<p>Hello, I have recently been admitted to the Robert H. Smith School (Business) at University of Maryland: College Park as a transfer student (Will be going in as a Junior).</p>
<p>For background info, I am a non-resident and coming from a community college (60 credits) with Associate's on the way after Spring semester. 4.0 GPA, Phi Theta Kappa member, EC's and internship. I am majoring General Studies with Business and Technology emphasis.</p>
<p>I am unsure what major to decide upon and the reason is because business is not my future goal. My current goal was to get into the Smith School to complete my undergraduate program. However, I have a firm belief that I want to get into one of the best law schools in the U.S, hence why I needed a "big name" school around MD. I have no doubt that I want to become a lawyer after law school, but as you may all know, law school does not have a specified major to get into law school.</p>
<p>Smith offers:
Accounting
Finance
Management
Information Systems
International Business
Supply Chain Management
Marketing
Operations Management</p>
<p>My declared major right now is Finance (last minute choice, if anyone can explain to me what a Finance major learns, meaning which fields, and if Smith has a good Finance program). I noticed that Finance seems to have an emphasis on math, but I do not enjoy math past Calculus I.. is this a bad choice? (Sorry if I sound so stupid right now, I honestly don't know what a Finance major does)</p>
<p>Can anybody help me out with some personal experiences or advice that may help me in deciding which major to stick with (that will guide me in the right direction towards law school)?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I THINK my uncle became a lawyer with an admin/mangement degree. although you would be better served with a philosophy degree it doesnt really matter.</p>
<p>with a finance degree you learn how to deal with money and work in the finance sector.</p>
<p>If i may ask, what specialty will your law career be if you already know? im thinking about going into family law or prosecution.</p>
<p>@Ultimablade I would like to work in the humans/civil rights field or immigration… However, I heard I should decide with a law school counselor once I get into a law school during my first year (Spoke to a close lawyer friend of mine)</p>
<p>Also, the program offered here at Smith seems to me that admin/management is more towards entrepreneurs and I do not think I will be one anytime soon… But, I was originally a management major before I switched over to Finance after seeing a news article saying Finance is a good major to land job offers after graduation… But I’m not so sure if it is for me yet.</p>
<p>honestly, you sound like you would excel in liberal arts. for law school its all about grades. and finance, for some people, can destroy a GPA if you dont like the subject. for an immigration attorney you honestly will never use finance skills ever/ almost never. because of this and the GPA scenario, liberal arts will probably be a better thing for you.</p>
<p>be warned though, with liberal arts your playing a dangerous game. if you dont get in law school you may get stuck working at a burger joint or a sales job. on the other hand i have read a statistic that median career salary for all majors is basically the same. </p>
<p>so with that knowledge in mind i ask you one question, do you want to gamble or play it safe? playing it safe will probably reduce your chances at law school (GPA) unless you are great at finance, its probably easier As in liberal arts and it will transfer better to a law career. but if you don’t get accepted to law school you will have a harder time early in life.</p>
<p>really its up to you. but that 4.0 sounds like you can handle either fine. just keep a 3.6 or better and you will most likely get into a good law school.</p>
<p>You don’t need a “big name” school to get into law school. Law schools care what your GPA is, but not where you got it from. Similarly any undergraduate major will do so long as you can maintain the GPA.</p>
<p>You should definitely not go to any “law counselor” (or whatever your school’s office of career services calls them) to figure things out. Instead, you should go intern at law offices doing the kind of work you think you might be interested in. There’s nothing like actually trying something to see if its for you.</p>
<p>@ultimablade Actually, I am lol It’s surprising to me that you caught that… I chose business as a backup when I got to a community college because I wanted a “safe” route just in case I do not get into a law school. But now, I am faced to make a decision in settling on a major. I would like a safe way out, because it is my future and I don’t want to risk anything even before getting to a law school. Unfortunately, I am not trying to switch completely out of business because that means my two years of education will be lost (I would like to graduate after two years of Smith). Out of the choices the business school is offering, do you think management would be least mathematically based?</p>
<p>@demosthenes49 Thank you for your advice. I guess I am trying to settle on a major where I won’t ruin my GPA within the business school.</p>
