<p>I know law schools don’t necessarily “care” what you major in but when i start law school I’d like to be familiarized with all the concepts, and gain internships ect. Also I’d like to know which major I can go abroad with; cause i plan on doing that my sophomore year. I am a high school senior starting at UCF/FSU in the fall of 2012.</p>
<p>Choices:</p>
<p>Majors:
Political science & Foreign Language
Political Science & Legal Studies
Political Science & History
Political Science & Business</p>
<p>Well, there are all different types of Lawyers. Patent Lawyers, Corporate Lawyer, Tax Lawyers, Civil Lawyers, and so on. Which field of law are you looking to specialize in later on? Also, although most lawyers major in Poli Sci., you don’t necessarily have to major in it. My cousin double majored in poli sci and psychology, got his JD like last year, want’s to eventually become a judge, so he went the civil litigation route in California. Can’t find a job, due to the state being broke. Public sector can’t hire and pay if they have no money. So make sure whatever you major in, has good prospects as back up.</p>
<p>I havent quite decided what branch of law i want to enter, but its either going to be a criminal lawyer like for the DA or with a company. Or international law, or corporate lawyer.</p>
<p>Though I would imagine it would be extremely hard to coordinate in any reasonable amount of time, double majoring in English and accounting would be something to consider. I’m majoring in accounting and minoring in English. I get weird looks from people in both departments, but it works for me. In accounting you lack the writing training but gain a great deal of fundamental knowledge if you want to pursue corporate, tax, m&a, and the like. A successful lawyer friend of mine, who majored in accounting, said an English degree would be great training for law school because of the writing. But I guess poli sci would get you a lot of the writing, too. However, he warned that sometimes people get to law school, see that they don’t want to be a lawyer and get stuck with English, poli sci, philosophy, and similar degrees that don’t directly lead to a clear career-like accounting, finance, engineering do. It’s just something to think about.</p>
<p>Political science and business, because they’re the most corrupt. :D</p>
<p>All joking aside, the law job market is pretty bad I hear. Pick a subject you really like, and if you want to go on to law school, at least you’ll have something you like to fall back on. And if you are dead-set on law school, try to find a specialty that is more in demand in your area or the area you want to live in after your done with school. I have a number of acquaintances who are doing business/law/accounting for mining companies because there’s a big demand there at the moment, and it will be sustained for the forseeable future, for example. There are tons of law subfields. I live in a government town, so political science and business are actually both very useful for someone going to law school. So is family law…</p>
<p>Your mother is very smart. Accounting and computer science are both excellent choices. I looked at the FBI website and found the following.</p>
<p>"The FBI is currently recruiting for Special Agent candidates with one or more of the following Critical Skills: </p>
<p>Accounting
Finance
Computer Science/Information Technology Expertise
Engineering Expertise
Foreign Language(s) Proficiency
Intelligence Experience
Law Experience
Law Enforcement/Investigative Experience
Military Experience
Physical Sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry, biology, etc.) Expertise
Diversified Experience"</p>
<p>So with accounting and CS, you have corporate and criminal law covered because the FBI is all about putting criminals away and lawyers are needed to handle those cases.</p>
<p>Criminal Law: Psychology/Sociology + Accounting/Finance
Corporate Law: Accounting/Finance/Economics
International Law: Political Science/International Relations or Language & Area Studies (if you’re interested in a particular region or country) + Economics</p>
<p>If you were interested in other areas of law, these would be other majors to consider:
History, Philosophy, Classics, Rhetoric, English</p>
<p>I’m thinking of criminal law, or being a district attorney or a corporate law. So how about majoring in Computer Criminology(Computer Science) and Accounting/Finance Minoring in law or business. Thankss for those links!</p>
<p>Or maybe philosophy because I would need it to hone in on my reading skills and since some of the LSAT is logic would it make sense to have that. I’m pretty much trying to incorporate something legal so I can learn basics and such, having a math to fall back on as well as computer science. Conveniently FSU has a major called Computer Criminology which I think is a combo of criminology and computer science</p>
<p>BiancaMarie, you mentioned the computer criminology major. A personal observation. It would seem to me that much of what you will get from the criminology courses, you will get in law school.</p>
<p>As I have perused the wed for info about demand for attorneys, the fields I see coming up are tax, environment, and intellectual property. These require technical knowledge. Actually, I see some similarities for jobs outside the legal profession. Engineers, accountants, and computer scientist are in demand. Also, keep in mind that political connections can play a part in getting a job in the district attorney’s office.</p>
<p>Here is what I would do. Call some law school admissions and placement offices. You can find out what they are looking for coming in and what will be available going out. I would trust answers from them before some guy on an internet site.</p>
