<p>So I am a senior in high school, and I will be going to a state university next year. I've basically been trying to narrow down what I want to do, and it's now between engineering and a finance/econ double major. I am considering law school after undergrad. Not fully decided on that, but 4 years down the road, I don't want to decide to want to go to law school, but not be prepared in terms of LSAT and GPA. So I want to at the very least keep that door open. </p>
<p>I've heard that engineering does not work too well for pre-law, because it's difficult to maintain a GPA required to attend a T14 law school. In addition, I hear that although it will help you in terms of math/analytical abilities for law, it is also too technical, especially with respect to say...Philosophy or English. I am good at math, and engineering somewhat interests me (I've always been interested in researching the latest technologies). However, my worries arise from what I said here and the fact that engineer salaries will not increase to be that satisfactory, even with work experience. </p>
<p>The other route I want to go to is Econ and Finance. Econ is something I'm also passionate about. I even read Economist and blogs of various economists like Mankiw. With this route, I would predict to basically do both finance and econ, and then become a financial analyst. If law school does not work out for whatever reason, I could keep working as a financial analyst, and test for the CFA and try to get into investment managing. </p>
<p>Any opinions on which route is favorable? I know that if I did engineering, I could still go into finance through a masters or MBA. But does that hurt my chance of going to a T14 law school? And for the finance/econ major route, is it unrealistic to get work in that field in this age? Is the competition to high compared to availability of these jobs? </p>
<p>Any help would greatly be appreciated.</p>
<p>Engineering will usually yield a lower GPA so in that sense yes it is not a “good idea” for law school. Then again, unless you’re going to a top ranked school, I’d rather have an Engineering degree than an Econ/Finance degree. Not to say Finance is that bad, but I’d just personally like to have engineering over finance unless it was from a top school. </p>
<p>If you’re at least pretty damn sure you’d like to go to (or attempt to go to) a T-14 law school, then I think the Finance/Econ is better for you. I know for me in my personal situation due to my school’s curriculum, my credits that I had coming in and my math placement test score, a business degree for me (specifically accounting in this case) would have me breezing through next year while engineering would have me having a ridiculous workload and probably graduating in five years. Your individual school, placement, abilities, and credits may be different. Yes engineering is “known” for lower GPAs, but there are some situations for some people where maybe it isn’t. </p>
<p>So bottom line, if it were my choice, I’d think quite a bit about how much you wanna be a lawyer before making this choice. Do you really wanna study law and love law, or are you pursuing the ideas that lawyers make good money, because that is more or less untrue now that the market is so flooded with law schools popping up left and right. Keep in mind the three years of lost income plus added debt. If you do really really wanna do law, then go with the one that will get you the higher GPA. If its just a “maybe I could do it” then I’d go Engineering just because I like it compared to Finance or Econ as far as job placement.</p>
<p>First off, thanks a lot for the answer. </p>
<p>Now as for how much I want to do law, I’m a bit mixed. I’ve spent my high school years in debate and volunteering as an “attorney” (I or they use the word loosely). So I do have interest in analyzing policy, politics, economics, etc. I’m interested in the work for law. </p>
<p>However, I’ve also learned about the drawbacks of law, including costs as you’ve mentioned, as well as how hard it is to get work when so many people graduate from law school, and how stressful the work can be from demanding firms. So I have not fully decided, but I just want to keep the option open.</p>
<p>You love Math and want to go to law school, econs/math is a great combination :)</p>
<p>I figured Econ seems to be the ideal major for me, since I want to do law, and it has quantitative analysis. I just hope I can get work if law does not work out for whatever reason.</p>
<p>I think it would be beneficial to research what type of law you would like to practice. Some branches in intellectual property law REQUIRE an engineering or computer science major. You will notice that law schools with an intellectual property focus have lower average GPAs, mostly because their students were in challenging majors like engineering. If your interests lie in corporate law, however, I would go with finance/econ.</p>