Choosing a major?

[Lager]

Which major is more rewarding in the end? Which one is tougher? Better overall? What would you choose?

 

[dullard]

I would choose whichever major that fits ALL of these criteria:
1) You will enjoy doing the school work,
2) You will enjoy doing the work for 40 years after school,
3) The major actually gets you a job,
4) The job obtained earns enough income that you will be satisfied.

The answer may be neither law school nor medical school.

Lets apply these to your two choices:
1) Will you enjoy sitting down eight hours a day memorizing lists? Can you do that day in and day out for eight or so years nonstop? If you answered no to either of these then you won't finish medical school. It doesn't matter if finishing medical school will be rewarding or better overall - since you never graduate.
2) When installing a program, do you enjoy reading the license agreement in full, or do you just click accept? If you don't like reading that then you won't enjoy doing that for 40 years as a lawyer (courtroom time is minimal compared to the time you spend reading those over and over and over again).
3) Obviously #3 is satisfied for both majors.
4) But is #4 satisfied? As a public defender you'll make next to nothing, but as a partnership in a big law firm you will make a killing. Same goes with doctors. I know several doctors that are general practitioners with their own office that make next to nothing - but surgeons often make a killing.

 

[gopunk]

i would think it all depends on what you actually want out of life, and what you enjoy.

 

[Schadenfroh]

both, wouldnt be great if you lawyer was also your surgion.

 

[Gyrene]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
both, wouldnt be great if you lawyer was also your surgion.

Yea, then he could help you sue himself for malpractice

 

[astroview]

well, last time i checked neither is a major, its a form of professional school

so are you in HS and asking what you should major in to do one of those, or are you in college and want advice? Either way, excellent GPA (3.8+) in a hard major and good scores on LSAT/MCAT are needed for law or medicine if you want to go to a decent school, or for medicine just plain get in.

 

[notfred]

I wouldn't know which is more rewarding. Neither does anyone else on this forum, unless we have some doctors who practice law on the side that I don't know.

If I was picking a major, it wouldn't be either of those, but I'm not you. To me it looks like you picked the two professions you thought made the most money, rather than ones you were interested in. What do you want to do?

 

[TheBoyBlunder]

I know for a fact it's a bad idea to choose a major based only on how much money you make. If I were you I'd choose open option and take a little bit of everything. When you find something you like, major in that.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: TheBoyBlunder
I know for a fact it's a bad idea to choose a major based only on how much money you make. If I were you I'd choose open option and take a little bit of everything. When you find something you like, major in that.

This is good advice. I know from personal experience that it's a bad idea to declare a major going in. Take your first year or so to get the core requirements - stuff everybody has to take - out of the way, and take a few "extra" courses along the way, in areas that you are interested in. This will give you a chance to investigate different majors, without actually commiting to one and then finding out that either a)you hate it, b)the coursework is over your head, or c) both.

Nate