<p>Hey everyone,
I’ve decided to major in information technology, but i’ve still got my eye on the future in relation to my education. The clear option would be either getting a masters in technology management, business analytics, or something of that sort, but I’m more interested in field like research and law. Could I.T be a good jumping point for getting into patent law, or tech law? Also, could it be possible to pursue a Ph.D in an unrelated field such as sociology? Thanks. </p>
<p>I don’t think IT is a good undergrad preparation to study law, patent law, or sociology.</p>
<p>I think you need to do some googling and read up. I don’t think you would be eligible for the patent exam.</p>
<p>To be frank, this is not a way to plan a graduate degree.</p>
<p>A graduate degree is a means to an end - it’s a qualification for a certain kind of job or a set of careers. You get one because you want to work in that field/work in those careers. For example, you get a JD because you want to be a lawyer - not because you want to go to law school. You get a PhD because you want to be a researcher and potentially a sociology professor, not just because it sounds kind of interesting. So on and so forth.</p>
<p>To that end, you need to plan your undergrad career in such a way that sets you up for one of these things, if you know you want one of them. On the flip side, if you don’t know what you want to do exactly, don’t worry about that now. You’ve decided you want to major in IT - that’s great! I’m assuming because it’s some mixture of actual interest in the field and the kinds of careers it can lead to. If that’s the case, just concentrate on your major and try to get experiences that will help you get a job in the field, like internships and part-time jobs.</p>
<p>If you want to be a lawyer, an IT degree by itself probably isn’t good prep for law school. If you designed a curriculum that was also heavy in classes that teach you how to think, write, and analyze like a lawyer (like philosophy, anthropology, theoretical physics) - then perhaps. Also, if you got a few years of experience in the tech world and went back to get a JD, then also perhaps.</p>
<p>If you want to be a sociologist, then you should major in sociology. If you are interested in the sociology of technology - how people interact with technologies and use technology to think about their world - you should still major in sociology, although you might want to double-major or minor in IT. No sociology PhD is going to admit you without significant coursework in sociology. A graduate degree is designed to build upon a threshold/foundation of knowledge earned in undergrad. (Now, there is of course the option of majoring in IT, working a few years, and then taking coursework in sociology to prep to go back to school - but if you already know you want to be a sociologist, this is an unnecessarily long path to doing that, and can diminish your chances of both getting in and getting a professor job afterwards.)</p>
<p>Basically, you don’t have to plan your whole life out now. Follow your interests, and as long as you add practical thinking to the mix you should be fine. But do know that most graduate and professional degrees are intended to build upon a body of some kind of knowledge acquired in undergrad and sometimes in the post-college years, so if you are aiming for a particular type of graduate degree, you need to build that body of knowledge while you are there.</p>