The Story
Music used to be my whole identity. Show choir, jazz choir, All-State, and I was even the choir president. So when I graduated, I decided to be a music major. It made sense at the time.
One semester in, I knew it was wrong. Not because I necessarily didn’t love music, but I didn’t feel that it fit my path. So, I transferred colleges and switched to psychology, constantly thinking: Is that a good major for law school? I’ve heard it dozens of times since, from advisors, from peers, from people who mean well. And my answer is always the same: does it matter?
The Honest Advice
After extensive research, I have found that, honestly, law schools don’t have a preferred major; they admit students from English, engineering, philosophy, and biology. They are actually evaluating your GPA and LSAT score, as well as your writing and personal statements. Your major is simply a container for those things that live in it. The smartest thing you can do is pick something you can genuinely enjoy and excel in. A 3.9 GPA in communications beats a 3.2 in political science or a legal studies major. That strong academic foundation matters so much more than course names on your transcript.
Do what you love, and study what you’ll actually do well in. Law school wants proof that you can handle rigor and engage in critical thinking. The best proof you can offer is your GPA.
For me, that happened to be psychology. I was already interested in it, and the new institution I began attending even offers courses in applied psychology in law. Music could have absolutely gotten me into law school. The passion was there, and many arts majors go on to attend law school quite seamlessly. I knew that, for me, it wasn’t going to yield the strongest version of my application, and with my heart set on becoming a criminal defense attorney, psychology fit the bill.
There is no defined checklist of “pre-law skills”, but I have started to develop abilities that I find vital to my personal development and growth as an aspiring law student: statistical reasoning, understanding research methods, and analyzing decision-making skills. That is why your major has to be personal to you. Psychology aligns with my interests and strengths, and I know that I can perform to the best of my abilities and aim to feel confident in the law school applications I will eventually submit.
The Real Talk
My passion is criminal defense, and psychology feeds directly into that. From that, here’s what I want you to take away: whatever you’re already studying— or thinking about studying— probably has more overlap with legal work than you think. Biology majors will understand the science underlying healthcare and personal injury cases. Finance majors think like corporate and white-collar attorneys. English majors spend hours reading dense material and finding arguments, just as any lawyer will do on a given day. All different types of majors connect.
My music background isn’t irrelevant either. Performance taught me how to lead the room, hold composure under stress and potentially fear, and my presidential position taught me leadership and cooperation. These aren’t soft skills. These are vital in the courtroom.
There is no wrong starting point. Whatever you’re studying, the legal application is already there; you just have to connect the dots.