Does an undergraduate major really matter in applying to law school? The truth is, it would seem it is not the major that matters but how you interact with your major by challenging yourself and developing research and writing skills in the process.

As most of you may know, law schools rely heavily on ABA accreditation. If this is the case, future law school applicants may benefit in relying in ABA standards as well. According to the ABA:

The ABA does not recommend any undergraduate majors or group of courses to prepare for a legal education. Students are admitted to law school from almost every academic discipline. You may choose to major in subjects that are considered to be traditional preparation for law school, such as history, English, philosophy, political science, economics or business, or you may focus your undergraduate studies in areas as diverse as art, music, science and mathematics, computer science, engineering, nursing or education. Whatever major you select, you are encouraged to pursue an area of study that interests and challenges you, while taking advantage of opportunities to develop your research and writing skills. Taking a broad range of difficult courses from demanding instructors is excellent preparation for legal education. A sound legal education will build upon and further refine the skills, values and knowledge that you already possess. The student who comes to law school lacking a broad range of basic skills and knowledge will face a difficult challenge.

Is a traditional or "diverse" major the way to go? It seems the ABA feels you should do what you want, where you can excel yourself, but where you can challenge yourself. Truly, education should be about developing skills and based on this ABA recommendation, I'm not sure many law schools will put much weight to which major your declared. It is a fact that many schools will weigh your GPA based on what school you went to and the type of classes you took. If a major in art, music, or other science is acceptable, than an undergraduate should really be choosing a major that "interests and challenges" yourself.

There may be other personal considerations when choosing a major. If you are a math and science wiz, it may be in your best interests to get a 3.8 as a physics major than a 3.0 in political science. Furthermore, a science major, will give you the opportunity after law school to pursue the patent bar.

Much of this is speculation based on ABA's recommendation. If I were to choose my major again (which was political science), I would contact admission officers of law schools that I was interested in and ask them for some recommendations as every school is allowed to consider their own criterion.

I hope others have some insight on picking a major, as this is a very common question among pre-law students. Did anybody get accepted to law school with a "non-traditional" or diverse major?