<p>do the colleges you are thinking of applying to really make you decide on your major when you apply? while i know that some schools require you to apply to a specific “school” or “program”, i can’t say i’ve heard of any schools that make you commit to a major when you are first applying – many ask what you intend to major in, but MANY applicants indicate “undecided” – and usually even if you put down a major, there is nothing binding about that. most colleges give you until end of sophmore year or beginning of junior year to decide – most college want their students to have a chance to try out different courses before they have to select a major. before you assume you have to have your major decided before you apply, look into what the schools you are interested in actually require in this regard.</p>
<p>as for your fear about being “30” and still not having passed the bar – right now, being 30 may sound really old to you – but there are MANY people who first graduate law school when they are 30 or over – so first of, get a little perspective here – being 30 is not that old to begin a career in law. But if your question is really about people failing the bar exam multiple times – yes it happens. I think some states may even have limitations on how many times you can take the exam and fail – or at least how often you can take the exam after failing multiple times (i think at some point you might need to get permission to take it again - but i’m not sure - would certainly depend on the state). Worst case scenario – you can’t pass the bar. Not the end of the world, just time then to rethink career paths - something A LOT of people do for a variety of reasons. </p>
<p>But quite honestly, for you to be basing what you want to do NOW on the possibility of IF in 4 years you still want to go to law school, and IF you then get into law school and IF you graduate, and IF you repeatedly fail the bar, you don’t know what you would then do, is really getting way ahead of yourself. There is no way now, as a 17 year old you can have any clue as to how likely it will be that you will pass the bar exam in 8 years. You are better served worrying about what classes to take next year (and working hard in them), when to take your SAT’s, what colleges you want to apply to, etc. All this stuff about law school and passing the bar exam is simply not something you need to be dwelling on now – you are not solving anything for yourself by trying to make decisions NOW about where you will be 8 years from now based on the likelihood of passing an exam that currenlty you know nothing about.</p>