How Much Does Your Undergrad School Matter? Forum

[Gunnar Stahl]

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[alwayssunnyinfl]

I still see these hypotheticals as mind-numbingly dumb. Go to the school where you see yourself enjoying your education the most, try to go as cheaply as possible, and focus on doing well on the LSAT and studying something you enjoy that is practical so you have a good fall back if you make the wise decision to forgo law school.

FTFY

I don't care how much you want a good, middle class life, don't major in a STEM unless you enjoy it. You're just going to tank your GPA and hate your life.

[stillwater]

I still see these hypotheticals as mind-numbingly dumb. Go to the school where you see yourself enjoying your education the most, try to go as cheaply as possible, and focus on doing well on the LSAT and studying something you enjoy that is practical so you have a good fall back if you make the wise decision to forgo law school.

FTFY

I don't care how much you want a good, middle class life, don't major in a STEM unless you enjoy it. You're just going to tank your GPA and hate your life.

Humanities FTW

[northwood]

STEM??

i didnt know they had a major devoted to the backwards baseball( and related) decisions of the ny mets

[alwayssunnyinfl]

Just in case you're serious: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

[Gunnar Stahl]

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[alwayssunnyinfl]

I agree, but where did I say anything about STEM? Some business majors are alright still, and picking something that you enjoy isn't necessarily a good fallback. I guess TCR is to keep your debt down and pick something with decent job prospects that you can tolerate, hustle for internships, and hope for the best.

Good point. STEM degrees are just the typical fallback option for students who don't really have passion for a particular subject area but want to go to college to get a job. I was one of those kids, and that kind of thinking screwed me royally because the first two years of most STEM programs are specifically targeted to weed out a large chunk of the class. I kick myself for not majoring in music every time I look at my horrible GPA.

[northwood]

Good point. STEM degrees are just the typical fallback option for students who don't really have passion for a particular subject area but want to go to college to get a job. I was one of those kids, and that kind of thinking screwed me royally because the first two years of most STEM programs are specifically targeted to weed out a large chunk of the class. I kick myself for not majoring in music every time I look at my horrible GPA.

This is true, but unless you were 100% sure you wanted to go to law school while in undergrad ( and thus knew that keeping a high UGPA is important), its better to pick a major that either can help you get a job, or one that you are "passionate" and want to hustle to get a job ( more the former than the latter this day and age).

Looking back is kinda pointless. Sure, knowing what you know now may have influenced you to change your major, but what good is a easy major if you were to decide to change career paths and do something else?

Im not saying anything bad about how it worked out for you, or that in your case it was a bad/ good decision. I'm just saying that there are other things to consider besides law ( or any other professional school) when deciding what major to choose.

[Crowing]

Good point. STEM degrees are just the typical fallback option for students who don't really have passion for a particular subject area but want to go to college to get a job. I was one of those kids, and that kind of thinking screwed me royally because the first two years of most STEM programs are specifically targeted to weed out a large chunk of the class. I kick myself for not majoring in music every time I look at my horrible GPA.

This is true, but unless you were 100% sure you wanted to go to law school while in undergrad ( and thus knew that keeping a high UGPA is important), its better to pick a major that either can help you get a job, or one that you are "passionate" and want to hustle to get a job ( more the former than the latter this day and age).

Looking back is kinda pointless. Sure, knowing what you know now may have influenced you to change your major, but what good is a easy major if you were to decide to change career paths and do something else?

Im not saying anything bad about how it worked out for you, or that in your case it was a bad/ good decision. I'm just saying that there are other things to consider besides law ( or any other professional school) when deciding what major to choose.

Not every STEM major is actually useful either. Some are completely useless (physics) and others are equally useless without an advanced degree (biology).

[Gunnar Stahl]

Not every STEM major is actually useful either. Some are completely useless (physics) and others are equally useless without an advanced degree (biology).

And even with the advanced degree in bio you're probably going to be a lab rat making 30k/year with no benefits.

[Crowing]

Not every STEM major is actually useful either. Some are completely useless (physics) and others are equally useless without an advanced degree (biology).

And even with the advanced degree in bio you're probably going to be a lab rat making 30k/year with no benefits.

It's more like 50k but yeah contracting work sucks and even some PhDs are resorting to it in the current market.

I have a lot of connections within the bio/agsci industry so I know if I wanted to pass on LS I could get a permanent position even with just a BS. But there's 0 upward mobility without a PhD and I pretty much hate labwork anyway.