I am a high school senior who will be attending a Top 5 US News school this fall. I'm unsure as to whether I should pursue a career in law, finance, or tech. I have all the resources I need to do anything I want -- my school name, my knowledge in coding/algorithms, and my interest in the social sciences/humanities -- but I'm unsure on any one career path. Luckily, it's my understanding that these careers can overlap in some areas -- especially at the entry-level. For example, I could do IB internships in college, followed by a brief analyst stint before attending law school; or IB and tech internships followed by a pivot to FAANG, all while majoring in CS; etc. To those who have worked in more than one of these fields or have pivoted from one to another, what are your takeaways, what would you do differently, and how did you come to decide on pursuing your current field? Thank you.
Feb 20, 2021Feb 20, 2021
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Comments (6)
Please PM me with any specific questions on law. I have written a number of thorough comments on this that you can look up. In short, I would focus on finance, tech, and consulting if you want to be in the private sector, and not law.
Agree - don't choose law. You have to be obsessed with it and its super boring at times and you're pigeonholed in the end.
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
Don't do law. I was pre-law and now im convinced law schools are just out there just trying to steal naive people's money. Try to major in something that is finance related and minor in computer science. Or double major in like economics and computer sciences and keep your options OPEN.
This is the correct mindset to have in undergrad and right after. Law schools make money for universities because there is such a high student to faculty ratio. Assuming no merit aid, you are paying over 50k a year to be in a classroom with 60-120 other people depending on the school, a rip-off.
econ and CS are great options and nearly everyone I know who went that route is decently well along the path to a fulfilling career. Pre law types are too skittish and scared of numbers, wrongfully so. They overestimate the difficulty of succeeding in such programs if they dropped the humanities.
I would do whatever you gravitate towards the most and actually enjoy. All three have lots of hours and tend to be grueling at times. Whatever you enjoy will help you get through all the bs.
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