Premed vs. Prelaw vs. Prebusiness

<p>I know you can't fully generalize, but what characteristics/interests do you think a person must have to pursue medicine, law, and business?</p>

<p>I am interested in all three and really want to figure out what I want to do.
I am a freshman at Northwestern and am currently taking General Chemistry as a premed.
However, I am really interested in business and law and although there are only a few courses required for premeds, I really do not want to take them unless I am sure I want to pursue medicine and not law or business.
I know orgo, bio, and physics would only bring my GPA down and severely hurt my chances of getting into a top law or business school.</p>

<p>If I am premed, I would just want to get into a medical school in the U.S.
If I am prelaw or prebusiness, I would definitely want to get into a TOP law or business school because this is where the graduate school makes a big difference in career/salary later.</p>

<p>I really am not sure which one to pursue wholeheartedly and am trying to figure out which one would make me most happy and which one I would be best at.
What qualities do you think someone has that makes them right for medicine, law, or business?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>You should post this in a couple more subforums.</p>

<p>Posts in 5 (at least) subforums isn’t sufficient? </p>

<p>OP: see how you do in Chem. Followed by Organic Chem. And Bio. Med schools want to see top grades in a pre-med program AND top MCAT scores. You have to WANT IT. [And would you want someone who barely got by deciding on your treatment for a serious illness?]</p>

<p>Law schools (currently) care about LSAT score and GPA for their 1st cut on applicants. A curriculum where you can earn a high GPA regardless of non-law employability <em>may</em> be a rational decision. Although you will need strong critical thinking and reasoning skills to do well on the LSAT and in law school, and an ability to read, write well, and think on your feet may help. Philosophy is considered to be good preparation for law school. [and if you are unemployed after graduation, you will be able to explain what it all means.]</p>

<p>Business wants to see some actual skills in business-related topics and often work experience after completing your undergraduate degree if you pursue an MBA. [An MBA who went K-12-BA-MBA with no real work experience is analogous to a 5 year old with a loaded gun - very dangerous to themselves and all around them.]</p>

<p>Use you general education courses, on campus research and career-related employemnt, and internships and summer jobs to explore interests and options in each field. The career plans of most freshmen almost always change, often a few times, between matriculation and graduation. (As do the careers of the post graduated working population.)</p>

<p>medicine >> law.</p>

<p>Do your best as a premed in college and keep your GPA up. Apply to med schools, and if you get in, great. If you can’t cut it with med school, that’s when you should consider alternatives, such as law school.</p>

<p>Law schools don’t care about anything as long as you have a high GPA and LSAT score. </p>

<p>Business? If you mean I-banking, consulting, or the like, if you want to enter that career trajectory, you should keep your GPA high and take internships for your summers. Then, try to secure a finance or consulting job out of college. </p>

<p>If you are not too sure, you can work after college in finance or consulting and see if you like it or not. If you still want to attend medical school, you can apply to medical school after working a couple of years after college. I would only recommend law school only if you are strongly interested in becoming a lawyer, otherwise never go to law school.</p>

<p>Which route a person pursue ultimately depends on the interests and risk profile of that person. </p>

<p>All three areas involves problems solving. Medicine involves more science. Law involves more pure logical reasoning. Finance/consulting involves more quantitative analysis. With regards to job security, you will likely be making 6 figures for the rest of your life after medical school (over $300000/year if you went to a great medical school and entered a great specialty). For law, you can get fired when the economy tanks, but you still have more job security than bankers/consultants.</p>

<p>However, one thing to keep in mind is that all these paths involve unpredictable work schedules.</p>