Is it common for law school applicants to have a degree in criminal justice?

[jen]

So I am majoring in criminal justice, and I want to go to law school and become an attorney after I get my bachelors degree. Is this a good degree to have if I want to become an attorney?

[caomh]

Generally no. Criminal justice does not give students the kind of serious academic background they need for law school - and law schools know it. Additionally, criminal justice majors tend to score very poorly on the LSAT, again indicating they do not have the critical thinking and logical reasoning skills to succeed in law school. This is a generalization, of course, and there's no reason an individual criminal justice major couldn't succeed as a lawyer. But as a general rule, criminal justice is not a good major to prepare for law school. Law schools prefer traditional majors.

If you decide to stick with criminal justice, make sure you take plenty of serious writing courses (20-40 page papers) and courses that focus on logical reasoning, usually math and hard science classes. You will need these skills for the LSAT and for law school. As in these classes will also indicate to law schools that you may have the academic preparation necessary to succeed despite your major.