Choosing the Right Undergraduate Path: 13 Law Majors Analyzed by Admission Data

Building a foundation for law school success often depends on selecting an undergraduate major wisely. Unlike many professional pathways, the American Bar Association (ABA) does not mandate a specific major for future lawyers. Instead, the organization recommes that students choose majors that genuinely interest them while developing essential skills—particularly research, critical reading, and writing abilities. However, data reveals significant variations in law school admission rates across different undergraduate disciplines.

What Drives Law School Admission Success?

While your chosen major matters, law schools evaluate multiple factors equally. Your undergraduate GPA demonstrates your commitment to academic rigor and ability to sustain intensive study through a juris doctor (JD) program. LSAT or GRE scores constitute another critical admission component. According to the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), applicants with the highest standardized test scores majored in economics, philosophy, and history—a pattern worth examining when selecting your undergraduate field.

The relationship between major selection and admission success is nuanced. Law schools care less about the specific major than your performance within it. A student excelling in challenging coursework will typically outcompete someone struggling through an “easier” program, regardless of perceived pre-law relevance.

Analyzing 13 Undergraduate Majors: Admission Rates and Career Alignment

The LSAC conducted comprehensive research on applicants to ABA-approved law schools, revealing how different undergraduate backgrounds correlate with admission success. Here are the 13 most common law majors represented among applicants:

Top-Performing Majors: History and Economics Lead

History (77.5% admission rate) With 3,366 applicants, history majors achieved the highest acceptance rate into law school. History coursework—spanning cultures, civilizations, specific historical periods, geography, and social justice studies—builds deep contextual understanding. This foundation benefits attorneys across virtually every legal specialization by providing insight into human motivation, institutional evolution, and precedent-based reasoning.

Economics (76.1% admission rate) Economics attracted 3,709 applicants and ranked second in admission success. The discipline covers microeconomics, macroeconomics, fiscal and monetary policy, and economic modeling. This major particularly strengthens candidates pursuing tax law, corporate law, or financial regulation—fields requiring sophisticated economic analysis.

English (74.4% admission rate) Among 3,509 English majors applying, 74.4% gained admission. English programs develop the communication skills essential to legal practice through literature, critical theory, creative writing, and cultural studies. Strong writing and argumentation capabilities remain foundational for any attorney.

Philosophy (73.4% admission rate) Philosophy majors numbered 2,720 applicants with a 73.4% admission rate. Coursework in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and logic directly parallels legal reasoning. Philosophy develops systematic analytical thinking and argumentation precision—skills directly transferable to legal practice.

Common Foundation: Political Science

Political science emerged as the most common undergraduate choice among law school applicants, with 14,946 students applying and 73.1% admitted. This substantial volume reflects the major’s natural alignment with legal studies, covering political theory, government systems, judicial structures, and constitutional frameworks. Political science provides broad preparation for multiple legal specializations.

Specialized Career Pathways

Finance (72.7% admission rate) Finance majors numbered 2,024 applicants. Covering business economics, accounting, cost analysis, business law, and statistics, finance majors typically pursue tax law, corporate law, or real estate law specializations where quantitative skills prove invaluable.

Arts and Humanities (71.7% admission rate) This broader category attracted 2,766 applicants, combining literature, languages, music, art, philosophy, and theater studies. The diverse coursework provides cultural literacy and analytical perspective applicable across multiple legal domains.

Communications (69.1% admission rate) Among 2,377 communications majors, 69.1% achieved admission. Rhetoric, public speaking, journalism, and writing coursework strengthen communication abilities—essential both in courtroom advocacy and legal writing.

Psychology (69.1% admission rate) Psychology matched communications in admission rate, with 4,265 applicants achieving 69.1% success. Understanding human behavior, mental health, and psychological principles strengthens candidates specializing in family law, criminal defense, employment law, or personal injury litigation.

Sociology (64.7% admission rate) Sociology applicants numbered 2,194 with a 64.7% admission rate. This major develops perspective on social structures, human behavior, criminology, and family dynamics—particularly valuable for candidates pursuing family law, immigration law, or public defense work.

Business Administration (63.8% admission rate) Business administration programs enrolled 1,805 applicants achieving a 63.8% admission rate. Coursework in accounting, organizational management, entrepreneurship, and business communication prepares candidates for corporate law, intellectual property law, or business transaction work.

Criminal Justice (56.2% admission rate) Criminal justice represented 3,762 applicants but showed the lowest admission rate at 56.2%. Despite covering forensics, human behavior, and social policy relevant to defense work, this major apparently correlates with lower law school competitiveness, possibly because law schools view it as less academically rigorous than traditional liberal arts disciplines.

Other Majors (57.4% admission rate) A catch-all category encompassing 5,866 applicants with diverse backgrounds achieved 57.4% admission. This represents students who pursued non-traditional paths to law school.

Reconsidering the Pre-Law Major

Pre-law majors present a paradox. These programs introduce legal concepts and build analytical skills seemingly ideal for future lawyers. However, evidence suggests pre-law actually undermines competitiveness.

Pre-law programs cover general education and legal fundamentals, but typically lack the intellectual rigor of traditional academic disciplines. Law schools expect applicants from challenging majors demonstrating they can excel in demanding coursework. If pre-law coursework is considered relatively accessible, it may signal to admissions committees that you haven’t tested yourself against the most rigorous academic standards.

The optimal strategy: select a major that genuinely interests you AND challenges you intellectually. If pre-law satisfies both criteria, pursue it. Otherwise, choose a discipline offering greater substantive depth—whether history, philosophy, economics, or another field that will expand your knowledge and sharpen your competitive edge.

Your law school application succeeds when your major demonstrates intellectual ambition, your GPA reflects mastery within that major, and your LSAT score proves reasoning ability. Strategic major selection, combined with strong performance, maximizes admission probability across ABA-approved law schools.