Many people come to college without a major. They just assume that they will choose one eventually. Fortunately for me I knew coming into college what I wanted to do, criminal justice. My family has a history in law enforcement, and I want to carry on this tradition. I would like to do this by becoming a lawyer, a big part of this field. I find this career interesting, but the road to becoming a lawyer is long and bumpy. When studying to become a lawyer you must first achieve at least a bachelors degree in college.
You must also obtain this degree with a competitive grade point average to get into law school. You must then apply to law school. The law school will require you to take a placement test called the LSAT. No pre law undergraduate programs exist at USC, so you can decide your own major when trying to obtain the degree. Many classes are important when pursuing law as a career. Some of these are philosophy, government, english, theater, speech, and criminal justice just to name a few.
These classes prepare you best for the field, and also contain certain portions of the job. It is important to pick a major that will help you when attending law school, or if you find yourself as an unemployed lawyer. Since 1990 an over supply of lawyers has emerged. The job market increases twenty-five percent each year, but that is not enough to employ all of the law school graduates. This means many lawyers find themselves waiting tables in restaurants with a useless degree. I do not want to end up like this if I graduate from law school, and this is the reason I have chosen to major in criminal justice. It will give me a practical degree and I can get it here at USC.
Law School Admission Essay
Many college students know exactly what field to enter after graduation and have been preparing for that field over the course of their entire college career. However, I had difficulty discovering a career field rewarding enough to devote my entire life to, a career field worthy of education. While I had always considered pursuing the law and majored in public policy as an undergraduate, I was ...
A degree in criminal justice can be obtained through the College of Criminal Justice. They offer a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in criminal justice. The course work builds a strong foundation on the liberal arts and social sciences. The students are required to have a grade point average of 2.5 and at least a 2.0 on the last academic semester to be admitted to the college. Once in the college students must maintain a 2.0 GPA to stay in the college and avoid academic probation. If the student then fails to bring up the GPA they will not be able to enroll at the college for one full year.
You also can not obtain a degree with less than a 2.0 GPA. The higher your GPA is the more likly you are to be admitted to law school. The degree requires a number of different classes. The college also classifies students in categories of hours completed. This means you cannot take upper level classes until you have completed a number of lower level courses. It also stresses an importance with community involvement. This also is important when going for a job.
Employers like to see some extracurricular activities. With a degree in criminal justice you can do a number of things. One would be take the LSAT test and apply to a law school. Once in law school you begin a three year study of law, and then are required to take a test called the Bar Exam before being allowed to practice law. Anther option would be to attend a Criminal Justice Academy, and begin training as a law enforcement officer. With a degree most offices find themselves as detectives in less than two years. It also leads to greater pay and promotions faster.
So, this degree gives you a great advantage when trying to climb in rank, and the higher you are in rank the higher your salary. Yet another choice would be to join a law enforcement department as an accreditation officer. This is a position in which you go through the department preparing it for an accreditation. An accreditation is when a department wants to be recognized for execellance. Each section of the department has to be runing effeicantly to pass the accreditation tests. Once the accreditation officer accomplishes this goal they must then keep the department in that order. This type of career allows you to be hired by more than one department allowing for even better pay for an already well paying job. The reason for wanting this degree is easy. It provides you with a plan to fall back on if the lawyer job market is still flooded with people.
The Term Paper on Stress In College Students
College students all stress out about one situation/life generality or another. Some of these situations/life generalities are individuation, computer anxiety, ethnic and gender roles in student-athletes, and mathematics anxiety. There have been many studies looking at stress in college students. At one time or another, college students are forced to deal with a stressful situation. Stress, in ...
It also gives you number of choices to consider even if you do not want a career as a lawyer. The course work covers a broad area so each person can find something they enjoy about the major. If you have had any interest in law enforcement or the legal system it should be an option that you should be considering.
Bibliography:
Works Cited Bell, Susan. Full Disclosure: Do you Really want to be a lawyer?. New York: LSDAS, 1999.
215-217 Rakoff, Dina. Choosing a Career In Law. New York: Comteporary Books, 1998 Rogers, Arron Too Many Lawyers Student Lawyer Magazine Oct. 1999 34- 36..
