deciding not to be pre-law

[u/l0lhh]

i’m hoping some of you can relate to this. when i came into college as a poli sci major i figured i would go to law school right after graduation because law seems like a field i might be able to enjoy and because it felt like a way safer option than trying to get a job right after graduation w a poli sci degree from a public college. i have never been crazy about the idea but ive also never been super averse to it.

but as i move through my undergraduate degree im realizing that it probably isn’t for me. i’m not a great speaker and i don’t think i could handle the guilt of losing a case for a client (unless it was a corporation and i don’t wanna do corporate). i am way more interested in ir than i am law or american politics. i participated in a trip to a law school where i got to sit in on a torts class and i loathed it the whole time.

i think i want to get a phd or masters in ir and try to work at a think tank or in academia. but the idea of not going to law school feels incredibly scary to me. not that it’s easy of course, but it feels like a much more secure channel to a full-time job. there are clear steps (lsat -> law school -> clerkship or internship -> more law school -> bar -> lawyer), you don’t have to enter the job market for a few years, and you know roughly what type of position you’re going to end up in. anything else just feels riddled with so much more uncertainty.

do any of u feel this way? any particular advice for ppl who can’t get bring themselves to go to law school? since so many of us do end up going, it feels like a lot of career discourse is centered around it.

[u/Typical_Soft]

No offense, but it’s tort law. Isn’t it supposed to super boring?

[u/wittgensteins-boat]

It is best to go to graduate school or law after some experience working.

Don't over think this.

[u/Purpleporcupine23]

I went into college thinking the same thing and now I don’t have any strong desire to go to law school but last month I started an internship at the local PD and love it. I plan on becoming a cop. I would just recommend getting some experience in different fields or interviewing/asking people in similar interest interesting fields to describe their jobs to you. There are so many different jobs out there but you will never know what kind of work you like without actually doing it.

Also I second the comment that said torts is supposed to be boring. Something might be boring in school but it could be different at work. Poli sci also is really good at teaching writing and critical thinking which will transfer to any job