Spanish History Films
What classes are good for law school?
Heres what I have taken. A * indicates General Education.
Intermediate Spanish*
American History 1775-1865*
American History 1865-2000*
American Govt and Politics
Psych 101
General Chemistry 1*
General Chemistry 2
Music Appreciation*
English Comp*
Critical Thinking in Politics
New York Politics
Public Policy and Administration
Native American Studies*
Pre-Calculus
Computer Literacy*
Math in the Real World*
History of Political Thought
International Politics
Mass Media and Public Opinion
Politics of James Bond
Realm of Physics*
Weather Disasters*
Political Parties
Middle East Politics
Next semester, I am taking Medical Ethics, Political Science Seminar, The Supreme Court, Presidents in Film and the Philosophy of Public Affairs and Public Policy,
I’m also a law school graduate, and a current lawyer, and I’m afraid I must disagree with ownpool.
Law schools care far more about GPA than about specific classes, so you should take whatever classes you are interested in, so that you work hard and do well, rather than shopping for course names that you think will sound impressive to law schools.
I think it’s fine to take a class that sounds fun, like “Politics of James Bond” once in a while, as long as you’re not doing it every semester. In college, I took a class called “Listening to Music,” and a class called “Ocean Liners” and a class called “Adventures in Investing.” And I got into 4 out of the top 5 law schools in the U.S. News rankings.
That said, you shouldn’t be doing this every semester, or taking too many courses like this, or the law schools may question whether you are a serious student or not. But I also think that law schools recognize some classes that sound like fun can still be a lot of work (my ocean liners course was), or could be graded on a very harsh curve (Listening to Music was).
Regarding your more general question of “what classes are good,” the advice I usually give is:
Study whatever you are most interested in (so that you can work hard and get good grades). LSAT score is important also.
You should take a few classes that will sharpen your writing skills (could be an English class, or could be any class that requires essay writing). As well as classes that will improve your reasoning/argument skills (such as a philosophy class, or a history class on a controversial subject, or even a mathematical logic class), because these will help you on the LSAT (Law School Admission Test). Again, you have flexibility here–no specific classes are required.
I read a good book in high school that helped me decide whether to go to law school, and also gives good advice on how to choose a major and make the most of college if you are thinking of going to law school. It’s called “Going to Law School?” by Harry Castleman, and now that it’s been out for several years you can get it for like $5 on the Amazon.com Marketplace (in the “new” section of “used and new”): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471149071?ie=UTF8&tag=starbase280b&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0471149071