Hi, new to the forum, do you think this is a good idea? Forum

[RaiderInBlue47]

Hello, I'm starting my freshman year of UG this fall. I've been trying to figure out what the hell I want to do with my life. I've visited over 30 schools and been to a bajillion college fairs and I've narrowed it down to 2 potential careers.

1.) Law

2.) Concrete Industry Management.

Two pretty different professions. CIM is really interesting in that I go to one of five schools with this program. And my school is the oldest and best of these six (the Harvard of concrete, if you will). And they're paying me to go through this program, too! My cousin got into this program and claims it as the best decision of his life. He's now an estimator for a commercial construction company in Chicago, making ~$70k. He's got a condo in Lakeview, no more than 10 minutes from Wrigley Field. Sweet life for a 20something single Cubs fan. However, his job is kinda boring. It's a 9-5 and he goes out to estimate costs for constructing parking garages and whatnot. Not that big of a job but it's in big need so he gets paid very well.

On the other hand, I really wanna be a lawyer. I don't care about the money, I don't care about biglaw, I just want to be a lawyer. I wouldn't care for much else besides working for a local firm in a medium-sized town. I don't need to be Atticus Finch or whatever, just to work in law. I attended this summer college program a year ago and took 3 college-level pre-law classes for credit: Constitutional Law, Legal Writing and a Philosophy class on logic. I loved every second of it! I even worked up an elementary outline for Con Law and got an A in all 3. I know that there's a difference between a UG pre-law class being taken by high schoolers but I still enjoyed the heck out of it, especially Con Law (it brings out my inner American History geek, with my bookshelf of David McCullough books).

So essentially, this is a passion vs. freedom thing. However, I could do both. I could major in CIM and be able to partake in their internships and career services and whatnot. At the same time I could minor in Poli Sci and take all of their pre-law classes. This sets me up for a $50k+ job after college (and surprisingly recession-proof, they had something like an 80% employment rate for last year's grads). I figure that if I got to work for a while in concrete and didn't like it, I could still look into law school. I know that NU and Boalt look pretty well on work experience.

I'd ideally like to find a concrete job in Chicago, save up for several years and then apply to UChicago, GW, GULC and Northwestern (and some T2/T3 schools). This would keep me out of debt, give me that work experience and would set me apart from the average bear. But I'd settle for a concrete job anywhere and going to law school at a mid T1. Whatever allowed me to be happy.

TLS, good call? Bad call? Thoughts?

[09042014]

Get good grades, and take the concrete job for a while. If you hate it go to law school.

He doesn't work for Walsh does he? Those guys can go suck a dick.

[februaryftw]

If you minor in Pol S and take courses that give you an opportunity to research and write (not just for admissions, but as preparation for law school), I don't see why doing both is a bad idea. Schools barely care what your major is, they primarily care about your GPA.

[Bosque]

I know you are probably serious, but somehow when I envision someone going into concrete or law the only thing I can think of is the mob.

But yah, your plan seems fine. Except you can drop the poly sci. No one will care about it.

[xyzzzzzzzz]

..