Best JD Prep? A Liberal Arts Degree

Law School Applicants: Consider Studying The Classics

Maybe a liberal arts degree isn’t such a bad investment after all.
That was a key finding from a recent study conducted by Derek Muller, associate professor at Pepperdine University School of Law. In his Excess of Democracy blog, Muller revealed the results of his analysis of Law School Admissions Council data.
If you’re looking to get into law school, majoring in classics, international relations, or philosophy is a great place to start as an undergrad.
Here’s how Muller came to his conclusion: He collected data on 2013 law school applicants and enrollees, and after separating this sample into 142 self-identified majors, Muller tabulated the median LSAT scores and grade point averages.
Overall, he found that “classics” majors (i.e. literature and culture of classic Greece and Rome) ranked #1 overall, with the highest median LSAT (159.8) and average undergraduate GPA (3.477). Rounding out the top five in Muller’s analysis were policy studies, international relations, art history, and mathematics. In fact, liberal arts majors represented seven of the top 10 academic performers on Muller’s list (and 15 of the top 20 majors overall).
Here are the top 20 majors for law school applicants and enrollees (along with the total number of students who identified with each major, the median LSAT scores, and the average undergraduate GPAs):

Source: Excess of Democracy
(See next page for additional analysis)