{"id":9760,"date":"2024-04-08T19:40:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T19:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/?p=9760"},"modified":"2024-10-02T22:17:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T22:17:52","slug":"major-in-philosophy-nau-going-to-law-or-medical-school-as-a-philosophy-major","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/blog\/major-in-philosophy-nau-going-to-law-or-medical-school-as-a-philosophy-major\/","title":{"rendered":"Going to law or medical school as a philosophy major"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>College advice from William F. Nietmann, Professor Emeritus, NAU Department of Philosophy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/university-marketing\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/university-marketing\/\">University Marketing<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many <a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/blog\/is-it-a-good-idea-to-major-in-philosophy-at-nau\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/blog\/is-it-a-good-idea-to-major-in-philosophy-at-nau\">philosophy majors<\/a> attend law school or become doctors. It is not only possible to get into graduate programs in law and medicine with a philosophy degree, but it can even be one of the best choices you make for your future career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is philosophy a good degree for pre-law students?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, philosophy is a great choice for pre-law. A significant number of students in philosophy are interested in law school, as this career choice is a natural fit. In fact, philosophy is one of the best majors for law school prep\u2014but there is no one universal pre-law major.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Philosophy trains you in the arts of critical reasoning and writing\u2014some of the most important skills you need for success in law school. Studies confirm that the highest-scoring students on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) majored in <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/PHIBA\">philosophy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/BUECBSBAX\">economics<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/PHYBS\">physics<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/MATBS\">mathematics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the best NAU degree for law school?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to our philosophy major, NAU offers the interdisciplinary <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/PHIPLBAX\">Philosophy, Politics, and Law degree<\/a> for students interested in law school. If you have a specialty area in mind already, you can combine your major degree with a minor\u2014or even a double major\u2014in compatible fields like <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/CJMN\">criminal justice<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/ENGMN\">English<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/HISMN\">history<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arizona court <a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/blog\/jacki-ireland-class-of-1995\/\">Commissioner Jacki Ireland<\/a> was a Criminology and Criminal Justice major with a minor in philosophy. NAU offers <a href=\"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/pre-law\/\">pre-law advising<\/a> for all interested students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<section         class=\"nau-block full-width-image-with-text-box secondary grid grid-md-12 -grid-fullwidth no-padding span-md-12  mobile-image-yes tablet-image- desktop-imageheight-  textbox-registration-bottomleft  textbox-xl-width-1-3 textbox-background-true-blue  bg-true-blue-95 content-type-wysiwyg_linkbank  \">\n\n    <div class=\"full-width-image-with-text-box-picturediv\">\n\n            <picture class=\"left-nav-top-bound main\">\n            <source media=\"(min-width: 1650px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/328\/2024\/03\/9586_nursing_20231017-2000x1125.jpg\">\n            <source media=\"(min-width: 1100px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/328\/2024\/03\/9586_nursing_20231017-2000x800.jpg\">\n            <source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/328\/2024\/03\/9586_nursing_20231017-1200x675.jpg\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/328\/2024\/03\/9586_nursing_20231017-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A group of nursing students in scrubs listening to their professor as they talk in a medical bay.\">\n        <\/picture>\n    \n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"fwi-text-box  bg-true-blue-95 \">\n\n    <h2>\n    \n    Can I go to medical school with a philosophy degree?\n    <\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/section>\n\n\n<p>Yes, you can go to medical school as a philosophy major. Over the years, we have seen numerous NAU philosophers prepare for and succeed in med school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Combining science and philosophy will ultimately make you a better doctor, as the broad perspectives gained during your undergraduate years will create a strong foundation. Philosophy students scored the highest of all liberal arts students on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), bested by students in very few subject areas\u2014chiefly <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/CHMACSBS_CHMBACSM\">biochemistry<\/a> and mathematics majors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NAU\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gateway-student-success-center\/premed-advising\/\">premedical advisors<\/a> are a wealth of information on preparing for medical school and creating the best academic plan for your goals. In general, premed philosophy majors should take the beginning two years of biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as calculus. This is the standard expectation of all future doctors. As you will be taking these required med school prerequisites, you may end up wanting to add a minor in <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/BIOMN\">biology<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/CHMMN\">chemistry<\/a>, or another field to your degree plan\u2014maybe even a double major in <a href=\"https:\/\/degree-search.nau.edu\/degree\/BIOMDBSX\">Biomedical Science<\/a>. Be sure to make an <a href=\"http:\/\/appointments.nau.edu\/\">advising appointment<\/a> to discuss your plans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can become a lawyer or a doctor with a philosophy degree. Learn how a philosophy degree prepares you with related minors, double majors, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":6586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60],"tags":[76,30],"class_list":["post-9760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-of-arts-and-letters","category-department-of-philosophy","tag-medical","tag-philosophy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/835"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9760"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10607,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9760\/revisions\/10607"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}