@thatbooknerd : they would “settle for patent” law? Requires undergrad in engineering. Anyway, I would recommend a business major with courses in the liberal arts college. If you’re not a Stem kid, I am guessing that accounting or finance would also not appeal to you? Btw, good undergrad business schools are also competitive . They’re not necessarily the kids who are so so STEM kids. This is a big misconception in the recent immigrant, Asian community. (I share the heritage, but came here as a child in the seventies. This high pressure stuff in the community is something thats mushroomed in the past 10,15 years or so.)
If you aren’t interested in business, don’t major in it. Major in something you like–psychology is good major for law school. Who knows? Law school may go by the wayside and psychiatry is a better fit.
I’m really sorry you find yourself in this position. Parents have a lot of sway when it comes to college because they are the one’s paying or withholding the funds. My advice is to do what you have to do to get a college degree. Try to convince your family to allow the psychology major or at least double major with something they find acceptable. Once you are done with college, you are no longer dependent on them. With that degree in hand, all choices are open to you. You are very young to make a decision about your ultimate career. Law can be great, but it is NOT something you want to reluctantly go into. Please, please, don’t take out loans to go to law school unless that is your absolute passion. There are many other things you can do. At the very least, take a year or two after college and work in a law firm to see what the life is really like. There are often positions for smart college graduates as paralegals and legal secretaries. Everyone encourages significant doctor shadowing and volunteer experience so prospective doctors can really know what they are getting into. It should be the same with law school. Good luck!
If you’re a hs soph or jr, you have 3-4 years before you officially declare a major.
Take enough business classes that, if you like it, you could major. But take as many psych classes as otherwise fit your schedule.
Don’t argue with them, don’t try to reason…they aren’t listening. Meanwhile, do your best with the remaining hs years. I doubt you know as much about law or family law, as you now think. An open mind is a good thing, especially when there’s so much time between now and then, much to experience.
Ok?
How about Behavioral Economics? Combines both of those. Look into it.
My suggestion…be vague. “Business? I will definitely look into that.”
Is anyone in your family a lawyer? Do they have a clue (aside from watching TV) what being a lawyer is like? I am a lawyer. I went to Georgetown Law (the part of Georgetown not actually in Georgetown. Law school is expensive. The practice of law is brutal. I have been practicing for sixteen years. I had no undergraduate debt. I still have law school debt and will until I retire. Of my friends in law school, one other is still in the private practice of law, and I went to a T14 law school. I happen to be a real estate/transactional attorney. I know the field you are interested in. It pays my bills, but I would not wish it on anyone else.
I am a lawyer. I majored in business and hated it so I changed my major to political science and went to law school. They do not really care what your major is as long as you have good grades and a good LSAT score. I always thought I should major in business to have something to “fall back on” in case I did not get in to law school or did not practice. But, if I had to do accounting or finance every day I would probably need Prozac. 
Having said that, it is hard to know at 16 what you really want to do. So, it is good to have a major where you can get a job. I agree with the other poster who suggested majoring in business then taking psychology classes on the side. I have also had over 100 jury trials and think psychology is invaluable when selecting a jury.
Then you should major in accounting. After law school many who want to be tax lawyers continue on to get a masters in tax. Those classrooms are full of half lawyers and half accountants, and those who do the best are both. I took some classes and as an attorney I couldn’t keep up with those who were working as accountants who were getting tax bulletins every single day.
Anyway, tax study in law school is a third year thing. The first two years are mainly spent on torts, criminal law, contracts, evidence. Most students don’t have time in the schedule for electives like tax until 3rd year, and even then you’ll have options like partnership tax, corporate tax. Those classes barely touch the surface.
You are in high school, have college to complete, and then 3 years of law school. You are a VERY long way from being a tax or patent attorney.
Your parents are making suggestions. I’d recommend business school over psychology too for my kids if law school was in the future. You can major in anything and get into law school, but some majors are better if you end up not going to law school, and business probably has more opportunities than psychology without further college.
^^ Exactly. For Tax Law, you need the accounting background. For Patent Law, you need at minimum a good undergraduate degree and several years of work in the field you are going to specialize in - better yet a PhD and solid expertise in that field. If you aren’t interested in doing that much serious science, you don’t want Patent Law - that is just your dad the engineer talking from his own life experience.
Focus on your grades. Focus on your ACT/SAT exam scores. Focus on one or two ECs that you care about, and keep up the good relationships with your teachers. Position yourself for serious merit-based aid so you don’t need either parent’s money for college, and you will be able to study whatever it is that you want.
Law has an amazing range of career possibilities. And huge variations of income.
If YOU ultimately WANT law (for yourself, not your parents), it doesn’t matter what you major in.
Major in something where you learn to write. And can get great grades.
Major in something you really like in case you change your mind and law school gets scrapped.
You don’t need to major in accounting to do tax law. But you need to LIKE accounting and all the intricacies that come with that major to enjoy it. Tax law is ANOTHER degree and another year or two on top of law school.
Go to the best law school you can. The school you attend for law matters. And your grades matter.
Lawyers fresh out of school don’t make that much usually–they don’t have any experience.
You’re young. You’ve got some time. But not too young to do some job career research to find possibilities of things you might be interested in.
Your parents have a limited view of psychology. Granted–you’ll need graduate degrees but law is a graduate degree.
What are the careers you can do with psychology? Counseling? Marketing? Management? Research? Advertising?
Human Resources? Lots of possibilities–just make them apply to the job you ultimately want.
Look up Dan Ariely–he’s a Duke professor of Psychology. Totally fascinating. Read some of his books and blogs. Many have to do with money and business.
Maybe you’ll get inspiration!
All this talk about law school and even college majors when this kid is only 16. So much will be learned, growth and maturity et al before he even gets to any college.
Now is a good time to hear your parents and not worry about what they say. Relax and continue being a kid. By the time it matters you will be an adult and much more power over your life. For now taking appropriate classes and doing as well as you can in them so you have good college options should be your only concern. One step at a time.