Econ is the Best Prep for Law School
The B.A. in Economics is the best preparation for Graduate and Law School
The score on the LSAT exam is the primary statistic that Law Schools use to determine admission into their schools and when deciding on Financial Aid awards. To prepare for Law School, advisors often suggest a number of various undergraduate degrees that provide students with a sound background necessary for their later studies in Law School. The relevant question is which undergraduate degree best prepares students for admission into Law School and for top consideration for financial assistance in such schools.
As the table below indicates, first obtaining an undergraduate degree in Economics is the best preparation for those students interested in study Law. What is the explanation for why first studying Economics is the best preparation for Law School? It may be that, unlike other disciplines, studying Economics does not teach you particular answers to a given question, but rather Economics teaches you how to approach a question and reasonable and rational methods of obtaining an answer. The importance of this is that in an ever changing world, it is far better to understand how to answer a question instead of remembering particular answers. And if there is one thing Economics is famous for, it is for teaching students how to analyze a problem.
The data presented below dates back to 1998. However, the recent data for 2022–23
law school applicants still finds that economics majors remain at or near the top
of all applicants (Nieswiadomy, M. L. 2024).
Average LSAT Scores* |
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| Current Rank | Major | Average Score | Number of Students | Previous Rank | Average Score | Number of Students |
| 1 | Economics | 155.3 | 2,916 | 1 | 155.7 | 4,157 |
| 2 | History | 154.0 | 5,819 | 3 | 154.4 | 5,080 |
| 3 | English | 153.7 | 6,324 | 4 | 153.9 | 5,698 |
| 4 | Engineering | 152.7 | 2,656 | 2 | 154.7 | 2,536 |
| 5 | Journalism & Languages |
152.5 | 2,002 | 7 | 152.3 | 2,042 |
| 6 | Finance | 152.2 | 2,009 | 5 | 153.1 | 2,756 |
| 7 | Psychology | 151.9 | 3,977 | 8 | 152.0 | 3,522 |
| 8 | Accounting | 151.8 | 2,340 | 6 | 152.6 | 2,855 |
| 9 | Political Science | 151.6 | 15,388 | 9 | 151.8 | 13,628 |
| 10 | Communication & Arts |
150.7 | 3,898 | 10 | 150.8 | 3,909 |
| 11 | Management | 149.4 | 2,735 | 11 | 149.9 | 3,294 |
| 12 | Sociology & Social Work |
149.3 | 3,129 | 13 | 149.2 | 2,550 |
| 13 | Business Administration |
148.6 | 2,111 | 12 | 149.6 | 2,454 |
| 14 | Criminology | 145.8 | 3,960 | 14 | 145.9 | 2,928 |
| * Source: Nieswiadomy, Michael (1998), "LSAT Scores of Economics Majors," Journal of Economics Education, Volume 29, Number 4, Fall, pp. 377-379. | ||||||
Reference:
Nieswiadomy, M. L. (2024). LSAT® scores of economics majors: The 2022–23 class update and 7-year history. The Journal of Economic Education, 55(4), 455–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220485.2024.2384466