What should one major in if you plan to go to law school?
362484
In today's competitive environment, majors OTHER THAN the typical choices of political science and philosophy can make a law school candidate look appealing, especially if the major has something to do with the area of law in which the candidate hopes to specialize (as outlined in the engineering recommendation above).\n\nLaw school admissions committees are looking for evidence that the candidate can think critically, reason soundly, read closely, and write clearly.  Any major can provide these skills.  It is up to the candidate to distinguish him- or herself in some arena of undergraduate study. \n\nPersonally, these days, I'd recommend religious studies, anthropology, or a language associated major (like Eastern European or South Asian studies) as majors with potential, especially given the increasingly international scope of the legal profession.\n\nWhatever you choose for a major, just make sure you enjoy it.  Passionless study is tedious and painful, and will not enable you to distinguish yourself, because you'll just be forcing yourself to get through it.
217611
First you must get a bachelor's degree or the equivilant.  Many aspiring lawyers major in Pre-Law, although you could major in almost anything you like.  A pre-law major may make it easier to get into law school however, which is step number two.\n\nAfter getting your four-year degree, you must then be accepted into an accredited law school (and pass of course).  Most law programs are about one to two years of full time study (depending on the work load you take on).\n\nAfter graduating from law school, you must then pass the dreaded bar exam.  You should expect to study for at least a few months before taking it, and very few people pass the entire exam on the first attempt.\n\nAfter that you are a lawyer!  Now you can look desperately for work that you don't despise and endure the hatred of almost everyone in the world!  Good luck.  :-)
58378
Yes, first you should earn a bachelors degree in electrical, mechanical, civil or computer engineering.  These programs take four to five years.  Then you can go to law school for three years to earn another bachelors degree in law, which is called a doctor of jurisprudence or juris doctor (JD), depending on the State in which you reside.  The JD qualifies you to sit for the Bar Exam in your state and become licensed to practice law.
288478
You have to find out the specific requirements for your desired law school.  Expect: a 4-year degree with a good grade point average, a good score on the LSAT, and alot of money for tuition.\n\nBest wishes
1079544
That depends on what you want to major in. Some colleges have specialized programs for medical careers, vocational careers, and if you want a Phd you'll have to go to a graduate school. There is of course Ivy League schools which are very rigirous in their selection. Some of these include Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and Princeton. These are considered the cream of the crop, and Harvard has one of the best law programs.\n\nDepending on what you want to concentrate on, you can go to a community college for an associate's and many, many colleges to get a bachelor's. It also depends on how much money you can afford to spend on tution, which includes living expenses, food expenses, and medical expenses.\n\nIt also depends on your extracurricular activities and ACT/SAT scores. You should discuss options with your parents and guidence counslers! Good luck!
220726
When you work on your bachelors, you may want to pursue a pre-law degree if your school offers it.  However, no particular degree is needed to go to law school, so pick something interesting.  Math, science, and engineering majors are in demand for law school because that background is needed to be an intellectual property attorney.  Admissions boards like to see unique degrees, a poli sci major is something that everyone has, so it is sometimes better to stand out.  Pick something you enjoy studying, because you may decide in a few years you don't want to go to law school, and you can use your BA for something else.\n\nWhen you go to law school, that's where you earn your JD (juris doctorate).  It's an additonal 3 years after your BA.  Study hard and start thinking about studying for your LSATs in your junior year.
628788
Any course of study will be okay, but an emphasis in logic and writing is best. I am a second year law student who majored in English and History, and by far, being a good writer has helped me thus far. Your ability to reason is something that is essential for law school success, so if you enjoy word games and different logic games, you will "like" reading and analyzing the cases. :o)
361565
I don't know what you plan on doing if you want to be a criminal justice major - but I'd like to give you some advice from personal experience.\n\nIf you plan on being a police officer, or federal law enforcement (FBI, Secret Service, DEA, CBP, etc), and you need a college degree - pick your SECOND favorite major besides criminal justice.  The service you pick will train you on the law enforcement stuff.  All they care about is that you have a college degree.  You can intern with a police department or something during college to display your interest.\n\nIt makes you much more well-rounded and more valuable to them if you have a degree in accounting, business, or some sort of science (particularly chemistry or biology).  I even know a guy who majored in nuclear engineering who is a police officer (and has invaluable knowledge about hazardous materials and the potential threats of nuclear terrorism).\n\nHaving another degree also makes it easier in the future if you should decide to use your law enforcement experience and enter private business.  I've been stuck in law enforcement for a little while after trying to make a career change because ALL of my education, experience, etc is in law enforcement.\n\nI've advised many college students along this same path but no one really wants to do it.  They will have to learn it from experience.\n\nI attended the school with the courses that the previous poster listed.  It is actually the University of Maryland, and I've taken many of those courses.  Please feel free to email me if you have ANY qustions about being a criminal justice major or police work.
943497
You have to go to four years of college, major in anything but political science is good, then pass a law school entrance exam, get accepted into a law school which takes three years to complete, then sit for the bar, which means you have to pass the bar exam.  After you pass the bar, you get sworn in and you are then a lawyer.\nYou have to pass the bar for each state that you want to practice.
