I am an aspiring senior student and face the dilemma of what to do after graduating from university. For the past 3 years, I have dreamed of going to graduate school and doing a PhD in history, and then eventually becoming a professor. However, the path to becoming a teacher is very long and therefore realistically unlikely. I always remember one of my history teachers comparing it to winning the lottery. I`ve done some research in history and I`m working on a bachelor`s thesis, and I find the research exhausting. Maybe it`s because I`m going the extra mile in addition to my schoolwork, but I`m just tired and want to take a break. I also don`t have the language skills to do a PhD in an Ivy League right away, what I`ve been told is my best bet to get a faculty job. I wish I had started learning languages earlier. I feel like I`d give up on my dream by considering other options for myself, but I also need to find a job. My parents will expect me to graduate or go straight to work, and they will probably look down on me when I spend a year abroad.
I don`t want to disappoint them. I recently thought about studying law. I think my resume looks pretty good, I just need to get a good LSAT score and I think I`d be in a good law school. I only have enough time before applications in the fall to study hard for LSAT or GRE. What scares me the most is the math section. I have NEVER done well in mathematics on standardized tests, and I am afraid to invest a lot of study time for little money. Alternatively, I could take the LSAT and apply to both law schools and graduate programs that do not require the GRE, or take both the LSAT and the GRE (the GRE with little or no study) and apply to law schools and smaller graduate programs. If you think law is a steady job, you don`t, unless you go to one of the best law schools (Harvard, Yale, that kind of level). You`ll live in debt, and if you end up in a low enough school, you may never get out of debt.
Some of my former classmates have graduated from law school and are struggling to find jobs. Maybe take another year to work and figure out what you really want to do. During this time, you can take the GRE several times to increase your scores if you can afford it. They have a solid GPA, but it`s not perfect (don`t worry, few of us have 4.0). Doing well on the ERM would certainly help. The reason I suggest taking more time to solve it is that psychology law school is a big leap into your chosen field and says you really don`t know what you want to do with your life. Graduate School is not a place to be aimless. It`s grueling and you have to have a reason/desire to be there. Hi, I am a university student who is currently planning to graduate in December with a major in Political Science. Honestly, I`ve never thought much about my future and what the outline will look like, but as I approach graduation, I`m starting to feel the weight of my decisions. I love politics, I know that, and I am mostly interested in education.
I`m still struggling to find a specific job that matches what I love, but I know I want it to include policy decisions and reforms in the education system. I intend to continue my education, and although there are currently no plans to become a lawyer, most successful politicians go to law school. Basically, I would like to have advice on how to take law in relation to graduate school. Even if someone knows what jobs might be related to my interests, I would really appreciate it if the “ideal” career in law went to one of the top 14 schools, or 300,000 debts, got a job at Biglaw 80-90 hours a week (no exaggeration) for 200k, ran out within 3 years because almost everyone does it, You have no debts, but also nothing saved. You will then get an 80k job that works 55+ hours a week. Or you start your own law firm, earn less than 50k for 80+ hours per week for 10 years, and then you might have a 20% chance of succeeding and getting rich. Have you considered a professional master`s degree in public policy/administration? I know that some schools have paid internships, usually with the government. Could be a great way to start working on education policy if that`s your goal. I`m currently in graduate school of philosophy and I really hate it.
I have lost my passion for philosophy and am overworked and underestimated. I don`t have a support system in my department and I have problems with consultants. Day together! I am a first-generation student who is about to graduate and is panicking about my future options. As long as I was in school, I thought I would end up in graduate school to do a PhD in forensic psychology. This summer, however, I interned at a criminal defense firm and fell in love with the law. So now I`m on the fence between applying to graduate school or law school. Making the decision has my brain fried and I`ve listed countless pros and cons, but I can`t figure out where I should be. To make things even more confusing, I was recently accepted into an automatic admission program for a master`s degree in criminal justice. I`m afraid I`m making the wrong decision. But. I have no idea what to do when I return home to WA next summer.
I`ve always wanted to be a public advocate and I`ve done a lot of research on criminal justice policy, but law school is really expensive, difficult, and I`m not sure the profession of PD will be very rewarding. School is temporary, you should not choose a career based on whether or not you like the training program. That said, law school is probably much less enjoyable than philosophy. Very few people like law school. It is only as a warning, however, that you are always overworked and underestimated. You probably won`t have a support system either. I find my graduate department to be much more supportive than my law school. My graduating cohort is much closer and my professors are much more willing to talk. I prefer my graduate experience.
I took a sabbatical year from law school to do a master`s degree in education policy (at the same university). Law school was materially much more challenging, but the good thing is that you have a clear and definite end goal (entry into a profession), whereas many felt directionless in the master`s program. Hello, the current law student here applying for my PhD is sociology. While I cannot tell you what to do, as it is a personal decision, I can tell you that they are completely different programs. The fact that you`re choosing between two separate programs (even taking into account two different career paths) suggests that you may not know exactly what you want to do, which is perfectly normal. So I`m going to take the time to figure out what you want through a gap program like Americorps or just an old job. Sometimes I found that I wasting more time because I was more afraid to tell others, “I don`t know what I want to do,” instead of understanding what I really wanted for myself. I can`t stress this enough: law school is difficult and having 100% confidence in your career choice is what motivates you to go to law school, not what you find when you go through it. If you`re still sure you want to go one way or the other, talk to current students in both programs! Get an idea of what you`re signing up for and also talk to current corporate lawyers or researchers in a think tank. However, based on the information you have provided, I strongly propose a gap year. So I think if you don`t have a serious love or unparalleled passion for psychology, go to law school if you think you can get a competitive LSAT score to balance your GPA (I`m in the same boat). However, this is just my experience! I stumbled upon it when I googled “Graduate School vs Law School”.
Thank you very much. My soul trembled when I read that one adheres to what is safe and known. That`s exactly what I do. But now I have doubts about going to school. My mother is getting older and work is painful for her. That`s why I thought about studying law instead. My school allowed law students to enroll in certain graduate courses, they were considered an effortless course, and we regularly set the curve (and the four places below) for the class. I had the same experience. In terms of university studies, graduate studies were nothing compared to law school. In 2L year alone, I wrote enough pages to correspond to a medium-term thesis (based on these data: beckmw.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/how-long-is-the-average-dissertation/). This does not include 1L writing, 3L writing, writing for work, etc. So yes, most graduate programs are not as intensive as the law school, OMI.
On the other hand, I also think that some of the accredited PhDs that are available are complete jokes, so maybe I`m biased. Other friends of mine with Masters seem to think law school was worse. Some Ph.D. friends also seem to be having a terrible time, but I`ve never discussed that with PhDs. Most of the people I`ve talked to in my cohort can`t give me a solid reason why they do mastery other than love for the subject. While I also enjoy the topics I`m looking for, I`m a person who has an end goal in mind. For many, they are considering becoming teachers, MAYBE. Most others I`ve talked to really use this as an excuse to stay in school (i.e. to stay satisfied with what we know) while living in a cool city with a good amount of money.
Law school is just very different. The competitive nature was unusual for me, and there is a clear lack of independence from graduate school.