<p>it seems a lot of humanities majors i know, when asked about their plans, almost always consider law school as a viable option. is this just talk, or are people seeing law as a means of making money given perceptions of humanities majors and finding jobs?</p>
<p>Hard to say. I doubt many of them will go onto law school though-a lot of things change after a year or two of school. Same with bio majors saying they want to go onto med school, but in actuality only about 10% or something actually do it.</p>
<p>Well, a lot of people say they want to be lawyers… and there are a lot of law school spots out there. But the only way that there would be more lawyers is if a bunch of schools significantly upped their law school class sizes. And most of the reputable law schools won’t do that. Also, you have to remember that a lot of people who go to law school don’t become lawyers. Some go into the FBI, some use it to complement an MBA, and others use it to go into politics or working for the government.</p>
<p>From more than a few first hand observations allot of new (and unemployed) grads have suddenly and quite vigorously pronounced that they were always planning on law school. BTW, all of them with LA degrees from some pretty pricey schools. </p>
<p>Waiting to see how things pan out.</p>
<p>Law school has pretty much always been the default career choice for a liberal arts major whose degree isn’t much good in the job market.</p>
<p>I believe there might be an influx of more law-degree holders, given that everyone thinks it’s a “great plan” given this economy, but not more lawyers (there is not an increase, but a decrease in demand for lawyers given the current economic climate).</p>
<p>In other words, more unemployed people with J.Ds.</p>
<p>As for the versatility of a J.D.? I’ve heard some careerist lawyers saying it is versatile somehow, but don’t explain how – and the fact that they are simply lawyers doesn’t back up their argument at all.</p>
<p>I’ve also talked to some lawyers who say a J.D. isn’t versatile whatsoever but only gives you knowledge or skills for practicing law as an attorney.</p>
<p>maybe, i’m planning on getting my PhD in history, but you’ll never know, maybe I’ll end up in law school.</p>
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<p>I strongly believe that the reason basically every humanities major is unofficially or officially prelaw is that such is the clearest professional track for them. The sort of strange thing, however, is that the LSAT, one of the heaviest factors in law school admissions, goes against someone with less logical training, I hear. A trained math major tends to crush most humanities majors. </p>
<p>It’s also somewhat natural; an engineering major probably will be an engineer. An economics major has several clear job options. Your typical English major or history major could get PhDs in these fields, but that’s not going to necessarily get them very far, and it’s only natural to have law school as a huge option. Whereas PhDs in many science fields can go into engineering or similar areas just because their aptitude is in that kind of stuff. A PhD in math could go into something like financial engineering, and have a great professional life. </p>
<p>It’s just that there are fewer clear career paths for humanities majors. But it is to be emphasized that many majors don’t consider all their options. It is a myth that one is bound by the college degree, and in reality a humanities major with the aptitude to do different things could do a variety of things.</p>
<p>A lot of Bio majors are preMed, but only 10% of preMeds make it to Med school - the supply of physicians is controlled more, and there is only 1 tier of Med schools, so admissions stays very competitive and selective. Grad school admissions is also pretty selective (varies depending on the field).</p>
<p>Law school used to be like this, but then a whole 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tier of law school was created and it became easier to get into law. Because of this, the supply of lawyers has exceeded the demand in certain types of law (I don’t know which types sorry) so I think the number of people pursuing Law school will go down as demand goes down. </p>
<p>Humanities majors actually have tons of options besides Law - for most jobs, a Bachelor’s degree is required but they don’t care what it’s in. An English major could become a journalist, writer, teacher, literary agent, editor, into publishing, advertising, marketing, etc - or they could pick something completely unrelated to English at all. Lots of jobs require strong reading/writing/analytical skills. </p>
<p>Law school requires students who are analytical with good reading/writing skills so naturally many humanities majors are attracted to this. I notice most Philosophy majors are preLaw, since that major emphasizes logical reasoning the most.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s more people saying they want to be lawyers than the actual number of lawyers increasing. (I’ve heard, don’t quote me on this) most people trying to pursue law don’t make it all the way into law school.</p>