Science/Law (1 Viewer)

[amandaz]

i need some advice concerning uni courses.....(btw this is only relevant if i get the marks)
i really like science, & im interested in the law, so i was thinking of doing a science/law degree. however, i dont know how (or even if it will) benefit me in terms of employment ie is their a need in the workforce for science/law grads?
also, is science/law alot of time n effort (in comparison to other combined degrees) ?
my dad thinks im better off doing commerce/law as there is a greater demand. but, i dont know if i will like it (although i might- i never did commerce type subjects at skool?

please help....advice would be sooo helpful

 

[Suvat]

Science/Law requires a lot of hours and work, but I don't see why your employment prospects will be any less doing sci/law than another combo. Perhaps you can be a legal advisor to some r&d company or a lawyer who has a specialised background... A science degree also equips you with a good set of generic skills which will make you more employable.

 

[shannonm]

post graduate employment is so overrated when your nto even if uni yet.
do whatever the fk you want and worry about joining the workforce later (and first year graduate salaries, and all that bullshit)

 

[stamos]

i do sci/law at unsw and it's alright

the hours kind of suck, so make sure you work hard at making yourself a good timetable

and in terms of employment, there are about 35 or something majors you can choose in science, so things would be drastically different if you majored in molecular bio or became a mathematician. You'd need to know more specifics about what a potential science major before you'd know what the career oppertunities are.

also: the science degree and the law degree aren't really linked, so it's not like by choosing it you'd go into scientific law (like drug companies or whatever). you'd probably either graduate and join a firm or persue something in your scientific field. I'm not sure if you realised (because i didn't) that the two degrees aren't really linked

there is one good link between the degrees: sci/law gives you a strong grounding in two forms of artificial reasoning, and the abstract thinking in science really helps me to be creative in law.

but then again i'm a first year, and i'm not exactly an expert hahaha

and yeah science is way harder than law for me

 

[1000words]

i need some advice concerning uni courses.....(btw this is only relevant if i get the marks)
i really like science, & im interested in the law, so i was thinking of doing a science/law degree. however, i dont know how (or even if it will) benefit me in terms of employment ie is their a need in the workforce for science/law grads?
also, is science/law alot of time n effort (in comparison to other combined degrees) ?
my dad thinks im better off doing commerce/law as there is a greater demand. but, i dont know if i will like it (although i might- i never did commerce type subjects at skool?

please help....advice would be sooo helpful

Hi Amanda,

I strongly encourage you to pursue the science/law degree if you have a strong interest in both science and law!

- Demand
I hope to inspire you by saying that many lawyers from many different firm that there is a strong demand for science/law graduates. If you have a list of the major law firms in Australia, have a browse through the staff in the intellectual property, information technology, health and corporate law practices. You will find that many have science backgrounds. Have a look in particular at intellectual property - this is where you can strongly combine your interests in law and science. However, keep in mind that science teaches you unique skills that you can apply in the legal profession without having to maintain an interest in science after university.

I do agree with your father in relation to commerce/law as there a lot of commerce/law graduates in commercial law firm. However, I would also say that a graduate with a science/law background can stand out.

I do encourage you to keep asking about post graduate employment whilst also pursuing an area of interest. It's always good to set yourself up as early as possible whilst also recognising that the market for employment doe change (particularly when you have 5+ years ahead of you). That said, it's still good that you're posing questions such as 'what area of expertise can I pursue with a science/law combination' and I hope I have helped you with that.

- Work load
I think you will find the work load to be quite manageable particularly if you have a genuine interest in those areas. You may have a larger workload than a commerce/law student in the first few years (in the 4th and 5th year, it's pretty much the same) but workload should not be a determinative factor (i.e. if you did an arts degree because of the lower workload but you didn't like the area, it would be more tiring and time consuming to complete the course).

I hope this helps! Please feel free to post more questions if you'd like more information!

Regards,
David