Should Future Law School Students be Philosophy Majors?
On January 17th philosophy alumni and current UW law school students Julia Batina, '11, Miriam Korngold, '09, and Lee Marchisio, '03 braved the Seattle snow to discuss how their undergraduate degree in philosophy helped them to get into law school, and how it is now helping them with their law school studies. The entire alumni panel agreed that philosophy, especially the logic courses, helped them to score higher on the LSAT. They also discussed how their philosophy major greatly improved their writing skills and their critical thinking skills. These critical thinking skills allow them to see the flaws in their own arguments, which enable them to be proactive in finding ways to defend, or remedy those flaws. Writing clearly and thinking critically are central to success in law school, and these skills will undoubtedly continue to help them to succeed in their work with future clients, judges, and juries. A large number of UW undergraduates attended this event. Hopefully this charming panel of alumni was able to persuade some of these students of the advantages to majoring in philosophy.