I’ve found myself in a unique situation. Sorry if I am getting ahead of myself as I’m only a High School Junior, but I really want to figure this out. I know that I really want to go into politics as an end goal, so I’ve been working backwards and get stuck on what I should do for undergrad. Law school is something I know I want to do but know how risky it can be. And while any degree can get you into law school, I see engineering as a way to combat the risky path of law school as if I do well with a decent GPA, I can get a good salary out of college that can help with the debt. After a few years with some money saved up I would apply for law schools, either heading to a T14 law school or any other on a scholarship that covers most to all of the cost. And if it fails I have a strong major to hold me up. That would be cool if I could get all that done, but should I go about it differently? I see engineering as simply an obstacle to get by in order to get the path to law school less risky, and I might be hindering myself by going through such rigorous coursework. Engineering and law/politics are very much opposites, so I would be spending a chunk of my life developing my grasp of calculus and thermodynamics, when I’d rather do philosophy or political science. But like stated before I want to make it through law school with minimal risk, and my parents advised me a political science route would not go well for me. Thoughts?
I have a hard time seeing anyone getting through an engineering major who didn’t want to be an engineer. Does the subject interest you at all?
It does,I’m currently in my school’s robotics club and it has been interesting with FTC (first tech challenge), but outside of that and calculus, I’ve spent my little time on engineering. Over the summer this year I interned with my state assemblyman and currently am assisting two candidates in campaigning, city council and city mayor. I’m in a Youth Advisory Council for both my city and my district and started a debate club at my school. That being said I don’t mind engineering, and I even see something like patent law as a really cool job.
It sounds to me like you want to do a lot of different things, which is normal. My advice is not to focus on going to law school right now. Instead, take this time to expand your field of knowledge of various careers. If patent law sounds interesting, see about interning or job shadowing at a patent firm. Do the same for engineering.
Law school will always be there. From undergrad, law schools only care about your GPA. Keep that up (3.5+) and use college to figure out what you want to do. Then if you get to the end and still want to go to law school, come back here.
Good news with law school is you can major in anything and there really are no pre-reqs. Do well on LSAT and have a good GPA and you should be fine. A lot of intellectual property attorneys have engineering backgrounds.
@Demosthenes49 Thanks for the advice.