I suggest separating the choice of undergraduate major into three components: what are the student’s interests; which majors have good employment prospects right out of college; and which majors are good for law school. I can’t answer the first one for you. I think accounting is probably one answer (of many) for the second. As to the third, GPA and LSAT are what matter for law school admissions. The major itself is relatively insignificant, except that a major that a student likes is one that he or she is more likely to do well in and thus get a high GPA.
Seeing law school as a guaranteed ticket to a high-paying (or any) job is no longer valid. The job market for lawyers is not good and hasn’t been for several years now. Law school enrollment has been dropping but not enough to even out supply and demand. People are graduating from law school with crushing debt.
@BelknapPoint “the thought that someone would be pushed into a particular area of study because of its perceived attractiveness to employers is unfortunate.”
I didn’t want to get drawn back into your blather, but this is ridiculous. It may come as a shock to you, but many people do not follow their passion, nor do they have a career-relevant passion.
We’re just conformist drones, I know. But somehow, we’re able to get out of bed everyday. Most are even able to find some small sense of accomplishment in what we do and how we live.
ELITISM
@rosered55 Finance was his choice. I have several friends that hold a CPA. I simply explained to my son that securing a CPA is a better career choice than Finance in that it is more flexible and more desirable to employers. I appreciate your thoughts, and I agree. This entire thread became something it wasn’t intended to be simply because rather than offer school suggestions that maybe I hadn’t thought of, some people felt the need to attack me for guiding my son in selecting his major. So bizarre.
No, it does not shock me that many people do not follow their passion, even when a myriad of college majors provides them the opportunity to do so. And I stand by my opinion that this is unfortunate.
No. The way that you may or may not provide parental influence in your son’s major selection is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. What caught my attention and prompted me to respond was your assertion that majoring in history is a “wasted degree alone.” Your words, not mine, and simply not true. How you relate with and influence your son is between you and him and will not affect other readers here. But trashing the benefits of the history major based on who knows what information is a different matter. And nobody is “attacking” you. There’s a respectful disagreement and discussion taking place. You are free to make a logical argument to back up your point of view.
Are you talking about the recession in 2008-2009? If so…I would not count on the schools adjusting need based financial aid to accommodate you. Plus…none of the schools on this lost guarantee to meet full need anyway.
If your kid is applying for 2018 fall…your income from 2016 would be what is considered. What was that?
RE…completing the net price calculator…you do NOT need to complete a FAFSA to so the NPC. Get out your 2016 tax return…and all of you asset account balances.