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There is no pre-law major
Law schools do not require a specific undergraduate major, and they do not prefer one. Applicants are admitted from the sciences, the humanities, the social sciences, business, engineering and the arts.
How undergraduate study fits in
What law schools look for can be built in any field: careful reading, clear writing, reasoning from evidence, and the habit of finishing difficult work. A major you are interested in is the one you are most likely to do well in, and your record in it is what an admissions committee reads.
Some colleges offer a program called pre-law or legal studies. It is one option among many and carries no special weight in admissions. Pre-law advising is a different thing: a service most colleges offer to students in every major.
PreLaw Advisor does not rank majors and does not use your major to assess or predict anything. On your profile it is simply a record of what you studied.
One special case
Patent practice before the USPTO
Representing inventors before the United States Patent and Trademark Office in patent matters requires separate registration with that office. To register, a person must show scientific and technical qualifications and pass a registration examination. The Office accepts certain bachelor’s degrees in technical subjects and also sets out other ways to qualify.
This is a rule about one kind of practice, not about admission to law school. It does not apply to trademark or copyright work, and lawyers without the registration work on patent disputes in court. If patent prosecution interests you, read the Office’s current requirements directly, because they change.
USPTO: becoming a patent practitioner (opens in a new tab) · About patent law
Fields of study
Find your field
The list below is the federal Classification of Instructional Programs, the standard vocabulary colleges use to report their programs. It has 2,143 programs. If yours is not there, your profile accepts your own wording.
Legal Professions and Studies
Non-Professional Legal Studies
- Legal Studies
- Pre-Law Studies
- Non-Professional Legal Studies, Other
Law
- Law
Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies
- Advanced Legal Research/Studies, General
- Programs for Foreign Lawyers
- American/U.S. Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence
- Canadian Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence
- Banking, Corporate, Finance, and Securities Law
- Comparative Law
- Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Law
- Health Law
- International Law and Legal Studies
- International Business, Trade, and Tax Law
- Tax Law/Taxation
- Intellectual Property Law
- Patent Law
- Agriculture Law
- Arts and Entertainment Law
- Compliance Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Entrepreneurship Law
- Family/Child/Elder Law
- Human Resources Law
- Insurance Law
- Real Estate and Land Development Law
- Transportation Law
- Tribal/Indigenous Law
- Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies, Other
Legal Support Services
- Legal Administrative Assistant/Secretary
- Legal Assistant/Paralegal
- Court Reporting and Captioning/Court Reporter
- Court Interpreter
- Scopist
- Legal Support Services, Other
Legal Professions and Studies, Other
- Legal Professions and Studies, Other
Browse by group
- Agricultural/Animal/Plant/Veterinary Science and Related Fields
- Architecture and Related Services
- Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences
- Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services
- Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs
- Communications Technologies/Technicians and Support Services
- Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
- Construction Trades
- Culinary, Entertainment, and Personal Services
- Education
- Engineering
- Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians
- English Language and Literature/Letters
- Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences
- Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
- Health Professions and Related Programs
- History
- Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective Services
- Legal Professions and Studies
- Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
- Library Science
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians
- Military Science, Leadership and Operational Art
- Military Technologies and Applied Sciences
- Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
- Natural Resources and Conservation
- Parks, Recreation, Leisure, Fitness, and Kinesiology
- Philosophy and Religious Studies
- Physical Sciences
- Precision Production
- Psychology
- Public Administration and Social Service Professions
- Science Technologies/Technicians
- Social Sciences
- Theology and Religious Vocations
- Transportation and Materials Moving
- Visual and Performing Arts
Sources
- 1.National Center for Education Statistics. Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP 2020) (opens in a new tab) Codes and titles. Program definitions are published by NCES.
- 2.United States Patent and Trademark Office. Becoming a patent practitioner (opens in a new tab)