The Q: Would you have to major in or study pre-law in college to be accepted to a law school?

The A: The answer to your question is very simple: No, you don't need to be a pre-law major to get into law school. However, let me explain in more detail why:

1.) It's important not to miss out on college. I think the best use of your time in college is to experiment with different subjects. Maybe you've always had some interest in other subjects, like architecture, or music, or creative writing. I would try those avenues out before settling into pre-law studies. What I'd hate to see happen is for you to go to college, major in "pre-law" and then get to law school, only to find out that your law-school professors will disregard everything you were taught in undergrad. If that happens, you'll have missed the opportunity to study the vast wealth of subjects offered by an undergraduate institution, and to little useful end.

College is your one chance to have a vast number of different avenues of study readily open to you. Law schools -- and all other graduate schools, for that matter -- are far more specialized. By the time you get to law/grad school, you are really making a professional choice, whereas in college, you are given the opportunity to test your interests. So my advice in this area is to not miss out on college by taking a major only because you believe it's essential for law school.

2.) Law-school admissions offices have a minimal amount of interest in your undergrad major. You're not going to win points with a law school by being pre-law, in and of itself. Now, you may win points for participating in pre-law activities such as debate, mock trial or model government groups, and you may benefit by getting to know some law-school professors who could provide valuable advice or recommendation letters for law-school applications. But the major in itself will have a minimal effect.

In fact, law schools would likely be more interested in you as a candidate if you studied music, art, creative writing or something else that's considered "unusual" for law-school applicants. Law schools are trying to create a diverse student body. They get tons of pre-law applicants, but it is the chemical engineer, music theorist or visual artist whose undergraduate studies will enable him or her to stand out from the crowd.

So, as I mentioned above, consider a wide variety of courses of study; don't feel as if you have to be a "pre-law" major. To immerse yourself in the law-school culture while you're still an undergrad, you can still sign up for pre-law activities such as debate, mock trial or model government, and attend meetings or talks at which law-school professors are speakers.

3.) There are no courses that you -must- take to get into law school. You may, however, find it helpful to take classes in political science, economics and psychology, to name a few subjects. Political science is helpful because it provides you with an overview of governments (both U.S. and foreign), which is important in understanding federal, constitutional and procedural law, as well as administrative and international law. Most good polisci departments will also offer classes that engage in law school-like analysis of legal issues, which can be helpful.

Economics can be valuable because it provides a better understanding of the exchange of money or services involved in contracts, the application of the Federal Income Tax code (tax law), and the realities of running businesses -- knowledge that is critical to working in securities law, corporate law and partnership law.

Finally, psychology can provide excellent background and training for students to excel in making persuasive arguments, as well as evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of witnesses or opponents. This can come in handy just about everywhere, but particularly in civil litigation or "alternative dispute resolution" such as negotiation, arbitration or mediation. Again, these courses are not essential, but they may make law school a little bit easier.

4.) Law schools intend to teach you what they believe you need to know to be a lawyer. This means that once you start law school, whatever you learned in college will, for the most part, be out the window. Law-school professors during your first year assume you know nothing -- and, in fact, in many ways they are right. Most of first-year law is less about substantive knowledge and more about training you to think like an attorney. Law-school professors have been doing their jobs for years, and tend to have a very set idea of how they think your learning should progress. They assume that each first-year student placed in front of them is a lump of clay that they can mold into an attorney. In that context, what you know coming in just isn't that important.

5.) In today's market, which is overly saturated with attorneys (a trend that shows no signs of letting up), it is increasingly important that law-school students have outside knowledge or experience to which they can apply the law. Remember, law is a service industry. It helps to be familiar with some other business or practice that you can then apply the law to when you specialize. This will make finding work much easier.

So, if you study music in college (and get some experience writing music, performing or producing), that experience can lead you towards practicing entertainment law or art law. If you are a chemical engineer and understand schematics and formulas, you can go into an intellectual property practice. I can guarantee you that lawyers in the 21st century will need to be increasingly specialized, and will increasingly be required to bring some outside knowledge or experience to a practice in order to be successful.

That should pretty much cover the answer to your question -- and more. :) Good luck!

—Christopher Clough, Esq., Guest Advisor
Christopher works in plaintiff's law for a firm in Austin, Texas.

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