An economics major at Furman is an excellent preparation for law school. According to the American Economics Association’s website for Undergraduate Economics:
“The economics major is one of many common paths to law school. The Law School Admission Council provides the official guide to law schools for the American Bar Association. The Guide emphasizes extensive reading and library research, skill in synthesizing large amounts of information, and logical thinking. In addition to general skills, the Guide points to breadth of knowledge of history, politics, finance, human behavior, and diverse cultures.
“Many careers in law involve shaping economic decisions. Writing and interpreting contracts, supporting mergers and acquisitions, dealing with the tax system, addressing disputes of workers, landlords, and vendors; all involve decisions with significant economic content and implications.
“A recent analysis of scores on the LSAT test for law school admission reported for students who apply to at least one ABA accredited law school shows economic majors earned relatively high mean LSAT scores as shown in table 2. The LSAT score ranges from 120 to 180 with mean and median near 152. The first quartile is near 144 and the third quartile is near 157. The LSAT score along with undergraduate grade point average and the quality of the undergraduate college are important influences in the admissions decisions of competitive law schools. [Michael Nieswiadomy, "LSAT Scores of Economics Majors: The 2003-04 Class Update," Journal of Economic Education 37 #2, Spring 2006. Pp. 244-7. Available in JSTOR]
Table 2: Average LSAT Scores by Major, 2002-03.
Rank |
Major |
LSAT score |
# of takers |
1 |
Economics |
156.6 |
4,163 |
2 |
Engineering |
155.4 |
3,367 |
3 |
History |
155.0 |
4,716 |
4 |
English |
154.3 |
6,265 |
5 |
Finance |
152.6 |
3,492 |
6 |
Political Science |
152.1 |
15,023 |
7 |
Psychology |
152.1 |
5,164 |
8 |
Criminal Justice |
144.7 |
3,433 |
|
Total (all categories) |
152.2 |
94,391 |
Source: adapted from Nieswiadomy as in text.” (http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AEA/students/index.htm , accessed 9 January 2008.)
Not only do students of economics in general fare well on the LSAT and in law school, but Furman University economics majors have enjoyed success in law school. Furman economics majors who have graduated since 2000 are current students in or graduates of the following law schools:
Charleston School of Law
Columbia Law School
Faulkner University
George Washington University
Georgia State University
North Carolina Central University
Tulane University
University of Georgia
University of South Carolina
Wake Forest University
Washington and Lee University
Vanderbilt University
Yale University
