Struggling with important life decisions. Please help.

[AmeliaG]

>Amelia
There's a great chance that I'll graduate with a degree in pre-law, but probably I won't go to law school. What attracted me to the art school is that their job placement rate. I believe 80% of graduates are working in the area of their study which is pretty high for an art school. Who knows, even if I go there, I might end up being the other 20%. Thank you very much for your advice.

I see I explained myself very badly. What I meant by encouraging you to talk to alumni that you would be pleasantly surprised that they are using their education in jobs and industries that most people didn't know exist. There are so many jobs out there that can use skills you never thought of.

So I agree with you; I'd at least try.

 

[VRBeauty]

First there's no reason for you to "feel stupid" or bad in any way about posting your question. What you're struggling with is big stuff and you're wise to seek opinion and insight from others, even us ( ) as you consider your options.

I'm not sure what you mean by choosing "pre-law" as a major. Unless things have changed a lot since I was in school - which is entirely possible, by the way - not many US schools offer "pre-law" as a major, which means that U.S. law schools don't require a pre-law major as a prerequisite! Law schools accept a variety of majors... as they should, as their graduates will go on to specialize in a variety of areas. Of course some majors will be preferred, and some will have higher acceptance rates than others. Also you'd be wise to include "pre-law" type classes in your curriculum, both for transcript purposes and to prepare yourself for law school.

Please forgive me if you're already aware of all this, and were using "pre-law" as shorthand.

 

[Sakuracherry]

>Amelia
I think that's a great idea! English is my not first language, so I might have misread your comment. Thank you.

>VRBeauty
Thank you very much for comforting me. To clarify, my major is really "pre-law". It does exist in my school. I believe law schools do not have any prerequisite unlike medical schools. However, my husband thought it was the best major for me as I do not have common sense most Americans have. I didn't go to high school here, so there's so much for me to learn. For example, American history and Politics.

 

[VapidLapid]

Hang in there Sakuracherry. A few random thoughts: Not having an american sensibility is not a disadvantage, not in any field, nor in most countries. Multidisciplinary approaches and skills are far more useful, and foster more creativity, than specialized, but limited training.

I finished school and became a waiter, nah, I already was one to get through school. I also worked for an estate appraiser, which means I worked estate sales. At least I got first dibs, but my allergies ...
I rented commercial space and set up an art studio. In a few years I had a gallery, had been in a couple of museum shows (mostly in europe) and got some large and impressive grants. I still earn my living from making art, and am incredibly lucky for that. I taught art at a college art school for a year, the same school I had gone to, and hated it.

You are young. You will likely have more than one major career in your life. There are many different careers within any given discipline. Be happy.

 

[madelise]

Please choose the option where you are happiest. Don't allow anyone, not even your husband, crush your dreams, and force you into a mold. Be firm with him, and tell him to support you in your choices.

Yes, you are very young and have plenty of time ahead of you to change your mind or whatever.. but why wait on happiness? Every year elsewhere is another year "wasted", not doing photography.

 

[Alexiszoe]

What attracted me to the art school is that their job placement rate. I believe 80% of graduates are working in the area of their study which is pretty high for an art school. Who knows, even if I go there, I might end up being the other 20%. Thank you very much for your advice.

SakuraCherry,

80% placement rate sounds great. However, I would be asking the school more questions about their statistics to ascertain the validity.

1) Where did they get these figures from, was it from alumni who graduated within the last 1 to 2 years, or was it to all alumni? (if it was sent to all alumni the figure might be very skewed since there might be people in there who graduated 5 or 6 years ago with years of work experience versus a fresh grad)

2) How was the survey conducted? Web surveys typically have a 30 to 35% response rate - so those who respond are a very selective group, while the remaining 65 to 70% of those who don't respond could possible be jobless, which threatens the validity of their findings. 80% placement for the 30% of students who choose to respond is not a very encouraging number.

3) Do they have figures for the percentage of graduates who are in full time versus part time employment? There are substantial differences in job security, pay and benefits between full time and part time work.

These are some questions I would suggest you ask the administration about their placement rates. You might be able to guess by now what field I am in I strongly urge you to ask them these questions if their strong placement rates is one of the key factors in your decision to apply there because how they collected the information will directly impact the types of figures they get and the reliability and validity of it.

 

[AmeliaG]

However, my husband thought it was the best major for me as I do not have common sense most Americans have. .

Hold on, your husband can't choose your major for you. Before you choose your career, I think you better talk to your husband about treating you with respect and not as a child who must be constantly watched to prevent her from making a mistake. You're going to have a hard time doing anything you want until you get that respect.

 

[VRBeauty]

However, my husband thought it was the best major for me as I do not have common sense most Americans have. I didn't go to high school here, so there's so much for me to learn. For example, American history and Politics.

Sakuracherry - Law school is emotionally, intellectually, and financially challenging. I considered it myself at one time, and I have many friends who went through law school - most went with the intent of practicing law, but one or two used it mainly to enhance the careers they already had in other fields. Whether you decide it's the right road for you or not isn't important for now, but I do think it's important that you make the decision yourself.

The fact that you weren't raised here is not an excuse for ceding this decision to your husband. There are ways for you to find out more about your options, and specifically to find out more about the career he's steering you towards. You can talk to college counselors or take career aptitude tests. Since you're already in college, you can take classes related to the career options you're considering, or talk to professors who teach those classes. Some law schools offer counseling and resources to undergrads who are considering law school. You can talk to friends who are in law school, or in the field.

You can research career options on the internet. A good place to start is a google search, for example, on the term "is law school right for me?"

You can do the same for your interest in art, by the way.

But really, allowing your husband to make this important decision isn't being fair to yourself... and it really isn't fair of you to put this burden on him, either.

 

[Sakuracherry]

>VapidRapid
I'm sure you're a wonderful artist and worked hard to reach the position you have now. To me, having grown up in another country is a bid disadvantage as a college student. There are too many things I need to learn. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'll just do my best at whatever I end up doing. Thank you.

>Madelise
Thank you. I'm sure I'll find something I can be passionate about. All I know now is that I don't want to work as a waitress forever. College is fun and I enjoy learning new things.

>Alexis
Great advice! I can speak to somebody in the admissions if I ever decide to reapply

>Amelia
I'm sure my husband would support me if I wanted to be a teacher, for example. He just doesn't want me to go to an expensive art school and end up working as a waitress forever. As some people suggested, becoming a photojournalist is not a realistic dream. I'll probably keep taking pictures even if I get a job in a different field. Thank you.

>VRBeauty
Thank you for taking your time to write for me again. Yes, it was stupid of me to let my husband decide my major. I was set on going to the art school. I applied to the college I go to now just in case I got rejected from the other school. I was over the moon when I got the scharship offer. However, my husband didn't want me to attend the art school. After a long talk, I compromised and decided to go to the college I attend now. Since I have almost 80 credits, I had to declare a major. He suggested that I major in pre-law and I just followed that. Now I feel stupid for doing that. You can call me childish, but my hopes were gone and I was really sad. I knew what I wanted to study and was forced to do something else. Do you think I could have picked up another major right away? I just couldn't.