<p>Criminal Justice related majors tend to not do as well on the LSAT, either because a lower quality of person is attracted to said majors, or because it doesn’t develop the rigor necessary to excel.</p>
<p>That said, often an Accounting Baccalaureate program requires 150 Semester Credits or 225 Quarter Credits to graduate. That is because state accountancy boards require it, however most Accounting programs only require the typical 120/180. As a result, you might as well take a double major. Just be sure that you get a high GPA as you can so you can get into the best law school you can.</p>
<p>“That said, often an Accounting Baccalaureate program requires 150 Semester Credits or 225 Quarter Credits to graduate.”</p>
<p>That is incorrect. Accouting BS degrees require 120. CPA requirements want the 150 credit and, in general, you will have an MS in Accounting. How do I know this? I have BS in Accouting and a Master of Accouting degrees.</p>
<p>No, it is not incorrect. I said “often,” as in frequently. I didn’t say usually or always or anything of the sort.</p>
<p>Did you even read what I wrote?</p>
<p>You said “Accouting BS degrees require 120”</p>
<p>I had previously said “most Accounting programs only require the typical 120/180”</p>
<p>You said “CPA requirements want the 150 credit”</p>
<p>I had previously said “150 Semester Credits to…graduate…because state accountancy boards require it.”</p>
<p>Schools will often require you to earn 225 credits because they want you to graduate your BA/BS and be able to go straight to work, even though the BAcc only needed 180. I don’t see what your post contributed to the discussion. Also unless one were in the states that require you to have a MAcc, wouldn’t just passing the CPA with your BS in Accounting be enough to be successful in finding a job?</p>
<p>I read what you said. You said schools “often” require 150 semester hours for a BS. Please show me one example because I have never seen it. Every school I have ever seen require 120sh/180qh (and in some cases a couple more credits like UW, Seattle which requires 186qh for the BS). State boards of accountancy may require 150sh/225qh and a BS. Just because state boards may require that doesn’t mean that the schools “often” require 150 semester hours for a BS. They require 150/225 for the BS/MS.</p>
<p>“You said schools ‘often’ require 150 semester hours for a BS. Please show me one example because I have never seen it.”</p>
<p>6 results on first page of google search. Feel free to do it yourself.</p>
<p>University of Washington gives you the option of (1) earning 225 credits or (2) paying significantly more for that 5th year and earning a Masters.</p>
<p>Since you ignored the important question, I will rephrase:</p>
<p>What benefit is there to having a MAc, as opposed to just having a BA with the CPA?</p>
<p>Look, Xavi, I know how to google and that is exactly what I did. I also know the the difference between the word “give you the option” and “often require.” </p>
<p>Do you have a link to the page that says this: “University of Washington gives you the option of (1) earning 225 credits or (2) paying significantly more for that 5th year and earning a Masters.” Becuase I looked at UW accounting department and didn’t see that. And are you telling me over the course of a 5-year education $2,000 is a significant amount, because that’s the difference at UW. I just googles their tuition!</p>
<p>As for the benefits of the MS as opposed to the BS. If I have two identical candidates, and one has a BS and a CPA and the other has a MS and a CPA, the MS gets the nod in my book.</p>
<p>UG Tuition is around 11k and the MAc is 17k or 19k, but it also is a fee-based program and not able to use similar financial aid. So, while the typical UG could be paying something around $3,000 in-state for a year of UG they are paying full freight for the MAc. The difference in cost, according to my advisor when I asked the question, can be as high as 28-29k for full COA. There are other MAc programs in the Seattle area which are evening so you can work to lower your costs but they are just AACSB accredited without the AACSB Accounting accreditation; so I don’t know what their value is.</p>
<p>“As for the benefits of the MS as opposed to the BS. If I have two identical candidates, and one has a BS and a CPA and the other has a MS and a CPA, the MS gets the nod in my book.”</p>
<p>Sure, I get that, but is the pay differential substantial enough to offset the difference in cost? Because I’m to understand that while it may make a difference for a particular firm, that accounting is such a demanded field that it’s likely both would get hired; I’d assume the MAc person would get paid more though, but is it enough to make the difference in cost worthwhile?</p>
<p>What if someone just got an accounting certificate to fulfill the required credits? Some of those are extremely affordable and would appear on a CV as a Post-Baccalaureate Certification.</p>
<p>Xavi, I don’t get your numbers because that is not what I am seeing on the UW website. I see resident tuition of $10,346 for undergards and $12,670 for graduate. And even if it is $3,000 with aid, it is still only a $10,000 difference. Now if you are saying (and that what it appears) you get your BS at UW and look for lower price alternative to finish the 150 hours at a different school, that is a different story. But enough of that for now. If you care to continue this conversation, send me a private message becasue we are getting away from Bianca’s question.</p>
<p>Ok. Enough. Sure it costs more $14K more to get a graduate degree if you load up on lower level classes. Go for it. The MS student will win out. I am done with this.</p>