Double Majoring Degree Roadmap Questions and Such...

[MommyIsGettingHerDegree]

Hey everyone! I hope you all aren't sick of me yet! I'll get straight to my point, I originally was going to settle with getting my BA in Psych because I didn't think there was any possible way to get a degree in studies to go to Law School. I have since then done extensive research and spoke with several schools. I'm happy to announce that most Law Schools prefer a student to be well rounded and have a degree that isn't law related! While they would like to see a solid LSAT and GPA they give great preference to those with double majors and a solid GPA. My first school choice for testing out of my BA was TESC but now that I've discovered that I need a GPA I'm leaning more towards EC. :willynilly:

Question time:
1.How can I go about double majoring, does anyone have any tips?
2.Can you steer me towards someone who has mapped out a double major (I'm trying to make a roadmap)?
3.What two majors do you think would compliment each other?
4.What two majors can I completely test out of?
and Finally 5. I'm not too sure maybe I wasn't reading EC's site correctly but it looks as though they will give letter grades for DSSTs and ECEs but not CLEPS is this correct and where can I find what my score on ECEs and or CLEPs (if they award letter grades) will translate into?

Thanks for dealing with my craziness everyone you guys are the greatest!eeya:

[JBjunior]

Hey everyone! I hope you all aren't sick of me yet! I'll get straight to my point, I originally was going to settle with getting my BA in Psych because I didn't think there was any possible way to get a degree in studies to go to Law School. I have since then done extensive research and spoke with several schools. I'm happy to announce that most Law Schools prefer a student to be well rounded and have a degree that isn't law related! While they would like to see a solid LSAT and GPA they give great preference to those with double majors and a solid GPA. My first school choice for testing out of my BA was TESC but now that I've discovered that I need a GPA I'm leaning more towards EC. :willynilly:

Question time:
1.How can I go about double majoring, does anyone have any tips?
2.Can you steer me towards someone who has mapped out a double major (I'm trying to make a roadmap)?
3.What two majors do you think would compliment each other?
4.What two majors can I completely test out of?
and Finally 5. I'm not too sure maybe I wasn't reading EC's site correctly but it looks as though they will give letter grades for DSSTs and ECEs but not CLEPS is this correct and where can I find what my score on ECEs and or CLEPs (if they award letter grades) will translate into?

Thanks for dealing with my craziness everyone you guys are the greatest!eeya:

LSAT takes preference over everything. I haven't heard anything regarding a double major. If you are just starting out on this journey, don't put too large of hurdles in your way that may cause you to look at this a few months down the road as an obstacle instead of an exciting path.

If you have just started doing research in to law schools, figure out what schools that you have a desire to go to and check what their requirements are and you can tell what the LSAT score needs to be to have a competitive chance. If you blow it out of the water then your BA/BS will be a checked box instead of a deciding factor.

If I were in your situation, I had planned to apply to law school this year, I would get done as quick as possible (you seem to be wanting to do that anyway), start studying for the LSAT, and give myself that much more time to deal with the application process to your preferred schools. If you are on a five-year or ten-year plan for law school then by all means take your time.

Also, just saw your location. I am from NC and lived in Atlantic Beach from 06-08.

[MISin08]

1. Not me, sorry. Someone else will speak up.
2. See above.
3. For law, Psychology or Sociology and Economics.
4. Psychology and Business comes close. You would still have capstones at EC. Sociology and Economics you would not be able to test out of much at all, but I mention it because it is well-rounded (and you seem pretty motivated ). There would be both math and a lot of writing. Psychology you can test out of most of(as you no doubt know). If you want to maximize testing out, you reduce your choice of majors, because there simply aren't that many exams. Testing out may not be the way to impress others with your well-roundedness, tough to say.
5. EC gives letter grades for some DSSTs (see the student guide to credit by examination: any DSST with a 2-digit score gets a letter grade). No letter grades for CLEP at EC.

At EC you can do 2 "depths" within a single major, and that might give you "well-rounded" but be quicker.

I hear for what it's worth that there are way more law school grads than there are jobs for them. You might want to check into that. On the other hand, Peter Senge writes that best the time to go into a degree program is when people are talking about the surplus of grads -- because the surplus means fewer will enroll and the resulting shortage will create an opportunity for those who ignored warnings like mine.