878619
Most schools with top-tier law schools have a good pre-law program (or best training for to get into a law school)\n\nSchools like Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Duke, UNC-CH, UCLA, UChicago, Boston College, Boston University, Georgetown, NYU, and yes Columbia should all be excellent for Pre-Law.\n\nWith that said, smaller liberal arts colleges often offer good pre-law too (Swarthmore, Davidson, Haverford, Skidmore, etc.).\n\nI hope this offers a little guidance.
766901
As others have said, I wouldn't recommend doing A Level law, it's not generally thought well of by universities.\n\nYou should probably be taking at least one or two arts and humanities courses - things like English and History are great because they demonstrate that you can evaluate information from a variety of sources and form coherent, concise arguments.\n\nAs for what other subjects you take, it depends if there are any particular fields of law you are interested in - Business Studies or possibly Economics might be useful if you're planning to go into corporate law, perhaps Psychology if you want to go into criminal law, and sciences would be very helpful if you're thinking about patent law.\n\nThere are no real hard and fast requirements for doing law, so overall I would say it's best to take the courses you think you can do well in and that you will like, as long as the bulk of your qualifications have a really strong academic focus (things like Art, Drama, Music etc. might not demonstrate your reasoning and linguistic abilities well enough.) Being well-rounded is probably a positive attribute, but don't take courses just for the sake of appearing well-rounded, take the courses you will really enjoy!\n\nYou should really be aiming for top grades, the very best you can do. B's at least, preferably A's, especially if you want to get into the best law programmes.\n\nOh, and don't worry about the LSAT, it's an American thing. Law is a graduate only subject over there, so you take the LSAT towards the end of your university career or after graduating so you can apply to a graduate Law school.\n\nI believe there was a law aptitude test being developed for British students, but I don't think it will be a mandatory test at every university - ask your career/university advisor for more information or check the websites of universities you're interested in.\n\nGood luck!
841462
First off, you don't get to do law as an undergrad.  You can do pre-law, but really law schools just want you to have a well rounded general education.  The best thing you can do to get into law school is go to the highest ranked college you can get in to, and then kick asss with your GPA.\n\nSo first get into a top 25 school.  Pick a major that interests you, but has real world application (12 ca textile majors may have loved college but they don't get jobs).\n\nOnly after you've graduated with an excellent GPA should you decide whether to go to Law School, get a Masters/PhD in another field, or work.
644392
Well it depends on the specific social science coursework. I got my Bachelor's Degree in Communication. Some of the careers available with this major are: public relations, consulting, teaching, project coordinating, research work, etc. etc. There are so many possiblities. I'm thinking of going on to law school.
800080
There is no such thing as an undergraduate law school. In order to attend law school you have to have a bachelor's degree. Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to major in Political Science, Government, etc etc. You can get a bachelor's in any major and still attend law school. However, you must receive an acceptable score on the LSATs, have glowing recommendations, an above average GPA and of course the funds to finance this costly degree. For more info go here: \n\nLaw School Admission Council (Administer of the LSAT)\nhttp://www.lsac.org/\n\nTop Law Schools in the US - 2007\nhttp://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php
526034
Sure. As long as your degree is from an accredited institution. Make sure you also have a high GPA and LSAT scores. Law school admissions is very numbers-oriented.
11977
Hold your horses there, Law school is grad school, unless you're in Canada, where you can obtain a Bachelors of law, you need to finish 4 whole years of college doing something ELSE (usually political science, journalism, something related to law, but that is in no way required), before you do another 4 years of law school. Some colleges let you do coursework over the summer for credit, but it usually pays to wait it out and go with the expected flow. Do your best in high school, get into a good college and follow their pre-law or political science program (I'm polisci myself, going to go to law school in 2010) then apply to good law schools, like Harvard or Yale, or if you can't cut that, UCONN law is great.\n\nGood luck.
237570
In America, law school is a graduate school so you'll have to complete an undergraduate degree before you can go to law school. You might want to do that in your country because it will be cheaper. \n\nWhile youre completing your undergraduate degree you can study any subject you want (law schools accept virtually all majors), although many future law students major in political science and English. It's important to have very good English skills because much of law school is reading and writing. They do like well rounded people, so have take some science or math also. \n\nIn America, an undergraduate degree will take you about four years. It's possible to do it in three if you take a lot of summer classes. It takes a lot of people more than four because they switch majors. \n\nAll that determines if you get into law school is your GPA and your LSAT score. They look at other aspects, but they primarily care about only those two. Get very good grades, keep at least a 3.5 gpa. And study and drill for the LSAT, it's a standardized test that you can practice for. \n\nI suggest you read One L by Scott Turow. It's a novel from the 70s but it will give you some idea what law school is like.\n\nCareful though, the law market is very saturated in America. There are more lawyers than there are jobs. If you're just looking to make money, consider going into engineering (there are always engineering jobs and often very well paid). Business is another good opition. You have the oportunity to make more money than engineering or law, although you'll have less security.