4 ms·

>"whether you major in Arts or Econ or PolSci or English or Philosophy or Culture Studies....you end up in Law !!" Law school has been the "go to" graduate opt

>"whether you major in Arts or Econ or PolSci or English or Philosophy or Culture Studies....you end up in Law !!" Law school has been the "go to" graduate option for the "soft" sciences for a long time, since there is no requisite pre-law undergrad. It's also led to a surplus of Law graduates with no job prospects. >"Is "college education" a proxy for gradschool ?" I believe that is actually teaching college courses. But I could be wrong.

geebee 14y ago
I agree with you about law - this is a kind of "doubling down" on the "no math career path". However, top humanities and arts students with very good grades and LSAT scores can still dramatically improve their earning prospects by attending an elite law school. I suspect that quite a few Williams students fit that description. MBAs are a harder option, because while they don't strictly require any one major, it can be harder to gain the experience MBA programs value with a very unmarketable major. This is a harsh but kind of funny dilbert... http://search.dilbert.com/comic/Journalism%20Major http://search.dilbert.com/comic/Journalism%20Major
- tatsuke95 14y ago
  >"However, top humanities and arts students with very good grades and LSAT scores can still dramatically improve their earning prospects by attending an elite law school." Whole-heartedly agree. I'm an economics guy myself, so I didn't intend to denigrate the degree choice. Top students will succeed no matter what; but the law grad outlook (or lack of) is no joke. http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304458604577486623469958142.html?mg=reno64-wsj http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230445860...
ghaff 14y ago
"Has been" is probably the applicable tense. And I saw this dynamic a lot among many English/Classical Studies/etc. majors that I've know. But, today, probably in no small part because of this dynamic (plus the ability to outsource/automate a lot of low IP legal tasks), the situation is actually pretty bad for middle-of-the-road law school gards from middle-of-the-road schools. The top Harvard grads still mostly do fine but law as a doubling-down strategy after graduating with a not particularly employable liberal arts degree is no longer especially viable.

geebee 14y ago

I agree with you about law - this is a kind of "doubling down" on the "no math career path". However, top humanities and arts students with very good grades and LSAT scores can still dramatically improve their earning prospects by attending an elite law school. I suspect that quite a few Williams students fit that description. MBAs are a harder option, because while they don't strictly require any one major, it can be harder to gain the experience MBA programs value with a very unmarketable major. This is a harsh but kind of funny dilbert... http://search.dilbert.com/comic/Journalism%20Major http://search.dilbert.com/comic/Journalism%20Major

tatsuke95 14y ago
>"However, top humanities and arts students with very good grades and LSAT scores can still dramatically improve their earning prospects by attending an elite law school." Whole-heartedly agree. I'm an economics guy myself, so I didn't intend to denigrate the degree choice. Top students will succeed no matter what; but the law grad outlook (or lack of) is no joke. http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304458604577486623469958142.html?mg=reno64-wsj http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230445860...

ghaff 14y ago

"Has been" is probably the applicable tense. And I saw this dynamic a lot among many English/Classical Studies/etc. majors that I've know. But, today, probably in no small part because of this dynamic (plus the ability to outsource/automate a lot of low IP legal tasks), the situation is actually pretty bad for middle-of-the-road law school gards from middle-of-the-road schools. The top Harvard grads still mostly do fine but law as a doubling-down strategy after graduating with a not particularly employable liberal arts degree is no longer especially viable.