Philosophy: Making Good Professionals Better
A philosophy major provides excellent preparation for work in a variety of areas. Recent studies show that employers want and reward the skills philosophy develops, for instance, the ability to solve problems, to communicate, to organize ideas, to assess issues, and to analyze complex data. These skills are transferable from one discipline to another. What you learn in philosophy makes you better in what you do elsewhere.
Our majors go on to graduate school in philosophy, religion, or other disciplines and lead successful lives in a variety of fields:
- Consultants (for companies like Microsoft Inc. and private firms)
- Attorneys at Law (several, with some in quality law schools now)
- Trial Clerks for the U.S. Government
- Directors of Personnel (for companies like Southern Title Insurance Group)
- Producer/Directors (at places like the Caribbean Communications Corp.)
- Computer Programmers and Software Engineers (for successful businesses like Kawasaki Construction and Oakwood Homes)
- Doctors
- Chaplains and pastors
- Managers, financial planners, businessmen of all kinds
Philosophers and Law School
Statistical evidence shows that, nationwide, philosophy majors excel on such standardized examinations as the Graduate Management Aptitude Test, the Law School Admissions Test, and both the verbal and quantitative portions of the Graduate Record Examination. Indeed, of the many majors studied, philosophy majors are the only group to score significantly better than average on all four of these tests. Philosophy majors had the highest average on the verbal portion of the GRE, the second-highest average (after mathematics) on the GMAT, and the third-highest (after mathematics and economics) on the LSAT. Many law schools list philosophy as the most desirable undergraduate major for entering law students.
The table below shows the average LSAT scores for philosophy majors and the five majors with the largest number of law school applicants for 2007-2008.
| MAJOR | NUMBER OF APPLICANTS | AVERAGE LSAT SCORE |
| Philosophy | 2184 | 157.4 |
| Political Science | 14,964 | 153.0 |
| English | 5120 | 154.7 |
| Psychology | 4355 | 152.5 |
| History | 4166 | 155.9 |
| Criminal Justice | 3306 | 145.5 |
The average score of philosophy majors is significantly higher. Indeed, of the 27 majors with the largest number of law school applicants, no major exceeded the average score of philosophy majors.