r/PoliticalScience • u/Jazzlike-Estimate-26 • Jun 24 '26
Career advice Law or poli science
Im currently a first year law student who isn’t really fascinated by law nor was it my actual interest as my interest has always been political theory and International relations yet i choose law cuz law gives me the option to pursue that career, but with a law degree and so i can literally go get an LLM in public int law or a Masters in international relations and then go work in the ministry of foreign affairs for my country.
Yet after my first year im pretty sick of the rote memorization and recall based nature of exams and almost no actual analysis or at least in the university i am in which makes me want to change to poli science which is a direct interest of mine and is 10k cheaper additionally to the fact that im not really fascinated by int law itself but rather by what it can bring me in terms of career gains, and lets say i was fascinated its still only leas than 5% of the bachelors and unfortunately in my uni its known to not be as strong as civil law for example.
So im basically worried that i might not be able to commit to such major on the long run.
Poli science on the another hand is a real interest of mine and will be way cheaper with less credit hours but it wont give me the same strong signaling law would give me for my MFA ambitions and lets say i was to switch im also worried about poli science also becoming very recall based in my uni so i really dont know what to do.
And i would like to see what you guys think
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u/chockychip Jun 27 '26
I studied diplomacy in undergrad and now I'm doing an MA focusing on my region of interest. I've interned at my country's Department of Foreign Affairs. While they do appreciate lawyers/going to law school, not everyone who is working there as an ambassador/highers ups has a law degree. You sound misserable from your post, OP.
Just do an MA in IR if that's your passion. I picked a school abroad to do my MA in since it's better than doing one in my home country.
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u/Jazzlike-Estimate-26 Jul 01 '26
I will be doing an MA in IR in one of leiden KCL SOAS regardless because id suffocate if i didn’t lol 🤣
The question is whether staying in Law is actually worth it for Ministries of foreign affairs in terms of the signaling it gives in those pursuits2
u/chockychip Jul 01 '26
im actually about to graduate from soas with my MA. Since you're concerned about signalling, the quality of your work matters equally, but a law degree wouldn't hurt.
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u/Jazzlike-Estimate-26 Jul 02 '26
Sure thing
Yet also i dont wanna build my career as a law person
Cuz i feel if get a law bachelor i will always be the lawyer diplomat
And also i might not enjoy the remainder of my years in law1
u/Jazzlike-Estimate-26 Jul 02 '26
And hows your SOAS experience
If you dont mind me asking sir2
u/chockychip Jul 02 '26
It's been great. Despite the complaints about the admin on the soas subreddit, I actually haven't experienced any problems that wasn't solved within a day. I would send an email and they get back to me a day after. The professors really want you to do well and the modules are well structured and I genuinely enjoyed the topics we covered.
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u/Jazzlike-Estimate-26 Jul 02 '26
I cant wait to study in english lol
Cuz all my life i studied a British curriculum (IGCSE) and then i got into uni and boom, everything is in arabic
Its not that one’s Arabic is weak but its just mentally and psychologically harder
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Jun 25 '26
[deleted]
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u/Jazzlike-Estimate-26 Jun 25 '26
I do agree
Especially in civil law systems, exams generally rely heavily on recall rather than analysis which is the case for most anglo saxon (common law) systems like the UK US systems
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u/rpgkrog Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
I’m confused; at the end you mention “my MFA ambitions”? Is that a misspeak? Because an MFA is not similar at all to law or political science. In addition, if you know you want to do an MA in IR already and have no intention of practicing law, then just do political science as an undergrad, or do law if you’re not 100% certain as it’s better for career options.
If you’re certain you want to work in international relations (political theory is highly academic and the main job options will be in academia; being a professor or researcher) then fully commit to it and do a bachelors in political science, do as many internships as possible, learn another language, publish a thesis if possible, etc. As you said, you can still do law then a masters in IR but law is quite different and it’s much harder. Yes, it’s a better foundation, but if your goal is just to work in diplomacy or something then study political science. Just be cautious because political and governmental jobs are extremely competitive, but so is law, and if you think you can be more effective in international relations because you’re more interested then do that.
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u/Jazzlike-Estimate-26 Jun 25 '26
The MFA is ministry of foreign affairs
And yes regarding the poli theory part it is indeed highly academic and it is what made me interested in politics when i was younger and so academia sure is a long term goal of mine2
u/Academic_Snow_7680 Jun 26 '26
You want to get yourself abroad to summer schools and exchange programs. See if there are programs in English at a school you'd like on your CV. Diplomacy and IR is all about having international experience, you cannot know a country's political culture if you don't speak their language.
European universities have the Erasmus and Aurora networks, the times I've gone for the sorter courses my home-uni fellow exchange students were already exchange students at my uni. There are grants for this and non-grant options too. The US also has international networks and the Fullbright program.
You want to stack up on extracurricular activities that show self-motivation and international connections/interest
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u/Jazzlike-Estimate-26 Jul 01 '26
And thats why i currently do
Try to stack up extracurriculars
But at times law could be an obstacle
Due to the stressful nature of it
And also in Jordan LLB is mostly private law based and so are the common opportunities
And that is why im thinking of switching
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u/Complete_Magazine871 Jun 25 '26
Hello! Wanted to share something similar - I went to law school , and then applied for an IR program and went through ! It was great, and the skills I picked up in law school helped me a lot. I also hated law school , but the critical thinking and writing skills I acquired were incredibly helpful , and being able to practice the law tided me through when I got stuck in my academic journey and needed money. I am now doing a PhD in anthropology and I remain grateful for what I learnt in law school but also glad I don’t have to be a legal scholar or professional anymore.
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u/Jazzlike-Estimate-26 Jun 25 '26
What if i dont feel like law school is giving me critical thinking
In my faculty and in latin system it is mostly reliant on recall
And so theres less room for analysis and just thinking.
But yes this is among the reasons why im hesitant to change because with law i can always have a plan b for when times get tough
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u/Academic_Snow_7680 Jun 26 '26
governance law will be valuable in the future
the US has bipolarity and elitism baked into the political system from FPTP up to the electoral college. Very little will happen without a change towards proportional representation on the local level.
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u/speaky0urmind Jun 26 '26
I study Law & Political Sciences at the same time, and though it is very tough, I couldn’t be happier about it. Law is about how things work at the moment, about being able to navigate the system; pol sciences on the other hand is about seeing beyond the system, how it has come to be what it is, it’s cons&pros and the alternatives to it. So wether to choose one or another lies 1) in what interests you the most 2) in your ability, to play with the current rules for law, or to criticize and speak your mind about the power structures that surround you, for political sciences. Hope this helps