Many students attend law school with an eye toward a career in government. Undergraduate fields of study that prepare a student for that long-term goal are common. Political science provides a fundamental education in the application of the law as it relates to the government. Other related options include international relations and economics. International relations prepares a future law student with a strong world view and a background in the legal and political issues that exist in other countries. The study of economics teaches principles that will be helpful to a lawyer who moves on to politics later, but it also teaches a student how to think and analyze complex issues as she will need to do in a study of the law.
Business management, finance and international business are all common majors for college students in general and they are equally common among future law students. The undergraduate degree in business prepares a law student for a career in business law, but also teaches him the business principles that surround the law even if his future is in criminal law and not the corporate side of the legal profession.
One of the surprises on a list of the most popular pre-law majors published by the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California is music. Music majors learn how to unlock their creativity and and to apply logic and theory in all situations and that background can be an asset in the legal profession. The LSAT preparation website counsels future law students to study what they love as an undergraduate student and many study in areas like music before turning their attention to the law.
English, communication and sociology are among other areas of study as students earn their initial degree on the way to law school. Learning how to think critically and express those thoughts in the written and spoken formats required by these major courses of study is critical to future success as a lawyer. Communications majors often turn to law school as preparation for working in that industry as an agent or lawyer for different media companies.