<p>To all you experienced theater majors out there, how did you tell your parents that you were going into a theater major? Mine are having a conniption that I'm going to one of the most expensive schools in Iowa, and are dead set on me being a lawyer. I'm double majoring in communication studies and theater, so will that help at all? Or should I just not tell them? </p>
<p>Thank you!! </p>
<p>Tell them that as long as your grades are high and you kill the LSATs, it doesn’t really matter what you major in undergrad. i.e. you can still go to law school if acting doesn’t work out.</p>
<p>Thank you!:)</p>
<p>Don’t tell them…</p>
<p>Tell them you can always pursue Law as a Masters Degree. That should appease them for now. Also, this is a legitimate fallback plan to appease any of worries and doubts you may have yourself.</p>
<p>I recommend you have them read the following about what theatre majors learn: <a href=“http://lecatr.people.wm.edu/majorslearn.html”>http://lecatr.people.wm.edu/majorslearn.html</a>
If the link doesn’t work, go to Louis E. Catron’s web site and look for the article “What Theatre Majors Learn.”</p>
<p>jkelly is spot on. A great lsat and great GPA will get you into law school, at least it used to. plus acting could come in handy for oral presentation skills that lawyers need so you will get a helpful background doing that. at some point, look at all the law school discussion on cc. Getting into law is nowhere near as lucrative as it once was. if down the road, you can get your parents to see the light on that issue, that may help them back down too. </p>
<p>How can you not tell your parents what you’re majoring in at college? I don’t understand that. It’s too early to be thinking of going to law school anyway, and no parent should be ‘dead set’ on their child following any particular career path, in my opinion.</p>
<p>As others have said, you can apply to law school with any undergrad major. So, if you have a great gpa and a great LSAT score in a few years, and, most importantly, YOU want to be a lawyer, you can apply with your communications and drama undergrad. It’s probably worthwhile to let your parents know that law is not a great goal these days unless you can get into a top law school. About 50,000 law grads are unleashed on the country each and every year, and fewer than half of them will get a job. </p>
<p>Compared to how many theater majors… and how many of them get jobs?</p>
<p>^“Jobs” as in “it only counts if you’re on Broadway”? Or jobs as in you have a way to earn money and, if you are motivated and persistent, are also keeping theater (or whatever art is your calling) as part of your life? It’s pretty different to be a 22-year-old with a bachelor’s degree navigating through those early years out of school than to be a 25 or 26-year-old newly minted JD working at something other than law. Law school is quite a different investment, for one thing!</p>
<p>@Times3 No, not “just” Broadway. I meant that the market can be tough with lots of degrees (bachelors, masters, even a PhD- trying to get a tenured professor spot!) There was a long period in American history where having a college degree was exceptional… and therefore came with pretty much a guarantee of success. Then, as time went on (for large segments of the population- certainly not everyone) a college began to become more of the “norm”… and a post graduate degree (MBA, Law School, Med School- whatever) seems to be the way to guarantee success. But more people get them, so things move along again. And I guess I was kind of poking fun too… is there anyone majoring in theater (or with a kid majoring in theater) who HASN’T had to defend it as a “real” major? My Dad ADORES my D (1st grandchild) and we had to sit him down a few months ago (with the Louis Catron article in hand!) b/c he was sure she was “wasting her time” with the idea of a BFA. @callmeanactor - if you do decide to major in theater, you might have to spend a lot of time defending it. So do philosophy majors, and photography majors, and Women’s studies majors, and history majors (shout out! I was one!) and lots of other people. IMHO- college is a time to explore passions and spend time learning about things you love.</p>
<p>No, not jobs as in only Broadway counts, buy jobs as in a steady paycheck with benefits, an annual salary, and a real career path. I also hear this discussion a lot. Sometimes, it gets pretty heated. But, I do think most of them will figure out how to be fine, somehow.</p>
<p>A law degree in the US is a doctorate degree (3 years full time), not a masters. PPs are correct, if your undergrad GPA and LSAT scores are top notch, you should not have a problem getting into a good law school regardless of your undergraduate major. I was a dance/theater dance and I’m a lawyer now. So there’s that. While the market for attorneys certainly has changed since I graduated, it is undoubtedly easier to find work than as an actor. I do still have law school debt. :(</p>
<p>Thank you all. 
Now I know I can always choose law as a backup, although it isn’t sounding too peachy of a backup. </p>
<p>Please do ever consider deception as a way to avoid an uncomfortable situation with your parents, you do not want to jeopardize your relationship with them. Plus, if you want them to respect your opinions and such, you need to act like an adult!!! </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Fewer than half will ever get a job as a lawyer. My guess is that if fewer than half of all theatre majors ever got a theatre-related job, it would be an even riskier choice than it already is. It’s not just a case of the market being tough. There are far too many law schools in the U.S. pumping out grads every year who will never ever practice law. The debt involved is also very different for each.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Actually, it isn’t either. A Juris Doctor is not an actual doctorate.</p>
<p>alwaysamom - hmmm, I guess we’ll have to respectfully agree to disagree. A Juris Doctor is a doctoral degree in law and is what is considered a “professional doctorate” awarded in certain fields where scholarly research is closely aligned with a particular profession, such as law, medicine, social work or psychology - as opposed to a “terminal degree” (e.g., Phd, SJD, etc.) - which is the highest degree one can receive in a particular field. The American Bar Association even considers the J.D. the equivalent to the Ph.D. for educational employment purposes.</p>
<p>I’ve honestly never heard that before, annelisesmom, and I have a dozen lawyers in my family and know hundreds more. Just asked my H, who after 35+ years of practice has also never heard it referred to as a doctorate. Since a JD is the equivalent of an LLB which is a Bachelor of Laws, it baffles me why the ABA would consider it equivalent to a PhD, especially since it is possible to pursue an actual PhD in law. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that the ABA has done something baffling. :)</p>
<p>As a lawyer (that is also married to another lawyer and has many friends that are lawyers), annelisesmom is correct. Although our degrees are written in Latin, JD stands for Juris Doctoris. There’s another degree, LLM, that is a Master of Laws. </p>
<p>On the topic at hand, in all honesty if the law is not a passion of yours, don’t bother with law school. The rigors of First Year does an effective job of weeding out students that do not love the law. </p>
<p>I’m also going through something similar. As a parent, you want your child to be fulfilled and financially secure. There is a view that theater careers may be high risk from a financial perspective and filled with rejection. Only a small percentage seem to make it “big.” To avoid the boomerang situation, your parents would probably like you to have a good alternative available in case things don’t work out. You may want to think about a plan B and discuss it with your parents. A double major seems like a good middle ground. </p>
<p>I would also say if you don’t have the passion for theater then you shouldn’t attempt that either. This grueling profession takes a certain mindset and the friends I have in the business say if you have a Plan B then that is what you should dedicate your life to.</p>