2 Roads Diverged ... Law&Business or Law&Politics?

IfUSeekAmy

I'm honestly too tired and stressed to continue that analogy further.

Law&BUSINESS or Law&POLITICAL-SCIENCE. (both at TCD)

I'd love the finance, and economics side of the business programme.

But doing that comes with a cost of having to suffer management & organisational behaviour etc. I'd also get to do a year1 language module.

Law & Political Science is nice. The law is the same, and the political science I'd find very interesting I think.

So, the Political Science and the Business departments at Trinity.

Any inside info on which is better?

And from the point of view of employability / continuing further education, which would be preferential?

I'd love to do something in economics at somestage, ideally not another undergrad. But I severely doubt that any institution would take me on board for an MSc in economics, being a law & political science graduate.

Any help / insight at all would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Denerick

Law and politics.

Business is essentially a pointless degree; 90% of it is common sense and the remainder can be gained through a little extracurricular reading and real life experience. Indulge yourself with politics and allow your mind to expand for four years.

We produce too many generic unthinking business students as it is.

zam

You'll get to do (ie will be forced to do) an economics module in first year of political science so that's good if you like that.
Also if you're intent on studying economics, why not law with economics in UCD?

Denerick

zam wrote: »

You'll get to do (ie will be forced to do) an economics module in first year of political science so that's good if you like that.
Also if you're intent on studying economics, why not law with economics in UCD?

LOL

chunkylover4

I studied Law and Politics for a few weeks in first year and although I enjoyed economic policy, Intro to political science and sociology were terribly vauge, also you become severly limited in your modules you can do for law and as I enjoyed law far more I decided to move to straight Law.

I suppose ultimately it depends on the person, if you are interested in going into the legal profession then the business or political modules are unlikely to help you much, that said I think that college should be about a more well rounded experience and there is nothing to stop you from reading about politics or economics, it can often help with law subjects like contract, commercial etc.

Also this may not be relevant to you but alot of people I know that have done these courses did them because they were higher points than law and so thought they were a better degree, they're not. ALso you can get into an Mba course without a business or economics degree and you can take language courses in college outside of your degree course.

nicola09

Law Pol all the way!:) :)I'm going into third year in it so I am horribly biased, but if there is anything in particular that you need to know beyond what they say in the prospectus then let me know!

I know some people weren't overly enthused with the political science modules in first year, which are intro to political science, intro to sociology and intro to economic policy, but they really aren't as bad as people think. They are designed to give you an introduction to the methods of the social sciences more broadly and they are linked to the modules you go on to study in 2nd year and beyond; for example having a knowledge of the methods of an economist is important for international relations which you will do in 2nd year, a lot of it is grounded in economic theory. A lot of us in the class have an interest in economics, apparantly we can do postgrads in economics or finance if we want, I've never looked into it but I enjoyed economic policy so who knows!:rolleyes:

Sociology is often targeted as being a bit vague and I'll admit its not for everyone, but I enjoyed it. Perhaps its link to the stuff you study in later years is the most tenuous of the three non-law subjects, but its quite interesting, I suppose the department think it will inform your policy knowledge if you pursue a career in Dail Eireann!;)

A few people disliked intro to political science as well, I wasn't the greatest fan of it originally, but I think the problem most people have with it is that they come to study political science with a misinformed view of what the discipline is; I know I thought it would be something like Leaving Cert history except about politics, it certainly isn't, and intro pol is all about teaching you the difference between the methods of a political scientist and the methods of the historian, explaining (very broad) theories of political science and introducing you to the framework of the discipline, which you will go into far more detail in when you are in 2nd year and subsequent years. A lot of the module went over my head in first year but when I went back on it for schols etc after doing some of the second year modules I could see what they were trying to do, so I'd advise you to bear with it!:)

The three law subjects you study with the straight law degree course, and they are all very interesting. It's true that we have significantly less choice in our law subjects than the LLB, but we can still fulfil all the subject requirements for the bar/Blackhall if we choose to practice. In 4th year you can do all law or all politics, or half and half, so you could do 6 law subjects that year if you wanted which gives a bit more leeway, that's what I intend to do anyway!

The study abroad/Erasmus options are quite good, for example there are a number of places in Sciences Po which is well regarded in the social sciences, and since law pol is a new course the departments are continuing to negotiate new links. I think this degree is a good option if you don't think you would like to study all law subjects, I find law can get a bit tedious, politics is a completely different approach, so moving from one to the other gives a nice break!! You can also do an optional language module in JF if you are into languages, I wasn't but a lot of people in the class seem to have kept up French for erasmus, one girl does arabic outside college too, you will have a good bit of free time to do things like this.

If there is anything else you need to know then feel free to ask!

EDIT: If it's any help, I changed my CAO from first choice English and Irish TSM to Law and politics at about half four on the last change of mind day, so uncertainty at this stage is nothing to worry about, it all works itself out!