Anonymous wrote:DS is a junior in college and wants to apply to law school (he’ll probably work for a couple of years to save money and gain maturity and professional skills).

He had a rough first year of college grade-wise (he wasn’t going crazy partying or the like, but he had a hard adjustment to managing his time effectively and the analytic skill expectations of college profs - I difress but he’s got adhd and isn’t medicated, he managed fine that way in HS but it’s proven harder for him in college), but he learned from his mistakes and has done well since and I’m very proud of him. But he’ll never be able to make up the hit to his gpa from that first year. Is a good law school a viable option for a kid whose overall gpa will likely be 3.6ish, but excluding first year would be more like a 3.8? Obviously he doesn’t know how he’ll do on the LSAT, but he scored a 36 on the ACT so hopefully he’ll do well on it. I feel badly for him that law school may not he in the cards mainly because of a rough adjustment to college, but I’ve told him that may be the case so he is prepared.

Anonymous wrote:Econ major is a nice preparation for antitrust, which tends to be among the more sophisticated practice areas.

If you are looking for large compensation, BigLaw and boutique BigLaw spinoffs, regardless of practice area, will be a more reliable path than, say, random small firms. Obviously there are exceptions and no one-size-fits-all rule.

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."

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.)

Anonymous wrote: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 wrote:DS is a junior in college and wants to apply to law school (he’ll probably work for a couple of years to save money and gain maturity and professional skills).

He had a rough first year of college grade-wise (he wasn’t going crazy partying or the like, but he had a hard adjustment to managing his time effectively and the analytic skill expectations of college profs - I difress but he’s got adhd and isn’t medicated, he managed fine that way in HS but it’s proven harder for him in college), but he learned from his mistakes and has done well since and I’m very proud of him. But he’ll never be able to make up the hit to his gpa from that first year. Is a good law school a viable option for a kid whose overall gpa will likely be 3.6ish, but excluding first year would be more like a 3.8? Obviously he doesn’t know how he’ll do on the LSAT, but he scored a 36 on the ACT so hopefully he’ll do well on it. I feel badly for him that law school may not he in the cards mainly because of a rough adjustment to college, but I’ve told him that may be the case so he is prepared.

Anonymous wrote:https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/03/simkovic-mcintyrethe-value-of-a-law-degree-by-college-major-29kyear-for-stem-majors-45kyear-for-huma.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a junior in college and wants to apply to law school (he’ll probably work for a couple of years to save money and gain maturity and professional skills).

He had a rough first year of college grade-wise (he wasn’t going crazy partying or the like, but he had a hard adjustment to managing his time effectively and the analytic skill expectations of college profs - I difress but he’s got adhd and isn’t medicated, he managed fine that way in HS but it’s proven harder for him in college), but he learned from his mistakes and has done well since and I’m very proud of him. But he’ll never be able to make up the hit to his gpa from that first year. Is a good law school a viable option for a kid whose overall gpa will likely be 3.6ish, but excluding first year would be more like a 3.8? Obviously he doesn’t know how he’ll do on the LSAT, but he scored a 36 on the ACT so hopefully he’ll do well on it. I feel badly for him that law school may not he in the cards mainly because of a rough adjustment to college, but I’ve told him that may be the case so he is prepared.

Do well then transfer second year.

pp said her kid is now a junior (also with bad freshman year grades, how would they transfer soph year?)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a junior in college and wants to apply to law school (he’ll probably work for a couple of years to save money and gain maturity and professional skills).

He had a rough first year of college grade-wise (he wasn’t going crazy partying or the like, but he had a hard adjustment to managing his time effectively and the analytic skill expectations of college profs - I difress but he’s got adhd and isn’t medicated, he managed fine that way in HS but it’s proven harder for him in college), but he learned from his mistakes and has done well since and I’m very proud of him. But he’ll never be able to make up the hit to his gpa from that first year. Is a good law school a viable option for a kid whose overall gpa will likely be 3.6ish, but excluding first year would be more like a 3.8? Obviously he doesn’t know how he’ll do on the LSAT, but he scored a 36 on the ACT so hopefully he’ll do well on it. I feel badly for him that law school may not he in the cards mainly because of a rough adjustment to college, but I’ve told him that may be the case so he is prepared.

Do well then transfer second year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mean earnings:

Economics $187K
Political Science $151K
Criminal Justice $89K

Christ on a cracker. I didn't know it was common for lawyers to make under 100 G's.

thats BOTTOM tier law only. going to any ole law school is simply not hard. It isn't like med school where it is very hard to get in but as long as you do MD in the USA the bottom group still clears 150k, and average for the lower-paying primary care fields is usually 225k fulltime, with top subspecialties easily clearing 400k

Anonymous wrote:DS is a junior in college and wants to apply to law school (he’ll probably work for a couple of years to save money and gain maturity and professional skills).

He had a rough first year of college grade-wise (he wasn’t going crazy partying or the like, but he had a hard adjustment to managing his time effectively and the analytic skill expectations of college profs - I difress but he’s got adhd and isn’t medicated, he managed fine that way in HS but it’s proven harder for him in college), but he learned from his mistakes and has done well since and I’m very proud of him. But he’ll never be able to make up the hit to his gpa from that first year. Is a good law school a viable option for a kid whose overall gpa will likely be 3.6ish, but excluding first year would be more like a 3.8? Obviously he doesn’t know how he’ll do on the LSAT, but he scored a 36 on the ACT so hopefully he’ll do well on it. I feel badly for him that law school may not he in the cards mainly because of a rough adjustment to college, but I’ve told him that may be the case so he is prepared.

Anonymous wrote:My major was liberal arts, because I failed to take everything required to graduate with my major, which was theater.

Tax litigator here. DOJ HP. GS-15.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mean earnings:

Economics $187K
Political Science $151K
Criminal Justice $89K

Christ on a cracker. I didn't know it was common for lawyers to make under 100 G's.

Anonymous wrote:

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.