For Law School students: What did you major in undergraduate school? Where did you go for undergrad?

Question

I am interested in becoming a lawyer in the future. I would like to Georgetown or Columbia for my undergrad, but I think it may be too expensive. Does your undergrad school matter? What motivated you to go to law school? What kind of characteristics do you need to possess to be a good lawyer? Thank you for all of you who take the time to answer my questions.

Answer 1

Grades and LSAT matter most. If you don't have a 3.8+ and a 172+, then yeah, the prestige of your undergrad will help some. However, law schools also seem to like bragging about drawing students from a wide range of schools. It doesn't hurt to be the one kid at Harvard law who came from Univ of North Dakota.

I'd actually go to a top state school and save my money to go to the best law school that takes me.

I went to law school cuz my academic interests led me to business or law, and I wanted to help people. Also thought about being an FBI agent.

I was a criminology major at a state school. I went to a top tier law school and was one of those who was the only one from my school to be there (my undergrad was all about the sciences... seemed like no one wanted to be a lawyer there). Both undergrad and grad were state schools so I came out with only 30K of debt.

Being a good lawyer requires aggressiveness, hard work, ingenuity, analytical thinking, and the ability to read and write well.

Answer 2

I am not going to law school, but I am taking a pre-law curriculum and am the only one not going to law school out of the group. Here is what I know:

- Your school matters, but don't go into debt for a big name school. Instead try to go to a good liberal arts school to learn how to think. At Harvard and the other Ivies your are a number and get very little attention. The grad students are their focus. Instead go to a school which only does undergrad and you will have the chance to shine.

- You need to love to read boring documents and like to proofread to find mistakes and loopholes. You also should love to question authority and to learn.

- How to get into law school: get grade grades, do something to stand out, and take an LSAT prep class

- Why I chose not to go to law school: My friends hate it. Most of them are in debt up to their ears, are miserable, and get to proofread wills for the rest of their life. I wanted to create change, not spend 7 years in college to proofread. It wasn't for me, but if you think it is for you, intern at a law firm. See what it is like. If you love it, great. If not, don't waste $200,000 like my friends did.

Answer 3

Many major in rhetoric.