Psychology major good for future law MA?

I'm planning on doing a psychology BA, beacause psychology is something I'm truly interested in which would make it possible for me to wotk superhard and get top grades. I think it's to hard to get well paid jobs as a psychologist though, so I would like to do my masters degree in law.

Is psychology a good major if you want to go into law later?

Are the universitys I apply for for my MA more likely to admit someone who did for example Political Science or International Studies than someone who majored in Psychology, or do they only go by the grades when deciding on admitting?

wingandprop

To start with, law is not like other fields of study insofar as the names and organization of post graduate work. Most masters programs take two years and a doctorate another one or two years. A law degree will take three years. Consequently, a basic law degree (in the US) is a JD, or doctor of law. If you then want to go even higher, you go for another year or so and get a Master of Law. What you are wanting is a JD, the basic law degree.

Law schools look hard at grades, but they are also keen on doing what they can to "broaden" the profession's base. In other words, they are big into affirmative action. Women and minorities will get varying degrees of preference. Beyond that, what they look at varies strongly with their own self perception. Some have a culture that is very policy and politically oriented and others very litigation oriented. Your background and your expressed interests in getting a law degree (they will ask for an essay on that point) will be seen from those (and other) differing perspectives. Telling a litigation oriented school that your reason for getting a law degree is so you can enter politics in the name of a given social goal won't have the same value (at all) as telling that to a law school with a self perception as a policy/politically oriented school.

As far as psychology goes as a major, that is a great major for law school. Law students have all sorts of backgrounds, but tend to be drawn more from the liberal arts. It would not be a detriment to your practice nor your education nor your admission to have a psychology background. Of course, if your only interest in the law is income based, there are better paying jobs. Law can also vary tremendously in terms of work environment and stress levels. Contract lawyers are not much like trial lawyers. You need to do some research on your acceptable risk, stress, and workload levels.

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