Baseball and Law School

I think if you have the mental capacity, that it is the labs in engineering school that become the demise to that major along with baseball. I have heard of several players that go on to law school, the latest that I am aware of is Teddy Foster at UF. He graduated with a history major and I believe is currently in Law school at UF as a fifth year senior.

Pre-law can be in a number of majors - History, Business, Economics, Political Science, etc.

I recall when talking to RZ1 that his son would consider that route if he wasn't having the fun he was in the Yankees organization.

It's not the challenge of the class that's the obstacle. It's the challenge of getting into a scheduled class that doesn't interefere with the baseball schedule. Don't worry about pre-law. A kid doesn't need to be pre-law to get into law school. He only needs good grades and board scores.

My daughter isn't pre-law. With her grades and law board scores she was told not to worry about getting accepted to law schools. Why isn't she pre-law? She didn't know she wanted to be a lawyer until her soph year. She's majoring in forensic science (I told her she watches too much tv).

My uncle went to law school after getting an art degree in undergrad. A cousin went to law school after getting his undergrad degree in intellectual history. One of my friends went to law school after being pre-med, biology.

College major makes very little difference when it comes to law school. "Pre-law" is basically a made up major that colleges use as a recruiting ploy. Most law schools seek out kids with a variety of different majors. Personally, I think English (for the critical reading) or mathematics (for the logic skills) would be most helpful, but it really doesn't matter. Good grades in any real major (not general studies/basketweaving) and good LSAT's will get you in.

There is one key exception--patent law. To sit for the patent bar an applicant must have a science or engineering background.

MTH has got it right. Good grades and good LSATs are the key. There is no "major" for law. Many think that Political Science is the lead-in. However, the two most popular majors for lawyers are English and Economics (last I heard). Caufield is also correct, however, I believe you must pass the regular bar in your state before you can sit for the patent bar, and I also thought your undergrad degree must be in engineering, but I could be wrong on the latter.

Actually, there is no "major" for pre-med, only a series of courses you must take. So, you could be an Econ, take the prereq. of science courses, and take both the medical boards and the bar! Imagine that (actually there are a lot of doctors that have also taken and passed the bar, and visa versa, and in some states you don't even have to go to law school to sit for the bar, all you have to do is meet the OTJ training requirements!)

Thank you everyone for your input. You have been very helpful!

I was a prelaw student majoring in math---decided to not chase a law degree but had my degree in MAth

I think you have received good information from all. Here is an example to support all of the previous responses. My son played D1 college ball, and earned a degree in English from a very challenging school. He also sat for his LSAT and earned some very good scores. Law school is clearly in his future.

Best of luck to your son.

Floridafan, you have received much excellent advice. I would add to the excellent posts above that a key for a baseball player looking to attend law school after college is to find a major and classes that he is passionate about. If the student athlete loves his courses, he is much more likely to do well academically. Law schools are much more interested in a track record of academic success than in a particular subject area. Indeed, they like to have academic diversity in their student bodies, so a math major like TRHit or a science/engineering major are very attractive to law schools assuming the student has done well. Having played baseball in college also will be a big plus for the applicant, as the law (and medical) schools love scholar athletes because they know that they are highly competitive and have developed great self-discipline and time management skills, not to mention self-confidence--traits that will serve them well as future lawyers (or doctors)(or fathers for that matter). Playing baseball also may help your son because he will be better able to focus on his studies having burned off his excess energy and frustrations in practices and games. Also, he will learn to be a team player--concepts that are critical for lawyers (and doctors). And down the road, law firms and government agencies love to hire student athletes, so the benefits of having played baseball in college will go on and on. Will being a successful student athlete be easy? No. But the potential rewards, including entering law school knowing that he has developed the tools essential for success in a high-pressure environment, will be great. Good luck to your son and you in the coming years.

agreed! my college soph daughter, who is not an athlete, fills her time with many student government/charity/sorority activites and says her grades are better because she is so busy. She is forced to focus on what is important - her academics - so she can have time to do the other things she feels is necessary to network AND most importantly, enjoy!
Her major at Purdue is Agriculture Economics, and she thinks about law school too.