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Getting on track for a major.
DasUberEdward
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Well today I have to meet with my academic adviser to discuss what major i'll be attempting to pursue in college. This is my second year after an absolutely abysmal first year so the university is keeping tabs on rather i'm going to be punted out the door or not.
Anyway I know that I want to get into law but I have no idea what area. The problem is that i've set myself up for a pre-law minor but I have no idea what major I would be interested in. Realizing that I will most likely need to spend a year or so after I pick up my major working a real job before moving onto Law School I know I need to find a major with a job outlook. I just don't know what to aim for. Getting a major in philosophy and a pre minor in law would make me the most qualified worker at McDonalds.
tl;dr: Is there any 4 year major that would lead to a decent job while I prepare for law school?
Anyway I know that I want to get into law but I have no idea what area. The problem is that i've set myself up for a pre-law minor but I have no idea what major I would be interested in. Realizing that I will most likely need to spend a year or so after I pick up my major working a real job before moving onto Law School I know I need to find a major with a job outlook. I just don't know what to aim for. Getting a major in philosophy and a pre minor in law would make me the most qualified worker at McDonalds.
tl;dr: Is there any 4 year major that would lead to a decent job while I prepare for law school?
DasUberEdward on
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When are you planning on going to law school? If you are going right after your undergrad, you won't have time to get a decent job that your undergrad major helped you get.
I know that i'm not interested in criminal law. However, the idea of working in a firm is very appealing to me so I guess that would mean business law?
If you're not really considering work in either of those areas, then you should probably be looking at something like Political Science or Philosophy. However, I'm wondering how you know you want to be a lawyer? It sounds like you're not really familiar with what's involved in it, or what lawyers really do. Have you ever done anything like Mock Trial? Talked to any lawyers about getting into law?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy%2C_Politics%2C_and_Economics
Harvard calls it social studies from the first sentence I read.
PPE sounds exactly what the OP wants to do. It's a perfect pre-law course.
Poli Sci is the classic undergrad for law, but I don't think it gives you many options for careers by itself.
After undergrad, I worked as a legal assistant for a corporate law firm. It's not terribly difficult to obtain a job after undergrad as long as you properly market your skills. At least in my job market, there are plenty of opportunities for those with strong analytical and communication skills.
I have done some mock trail things (although on the high school level) so I am familiar with the idea of how procedure would work. There was a pretty great thread here about becoming a lawyer and it helped solidify my idea of going toward that career path.
General Management sounds like a good idea but right now my adviser wanted me to look into steering toward the psychology department to question them about what recent majors have done. If not that I will be going somewhere toward business.
There's no PPE.
This. One of my classmates is getting her M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering and is eventually going to be a patent lawyer to make ridiculous bank.
And if you find you don't enjoy patent law, almost everyone will hire an engineer for almost any job. It's challenging and really cool, and you could also go the business route for an MBA and still make lots of money.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
To each his own, I guess. :P
But like someone mentioned, do something you will enjoy. Law schools will take any majors, one of my friends also had a theatre major and went into law school.
Blerg. Give me calc, give me an acting class, let me work in the scene shop, anything but Economics.
It took me three years to figure out what I wanted to do. I went from no pref to Accounting to Finance to Economics and (finally) English/Film Studies. A business major of some kind will net you a good job out of the gate (friends of mine with various business degrees are interviewing right now for jobs in June starting at $37,000, one got a job starting at $55,000). You can easily gateway that into law school. Honestly almost any degree can gateway you into law school. English degrees are excellent because apparently lawyers that write well out of the gate are rare and English degrees can help.
Friend of mine just started graduate school at Marquette for philosophy. He had planned on going from undergrad to graduate immediately but, just for shits, he looked for a job anyway. He would have been (like you said) the most qualified worker at McDonalds.
Personally I'm going to be taking a year off after receiving my bachelors in English/Film Studies. I happen to work at a technical job on campus right now and they have told me on more than one occasion they would hire me full time once I graduate. I'll be doing that for a year or so while developing my papers and writing more, paying off THE MAN. Then I'll apply to graduate school and move on.