Psychologist or Lawyer?

Question

I have a 4.5 GPA in all Honors courses, good work ethic, extracurricular activities, a job and volunteer work. I plan on going to an Ivy League school or one of similar standing upon graduating next year. My main passion is philosophy, and my main skill is writing and languages. I realize studying philosophy won't lead to many potential careers, so I've decided to either become a psychologist/psychiatrist or lawyer. I was thinking to be a psych I could get a PhD and minor in philosophy, and to be a lawyer I could major in philosophy until I grad then go to law school. I believe psychology is slightly more relevant to my interests, but that law may afford me better opportunities in the future. What do you think would be the better route to take? All help is appreciated, thank you.

Answer 1

Not to sound mean or anything but there are alot of people out there that want to be lawyers. My grandma calls them(lawyers) "a dime a dozen." Law school is very difficult and expensive. If it is your true passion go for it.

Answer 2

I believe philosophy would be more readily appreciated in law.  However, understanding of philosophy can assist in preparing you regardless of what field you finally decide upon as it will provide a greater insight to any immediate dilemma.  Good luck!  

Answer 3

The question is a little bit confusing, but...

If you are in High School;

Major in Philosophy with a minor in Communications, if at all possible cross discipline them to get two degrees, although, I doubt it will be possible.  Cross disciplining to get more than one degree only works with Math related subjects; for example because Computer Science and Math majors both require a lot of the same courses, its possible, with a normal credit load, to graduate with two degrees, Math and Computer Science.  However I am not sure you can pull something like that with Philosophy and Communications nevertheless; Philosophy is of vital importance if you are planning on studying law, because it will teach you how to argue.  Communications, will teach you how to project and convey that argument in a convincing if forceful manner.  That is why therefore, Philosophy with a minor in Communications is by far the best preparation for law school.

If you are in college;

Just finish your law degree and don't worry about anything else.

Law school I know only cares if you have a degree (undergrad), and how high your LSAT score is.  The lower your GPA, the higher your LSAT score needs to be but since you are an honors person it does not appear to be an issue.  If you wish to prepare for Law School again, major in Philosophy with a minor in Communications, or double major it.  As far as Law School in concerned, what they want from you, is a high GPA and a Bachelor's, not to mention a high LSAT score.  The LSAT is largely a verbal deal; dealing with a lot of verbal logic, and quite a bit of writting.  That is why Philosophy is such a good major to think about; because the LSAT is word-logic intensive, majoring in Philosophy will make it so that its a cinch.  Also Lawyers do a lot of talking in court, hence the reason you need communications if you are planning on being a trial attorney.

Philosophy is a good major to choose, because it may help you be ethical.  Do well to remember that many Lawyers destroy a lot of lives, especially corporate dogs.  However, the fastest way to make money as a Lawyer, is to be a corporate dog for a while, learn how they operate, and once you know the system inside and out, leave it, and then wait for someone to sue a corporation.  Knowing all their tricks it therefore becomes easy for you to win the case.  That's what Gerry Spence did anyway; he did not make his money from brains you know, but from playing that con game.

good luck.

Answer 4

I think that you can have them both. Not in the literal sense, but in the way that you may have more time to choose than you are allowing yourself. You expressed that your interests line up with psychology more than law. My suggestion is to go the psychology route in your undergrad. The beauty of law school is that you are not locked down to one area of study prior to admittance. You will still be competitive for law school with a degree in psychology. This will allow you to feel out what you like/dislike about the prospect of being a psychologist/psychiatrist, while keeping the concept of a law degree on the back burner. It would also probably help to join campus organizations that would specialize in informing you on either or both pre-law and psychology.  In addition to having the membership on your track record, it might also help you decide later what is best for you.

The next issue comes in with the psychology/psychiatry decision. If you want to be a psychologist, there is no problem with getting a BA and a liberal arts minor, such as philosophy. If you want to be a psychiatrist, there is. Because the psychiatry route requires you to have medical training, it would probably be best if you got a BS in psychology and a minor in a science, such as biology or neuroscience. This is actually what I did. I received a BS in Psychology and minors in Neuroscience and Business. I decided that I did not want to be a psychiatrist, so I went the psychologist route instead. Right now I am in a Health Psychology PhD program that allows me to conduct research in Behavioral Neuroscience and Neurophysiology. So, hopefully that does not make me too bias.

So, to put a big warning sticker on everything that I just said, THIS IS JUST MY OPINION. What really counts is what you want. It is your life and the final decisions on your destiny should be made by you, and you alone.

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

Go on what you enjoy. If you love philosophy, major in it, get your Ph.D. and be a college professor. That is your main passion: do it.