Pre-Law or no Pre-Law?

[turk1559]

I aspire to get into law to use as a jumping point for a political career. I'm really interested in criminal law and would love to work for a DA somewhere. I'm a high school sophomore with about a 3.3 GPA. There's been a lot of stuff floating around the internet saying whether or not to take a pre-law course in college for a jump start into a law school. So basically, should I major in pre-law for my undergrad? And if not, what should I major in to get a jump start on a political career?

[gzl]

I aspire to get into law to use as a jumping point for a political career. I'm really interested in criminal law and would love to work for a DA somewhere. I'm a high school sophomore with about a 3.3 GPA. There's been a lot of stuff floating around the internet saying whether or not to take a pre-law course in college for a jump start into a law school. So basically, should I major in pre-law for my undergrad? And if not, what should I major in to get a jump start on a political career?

Greetings.  I will tell you up front that I am biased.  I was never impressed with most of the Poli Sci or Pre-Law majors that I had dealings with as an undergrad.  In law school, I find some of them trying to apply the type of analysis they learned as an undergrad to law school problems, and the results usually aren't great.  Students starting with a 'blank slate' sometimes catch on more quickly.  I majored in philosophy and the thorough training in critical thinking is, I think, hugely beneficial in legal analysis.  That said, I wasn't planning on law school when I chose that major.  If I could do it over again, I would either double major, or major in economics with a philosophy minor.  I think the combination would suit politics and law brilliantly.  In reality though, major in what most interests you.  If you're studying something you have no real passion or interest for, you aren't going to get much out of it in any case.

[Ninja1]

Don't do pre-law. It's a poor excuse for a major and seems to be universally bad no matter where you go for UG.

As far as acceptable majors go, I majored in poli sci and I've found it to be pretty helpful for most things, especially crim and con law. Most of the other poli sci majors I know have done fine as well. A lot of econ majors I know did pretty good in Ks but seemed to have more problems in legal writing. The couple of philosophy people I know tended to do pretty good overall.

So, for my money, major in philosophy, poli sci, or econ. And if those don't do it for you, go for English, business, or history. And if you're good at math, consider something related to engineering or the sciences in case you decide you don't want to do law school.

[perezr8]

Major in somthing that you would get the highest GPA possible. All that matters is how high your GPA is, unless your major is basket weaving or somthing.

However if you want to be a patent lawyer I think you need a BS in a Science.