is no such thing as holistic admissions.

[Anonymous]

Do any of you who went to law school feel like advising in college made a difference or was helpful? Every school we visit has some kind of pre-law advising. What do we look for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do any of you who went to law school feel like advising in college made a difference or was helpful? Every school we visit has some kind of pre-law advising. What do we look for?

I am an attorney. I did not even consider going to law school until I had been working for a couple of years, back in the days before widespread internet. I had zero prelaw advising and the only thing that was missing from my experience was knowing how many schools to apply to.

The most important advice is already in this thread, to get a high college GPA, prep for the LSAT (which I did not do back in the day but it worked out), maybe work after college to get your feet wet in the business world. In my opinion, I don't think legal ECs have any special importance, except to be in a law firm office try to get a glimpse of what an attorney's day is like, especially for young associates. Since the job can often have an intellectual side, that part is not something that can necessarily be experienced going in.

There is literally nothing you need advising on that isn't already at your fingertips, via the internet. Accordingly, possible differences in quality of "prelaw" advising are irrelevant for choosing an undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I definitely see the value of philosophy: no area of study in the humanities and social sciences does better in teaching students to think critically and analytically. At least a minor in philosophy is useful. But in terms of political science or history, which is better as a background? Political science focuses largely on how institutions work and obviously understanding the workings of the state is helpful (but make sure to take some political theory courses too). History is good in terms of constructing narratives and careful documentation. Thoughts?

Philosophy/Economics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister is a nurse and over the years knows a number of nurses who have gone to law school. Apparently that life experience and expertise can be useful in things like medical malpractice. In some ways this seems like a better path than straight to law school from undergrad. Former special ed teachers who eventually represent parents who are suing a school district for ADA issues, etc. And I could see how that might be a more compelling narrative than "I majored in political science."

I'm a lawyer and I know other lawyers with these exact same backgrounds. Agree it could be very useful. But also these people came to it organically by what interested them. They didn't pick their first profession strategically based on what would help them as a lawyer. Law wasn't even in their mind.

And many (if not most) of those who go to law school with a practice area in mind don't end up choosing to pursue that work (or they don't land a job in that practice area).

This was my experience, I had taken a related class out of curiosity, though it wasn't my main focus. I got a good job offer in that area and 15 years later, it's my specialty.

But I'm really happy with how it worked out and the field I thought I wanted to go into doesn't have the same work/life balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster. Thanks to OP and others. I have actually found this thread very helpful (for my current college sophomore Math major and my high school junior) even though posters seem to be contradicting each other.

The takeaway seems to be: where you went to undergrad and what you majored in really don't matter for law school admissions (there's no gatekeeping as long as you get excellent grades and esp a strong LSAT) BUT both of these can make a difference in your experience in law school (critical thinking, writing, high rigor are a big part of law school).

The one contradiction I am left unsure about is the poster who said that since Covid, you need a compelling narrative. Is this true? I have heard from 99 different people that there is no such thing as holistic admissions.

You can read the transcript from a Spivey Consulting podcast with a person who worked in Admissions at Harvard Law for the past 7 years here:
https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/podcasts/sam-parkers-top-admissions-advice

A couple of quotes:

"The strategy of law school admissions has evolved ... with regards to personal statements, but it very much has developed in the direction of, 'Okay, no, you really need to be getting into, what are your actual motivations for going to law school, for becoming an attorney,' in a way that wasn’t necessarily the case before."

"This cycle, I don’t know why, but we saw hundreds and hundreds of applicants who had graduated and they did not pursue full-time employment, and it wasn’t obvious from their resume or their application form that they were up to anything else. No volunteer work, nothing going on with their family. We chose to pass on most of these applicants. ... Reason being, again, work work experience is tantamount.

It also shows that you’re developing professional maturity and professional skills that you’re going to bring to the law school classroom. It means you’re exploring potential interests that you might want to explore in law school. You’ll probably have a better idea of what you wanna do with your law degree if you’ve worked beforehand. You’ll have more context to bring to the classroom. You’ll be more employable. Experience going into law school matters more now than ever before."

But you can decide for yourself who you want to believe, a Harvard Law Associate Director of Admissions or message board experts who haven't been involved in the law school admissions process for multiple decades

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do any of you who went to law school feel like advising in college made a difference or was helpful? Every school we visit has some kind of pre-law advising. What do we look for?

I had no advising in college, and did fine. YMMV, but I wouldn’t worry about that when considering undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kind of law is the student interested in? That will affect my answer.

Yep!!!

Intellectual property law: chemistry, engineering, biochem, molecular biology. If you are doing patent law you need a science degree undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster. Thanks to OP and others. I have actually found this thread very helpful (for my current college sophomore Math major and my high school junior) even though posters seem to be contradicting each other.

The takeaway seems to be: where you went to undergrad and what you majored in really don't matter for law school admissions (there's no gatekeeping as long as you get excellent grades and esp a strong LSAT) BUT both of these can make a difference in your experience in law school (critical thinking, writing, high rigor are a big part of law school).

The one contradiction I am left unsure about is the poster who said that since Covid, you need a compelling narrative. Is this true? I have heard from 99 different people that there is no such thing as holistic admissions.

You can read the transcript from a Spivey Consulting podcast with a person who worked in Admissions at Harvard Law for the past 7 years here:
https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/podcasts/sam-parkers-top-admissions-advice

A couple of quotes:

"The strategy of law school admissions has evolved ... with regards to personal statements, but it very much has developed in the direction of, 'Okay, no, you really need to be getting into, what are your actual motivations for going to law school, for becoming an attorney,' in a way that wasn’t necessarily the case before."

"This cycle, I don’t know why, but we saw hundreds and hundreds of applicants who had graduated and they did not pursue full-time employment, and it wasn’t obvious from their resume or their application form that they were up to anything else. No volunteer work, nothing going on with their family. We chose to pass on most of these applicants. ... Reason being, again, work work experience is tantamount.

It also shows that you’re developing professional maturity and professional skills that you’re going to bring to the law school classroom. It means you’re exploring potential interests that you might want to explore in law school. You’ll probably have a better idea of what you wanna do with your law degree if you’ve worked beforehand. You’ll have more context to bring to the classroom. You’ll be more employable. Experience going into law school matters more now than ever before."

But you can decide for yourself who you want to believe, a Harvard Law Associate Director of Admissions or message board experts who haven't been involved in the law school admissions process for multiple decades

lol, they are basically saying they passed on the people who had been out of school and yet seemed to have been doing literally nothing with their lives.