From the time I got to college until 11:30 this morning, my plan has been to major in Political Science with a Pre-Law concentration, go to law school, and become a lawyer. I'm interested in law, I know I'm smart enough to handle it, and the pay is good.

Today I went to my Criminal Procedure class for the first time (the first class was this past Tuesday, but I switched into the class late) and the professor (who is also a lawyer) asked who in the room wanted to become a lawyer. I raised my hand, along with most of the other students in the class. He then went on to talk about how much it sucks and tried to discourage people from doing it. This isn't the first time I've heard this, every political science / law professor I've had has gone on the spiel about how being a lawyer sucks. It didn't faze me though, because who doesn't hate their job?

Later on in the class, I got a really random and sudden desire to become a teacher instead. Becoming a teacher is something I've thought about a lot, and always decided against. I'm not sure where this random desire came from, or if it had anything to do with my professor talking about how stressful law school is and how much being a lawyer sucks, but I can't seem to shake it. For whatever reason, I feel like I want to be a teacher now, instead of a lawyer.

The problem is, I'm already pretty deep into my degree, and I don't want to start over. Is it possible for me graduate with a political science degree and then get my masters in education and teach government or social studies or something? Would I have to start over with a different major? My college doesn't offer an undergrad education degree, but I can get my degree in something related to what I want to teach and then just get my masters in education, right? Should I just forget about it and go back to my original plan to go to law school? If anyone has any advice I'd love to hear it, because I'm really not sure what to do.

Finish the political science degree and then enter into a program post graduation for education, if that’s the route you want to take. A lot of teachers originally don’t do any kind of education path, but go on to get their masters in education, that’s what my parents did.

If you want to teach a government/social studies class, finishing your major on track would be the best idea, just use your elective credits to start an education track, if your college has that.

Your best bet would be to talk to someone at the career center, if you have one, and go over a plan to make sure you have the right credits to enter a masters program with an education intent. Most education degrees won’t require as many hours if you’ve already completed a bachelors degree, so you shouldn’t have much problem converting. Also, the time it would take to get a education masters would still be less time than going through law school.

I was grown from two K-12 educators, and neither of them started with an education major, they just went on to get a masters in education. If teaching is really what you want to do, go for it. My dad has taught social studies for almost 10 years now, he was previously a special ed teacher, and he loves teaching social studies. Pay isn’t great, but that’s the trade off.

I’d spend more time weighing your options, and then go talk to someone who can run your transcript and make sure that you’ll be all set to enter an education masters program. Best of luck!

tgags123 : Hi tgags! I also wanted to be a lawyer, but ended up becoming a teacher instead. In my first 4 years of college, I got an English BA with Spanish and Legal Studies minors. I also got paralegal certification with the Legal Studies minor. I had to do an internship with a defense lawyer, which is what made me decide not to work in law. It then would have taken me 1 year to get my English teacher license, but I decided to go for 2 more years to get an Elementary Education BS. So that would be similar if you wanted to teach social studies in middle or high school (about 1 extra year to do field study and student teaching). I would definitely not get a Masters right away, just Bachelors in education. Many school districts now do not pay more salary for a Masters, and the difference in cost for credits can be HUGE! Also, another reason to go into teaching (besides excellent vacations) is a pension! In Wisconsin anyway, teachers can retire after teaching for 30 years (age 55) and basically get a full year's salary for the rest of your life. The pay might not be great to start, and I know it's hard to think that far down the road, but it's a great advantage. Barathemos had it right when he said to get things figured out with your career center or adviser though to know what plan might be best for you. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck!

Barathemos :
kramer4077 :

Thank you both for your advice! I'll definitely keep what you guys said in mind as I think over what I want to do. I'm also going to talk to my step-mom, who is a teacher. And I'll definitely talk to an advisor before doing anything.

Also, nice to see you on here again kramer

I would finish the degree. You are close enough. If anything, it'll be a waste of your time. The only reason I changed my degree was because it was the first semester, and all my classes that I took the first semester would still work for my pre-reqs and the stuff that was for the previous major still worked for my freebies.

What am I saying is, is that you are too far in to back out now. At this point, finish your degree, and get a 2nd one if that's the way you really want to go. A 2nd degree can only help when it comes to getting a job.
Just do what you think is right, and you'll come out alright.

First of all a degree is a degree. It shows a commitment to self improvement and regardless of how irrelevant it looks on a job application it still holds significant weight. 

Also please keep in mind that this happened over the course of one class.... The teacher could just be forcing their opinions on you in a charismatic way. Just because I think something sucks doesn't mean it does right... etc 

Just do what you want to do, if you still can't figure it out talk to someone about it. Like others have stated it's actually very normal to not have a solid idea on what your future plans are going to be, or how they play out. 

Simply put getting a degree is better than just wasting your time. 

Sonicmcmuffin : It had nothing to do with what he was saying though. Lawyers always tell me that being a lawyer sucks, I hear it all the time. I'm not really sure what caused it, it just happened. It's hard to explain because it isn't exactly logical.

I'm definitely getting a degree, I'm not considering dropping out or anything. I just don't know if I sure stick with Political Science.

tgags123 : I know this is me just being me. But have you consider that lawyers don't want other people to become lawyers so that there isn't as much competition for them in the job market?

I mean if your in a competitive job role.. last thing you need is more people going for the jobs right?

Sonicmcmuffin : Nah, these are people that are already established and making bank. They aren't worried about some college kids. By the time we have enough experience to compete with them they'll be retired.

Maybe you should finish your dregree first then go experince it and understand why. When you done with all the bad lawyer stuff, you would have money to go to collage again. Then become a teacher and teach those students which by this time you would also say not become a lawyer. it is the cycle of a law teacher.

This thread is kinda old now, did you ever decide what to do about your major?