I want to be a criminal lawyer, what should I major in?! Is a criminology major good for top law schools?
Question:
so my question is… do law schools favor history or political science etc. degrees more than a Criminology degree?
Should I stick to criminology or change to other more traditional major programs for law school such as history or political science??
Answer:
G'day MoeVaygen,
Thank you for your question.
I would stick with criminology. It will come in handy when you are practising as a criminal lawyer. Possibly look at doing it as your major together with some more traditional subjects.
I would speak with counsellors at your school. If you have any contacts in law schools, I would seek your advice. In answering a similar question, Professor X advised that "Law school admissions committees are looking for students that write clearly and elegantly, read closely, and demonstrate strong critical thinking abilities."
The nub of his advice is that law schools are looking for people who have done programs with intellectual rigor.
Taranto got best answer on an question on whether economics was a good major by arguing that doing a course different from the norm may be an advantage. Certainly criminology may be useful background for someone studying criminal law and a definite advantage for someone practising it.
If your criminology course is highly regarded, you enjoy it and it is useful, I would stick with it.
Regards
Only you can decide tht, write the plus and minus points of criminology and other major programs like history or political science, and u can do whichever has more plus points, all the best
I hear it doesn't matter what your major is. I am majoring in Criminal Justice just to be safe! ;-)
Honestly, you could get a degree in Underwater Basket Weaving and still get into law school if your LSAT scores are good and you write a good enough entrance essay. The question is, what do you think will benefit you the most?
I want to major in labor law and instead of getting a BS in legal studies at my school (which is available) I chose to major in Human Resources Management. I feel like this degree will ultimately make me more effective in the labor field because I can view how companies work from the inside out.
Most people that major in history or political science do it because it is a minor stepping stone. If you have a specific sector of law in mind, criminology will make you more effective. Do what you think is going to make you a better attorney.
Criminology is the study of law inforcement techniques. It can be useful in being a lawyer but not a prime course of study. Detectives need to learn the best way to preserve data and evidence while lawyers need to understand the concept of the law as it applies to applications in differnet states / countries.
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