best undergraduate majors for law school

Liberal arts and history majors focus on critical thinking, writing skills, and reading comprehension—all skills critical to succeeding in law school and later as a lawyer. The top 5 popular arts majors for pre-law are:

1. Political science
2. Other humanities
3. History and classics
4. English
5. Economics

Most Popular Pre-Law Science and Engineering Majors

While business and pre-law degrees are studied more often than sciences before earning a JD, students with science majors are still accepted into law school. The most popular science and engineering pre-law majors are:

1. Engineering
2. Biological sciences
3. Computer and information science
4. General sciences

Other Popular Pre-Law Majors

While they might not fit into a larger bucket, many of these bachelor’s degrees utilize critical thinking skills needed as a lawyer. The other most popular undergraduate degrees in our study are:

1. Psychology
2. Public administration
3. Physical sciences
4. General studies
5. Education

Not All Major Coursework is Equal for Pre-Law Students

Earnest’s data underscores advice from the American Bar Association, which recommends prospective law students take coursework in areas where they can gain experience in problem-solving, critical reading, writing, and editing, among other skills.

Notably, studying law as an undergraduate major may not necessarily set up you up for success if you’re hoping to earn an advanced degree in law. According to data from 78,000 law school applicants in 2011-2012, provided to U.S. News & World Report by the Law School Admission Council, students who majored in pre-law were less likely to be admitted to law school than those who chose other degree programs.

A Case for Studying the Classics in a Pre-Law Major

On the other side of the coin, data crunched by Derek T. Muller, an associate professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law, showed just how well classics majors (with a high GPA) do on the road to law school.

Those who studied Greek or Latin had the highest average LSAT score (159.8) and highest average GPA (3.477) of all majors who applied to law school. The next highest LSAT scores came from those who studied policy, international relations, and art history respectively. Lest your parents give you grief about pursuing your love of Mozart as an undergraduate major—music majors ranked 11th in LSAT scores, according to Muller’s analysis.