<p>Your major should be (1) something that you like and will do well in and (2) something that fits your future life story, as you see it. On your law school applications, you’ll have to give a story of your life and how a law degree fits into it; a finance major doesn’t seem to fit in there, based on what you’ve said.</p>
<p>Finance offers neither of those; you don’t even know what it involves. So ditch the finance idea and consider something else. </p>
<p>@cityentrepreneur I see… Do you perhaps have a suggestion between the business programs that are offered? I am beginning to feel like I should switch back to Management. I have until May to decide what major to declare, but I am sticking with business for sure.</p>
<p>If you want to be a lawyer, something that involves a lot of reading and writing will be good preparation.</p>
<p>If you want to work in civil rights/immigration/etc., then that sounds like a field that would involve a lot of people-orientation.</p>
<p>Management and marketing seem to be the safest bets to me, since they appear to involve the most people relationships, but I didn’t major in either.</p>
<p>My undergrad major was French, and I had done a lot of studying abroad, so when I was applying to law schools, I just explained in my essays that I wanted to do international work, particularly in countries that I had traveled to (some of which were in Eastern Europe and needed help back then). You should have a consistent and true story like that.</p>
<p>Law schools do not care about whether you have a “consistent and true story.” Employers might wonder why you majored in finance and now want to work in immigration though. You should probably have an answer for them. </p>
<p>@cityentrepreneur Oh, wow, your experience sounds awesome. Thank you for your advice!</p>
<p>@Demosthenes49 It seems to me like my best bet with a business degree would be Management or Marketing… However, I do want to keep in mind which is more “useful” in the working field (in terms of job offers, salary, and cont. education with law school). I will do some more research on those two majors!</p>
<p>In addition to the above advice, I’d recommend that you visit the U MD thread on CC to see what other business students have to say about the various majors in the business school. They may be able to address some of the specific concerns you’ve listed.</p>
<p>@crankyoldman Thank you for your advice, as well! I’ve been meaning to find some student-experiences within the program… but they admit so little students that it’s so hard to find some!</p>
<p>@lovelove93 a lot of the higher ranking schools have calculus as i perquisite in business admin. but generally it will have much less math than finance. though since you like liberal arts, what about an Economics major? its basically a hybrid of business and liberal arts with very little math in undergraduate (graduates study nearly as much math as engineering students). though, keep in mind, your school may have more math than others.</p>
<p>@ultimablade I have considered an economics major… but as you may know, econ is not a part of the business school that I got into… and it is very difficult to get accepted into this business school at UMCP. Also, what’s keeping me away from econ is the reputation that most students who do not get into the Smith school go towards econ and I don’t want to be known for that because of my hard work… I can do calculus I, but I’d rather not go past it because I hated doing series and high level differentiation in my calc bc class in high school lol</p>
<p>@Demosthenes49, when you’re writing law school application essays, I do think it helps to have a consistent and true “story”. Even if they don’t, I agree with you that employers will want one. </p>
<p>Whichever major you are one, interested in and two, will be the easiest to secure a 4.0. If you want law school and are determined to get into the best, then don’t shortcut yourself with a difficult major. Choose the easiest and nail a high GPA. Then study your butt off to get a 170+ LSAT and you’re golden. No brainer.</p>
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<p>Not necessarily relevant if you had a passion for whatever you majored in. It could be basket weaving (to earn A’s), or Philosophy or any ‘Studies’ majors.</p>
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<p>Law firms will only care if you being interviewed for a IP position, or a position that requires/uses heavily Econ/Biz. (Some firms in SV, for example, look for STEM majors, or those with some business background/experience.) </p>
<p>Other that that, why would a law firm care if you were a Phil or English or Poli Sci major? The thing most relevant to them is your law school GPA, or if targeting PI work, your ECs. (Few colleges offer undergrad majors for PI…)</p>
<p>Firms may not care as much, but PI organizations definitely do. If you major in finance you’re going to have a much tougher interview for the PD’s office. Similarly you’ll have a much easier interview for a firm’s M&A department, though they’ll focus on your GPA too. I’ve seen a number of firm hiring decisions based on undergrad majors, and heard about several more. Not just in specialized areas like IP or tax either.</p>