No solution for law-school-bound undergrads.

It's about time for all my law school applications to be sent in. I've become obsessed with analyzing my chances at every law school in existence and recently started looking back on my undergraduate major choice in the eyes of an admissions officer. Because law schools discourage a pre-law major, and many schools have stopped offering it, students applying to law schools are from all across the board. The American Bar Association provides guidelines for choosing a major that will be helpful in law school. This is how journalism stacks up:

Analytic/Problem Solving Skills: Check. Journalists are constantly using analytical skills. News selection, spotting holes in stories and deciding on the most important information seem to apply to journalism only. But they develop skills that can be used anywhere.
Critical Reading Abilities: Check. The ABA recommends reading about a wide range of topics. Anyone who has read in-depth pieces on the economy or politics knows journalism isn't simplified all the time. Journalists, more than anyone else, need to know a little bit of everything. History, government, literature and economics were all covered during my first years in the major, leaving me fairly well-rounded.
Writing Skills: Check. "...lawyers must learn to express themselves clearly and consicely." As journalists, we're studying the art of communicating clearly and consicely. Of course, not everyone in the law field remembers this basic rule. Lawyerly essays are unnecessarily long, wordy and jargon-filled, and I will probably be expected to write like that once in law school. One thing I know for sure is that it will be against my will.
Oral Communication and Listening Abilities: Double check. A good reporter is more than just a writer.
General Research Skills: This one should be obvious.
Task Organization and Management Skills: Supercheck! Deadlines, anyone?
The Values of Serving Others and Promoting Justice: In my honest opinion, I think the media can do this more easily than a lawyer. Journalists played a large role in pushing along the civil rights' movement, uncovering Watergate and denouncing the actions of McCarthy during the Cold War. On a smaller scale, reporters always ask the following question when writing typical daily stories: How is this beneficial or important to my reader?
General Knowledge:
I think they might be talking about journalism:

"Some of the types of knowledge that would maximize your ability to benefit from a legal education include:
* A broad understanding of history, including the various factors (social, political, economic, and cultural) that have influenced the development of our society in the United States.
* A fundamental understanding of political thought and of the contemporary American political system.
* Some basic mathematical and financial skills, such as an understanding of basic pre-calculus mathematics and an ability to analyze financial data.
* A basic understanding of human behavior and social interaction.
* An understanding of diverse cultures within and beyond the United States, of international institutions and issues, of world events, and of the increasing interdependence of the nations and communities within our world."

Now that I've paid my respects to journalism, I want to mention a few reasons why it can be negative to offer no pre-law undergraduate major.

I sometimes feel disconnected from my major and class. It's hard feeling like you're the only one in a class not getting experience in a newsroom or creating a portfolio of your best clips. I know I probably should have gotten an internship by now anyway, but I just can't give up my very well-paying job as an LSAT teacher for a field I know I don't have a future in. It reminds me of that childish feeling of not fitting in. I'm the outcast.
Senioritis soars to a new level. I know...next year's going to be worse. It's not like I'm getting a break. But I'm so excited to finally be able to immerse myself academically into the field of law. It's the field I'm going to be working in for the rest of my life! It was hard studying for a marketing exam when the LSAT was creeping up and it's hard reading about long-dead journalists when there are whole Web sites that let me see who got into my favorite schools. Rushing around on deadline to write a news story is impossible when your heart's not in it. I did say I enjoyed journalism, and I wouldn't pick another major. I also listed the valuable skills that journalism has given me. But perfecting my interviewing technique and becoming a great headline writer are not as interesting as touring law schools. These next few months of law school applications are a big deal!

There will never be a great solution to this problem. Schools can't offer a pre-law major. What's someone to do with an almost-law degree? However, prospective law students are expected to become near-experts in a field they like only second best.