Phillip

[Yenisei]

IMHO as someone with a BA in Economics, I think it's a great major for a prospective law school applicant. I also think math, philosophy, accounting or finance would be as well. That said, from what I understand it's not worth going to law school unless you can get into one of the Top 14 schools, which is very hard to do.

EDIT: I'd also discourage you from a double major because of the time factor involved. I doubt testing out would be held against you if your LSAT is very high, except perhaps at the top schools.

[MISin08]

IMHO as someone with a BA in Economics, I think it's a great major for a prospective law school applicant. I also think math, philosophy, accounting or finance would be as well. That said, from what I understand it's not worth going to law school unless you can get into one of the Top 14 schools, which is very hard to do.

EDIT: I'd also discourage you from a double major because of the time factor involved. I doubt testing out would be held against you if your LSAT is very high, except perhaps at the top schools.

If it's not worth going to law school unless you got to a top school, but the top schools might have a problem with testing out, what does that suggest?

I agree about Econ; I almost suggested a single-major econ degree. For one thing if you change your mind about Law it's still very useful.

Phillip

[NAP]

Would history be a good option for you? It has a lot of exams available.

To try creating a double major plan at EC, first put the major requirements in the section for the 2 depths.

Here is a template, which Alissa put together, for the BS in Liberal Studies at Excelsior:

http://www.degreeforum.net/62322-post10.html

Here is a template, which Alissa put together, for the BA in Liberal Arts with a Major at Excelsior:

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...#post62468

Note: There is a new capstone course requirement for this degree and the GRE policy has changed.

I don't think I have seen a plan for a double major on this forum. I'd like to see yours, if you decide to map it out.

[MommyIsGettingHerDegree]

You guys are so great I'd like to hug you all! I'm thinking it may be easy to just have concentrations rather then majors, most of the schools I'm interested in require only a bachelor's in any shape or form. We'll see... back to studying and more research! eeya:

[alleycat]

I do not think it is true that you need to go to a top tier Law School to have an occupation in Law. Also the LSAT really count the most GPA being second. I have had friends of mine return to school and they made a choice to go to law school and the schools that they considered where the ones that gave them money for a high LSAT score. One got almost free tution to school because of his LSAT. Originally (a few centuries back) I wanted to go to Law School but I have completely desided against it.

Many degree back ground do fit nicely into a Law Degree. One friend of mine was a math major, another had their degree in history. They are now both successful lawyers. Good Luck.

[TMW2010]

I'll echo Phillip in the fact that there are a ton of law school grads and limited jobs for them.

You also want to have an idea as far as what TYPE of law you'd be interested in pursuing. Criminal, civil, patent, so on, so forth. Having a strong background in areas touched by the type of law you'd want to practice is definitely a good idea.

[sirjake]

You guys are so great I'd like to hug you all! I'm thinking it may be easy to just have concentrations rather then majors, most of the schools I'm interested in require only a bachelor's in any shape or form. We'll see... back to studying and more research! eeya:

A few points:

If you're heck-bent on law, don't bother with a double-major. I mean, if you have an interest in the areas AND they are economically beneficial should you decide not to go to law school AND you've got the extra time, sure, go for it. But I would heartily recommend not doing it solely to improve your law school admittance chances. It simply doesn't make enough of a difference.

STUDY FOR THE LSAT. I can hardly emphasize this enough. The freakin' LSAT is your meal-ticket to good schools and/or scholarships. Two weeks IS NOT ENOUGH. Two months probably isn't enough. I am not kidding. This is extremely, extremely important to your future in law school--much more important than getting a degree with two majors.

Keep your GPA up. This is definitely secondary to LSAT, but if your GPA sucks, you might be in trouble (splitters can still get in and do well, but it makes life harder).

As to the legal profession, I think some of this anti-lawyer stuff is overblown. I say this as someone who decided to go into law, got into some very good law schools, then decided not to go into law. My reasons were in part related to the current economic situation for lawyers (mentioned above by others) and in part due to my own personal situation and convictions. But the truth is, every profession will have people recommending that you "do anything else." If you want to be a lawyer and are going into it with your eyes open (i.e., not expecting to make partner and be filthy-rich after a year), you *can* be successful. I think much of this vitriol and negativity about the profession is due to people entering law school thinking that it's a silver bullet that will solve all of their problems (economic and otherwise). They exit law school bitter and resentful (and heavily in debt) because they didn't research and count the costs. Be smart and you can make it. Be an idiot, and you'll end up bitter and in debt with a lousy job (or no job at all).