[Gary]

I was wondering what careers i could possibily do in the future if i was to a geography degree?, preferabbly money making careers. thanks

[roh]

(Original post by Gary)
I was wondering what careers i could possibily do in the future if i was to a geography degree?, preferabbly money making careers. thanks

Any career will make money, that's the nature of a salary.

If you actually mean make lots of money then there are various options, most of which come with a benefits package including a coke addiction.

You could do the GDL and go in to corporate law. Partners at major firms earn millions and you could be making 60-70k by 25 in quite a lot of firms. Competition is intense though and plenty miss out every year. You'll need AAB at least, and a lot will have AAA or better, from A Level and a 2.1. Going to an RG or certain 1994 uni is pretty standard to be honest and at top firms ('Magic Circle') around 40% come from Oxbridge. Nottingham might be a good option which isn't as competitive for Geog. as some but attracts firms due to a strong law course. Otherwise obvious ones such as Oxbridge, UCL, LSE, Durham, Bristol etc.

You could also look into IB. According to posters on here they tend to favour graduates from six unis: Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Imperial and Warwick, the last two of which don't offer geography. Notoriously competitive and incredibly long hours but the money can be massive.

Consultancy, but once more this is very competitive. Again Oxbridge would be a boost to your CV, otherwise strong A Levels, a 'traditional' uni and a sh*t hot CV.

Accountancy. The Big 4 will recruit from any degree discipline and pay well.

Various government roles offer a good work/life balance, great pension etc. and decent pay. Look into the Civil Service FastStream, though again this is hugely oversubscribed.

General management roles at various Blue Chip firms, just check out the list on the Times Top 100 site for a flavour.

Teaching if you reach the top levels, plenty of headteachers earn over 100k and because you don't need to be in the South East that money will go further.

If you think you'd enjoy it some graduate medicine courses don't specify a certain degree. Though obviously being a doctor is a tough job and distinctly a vocation whilst the pay, though good, isn't stratospheric like some of the above.

Also, you could set up your own business and/or sell your body.

[Charlottttte.X]

(Original post by roh)
You could do the GDL and go in to corporate law. Partners at major firms earn millions and you could be making 60-70k by 25 in quite a lot of firms. Competition is intense though and plenty miss out every year. You'll need AAB at least, and a lot will have AAA or better, from A Level and a 2.1. Going to an RG or certain 1994 uni is pretty standard to be honest and at top firms ('Magic Circle') around 40% come from Oxbridge. Nottingham might be a good option which isn't as competitive for Geog. as some but attracts firms due to a strong law course. Otherwise obvious ones such as Oxbridge, UCL, LSE, Durham, Bristol etc.

Really great information. I'm currently deciding whether to do a straight law degree, or a different degree, then go the GDL route.

In your opinion, how do law firms view law conversions vs standard law degrees?

Is geography a decent enough degree to be respected by city/Magic Circle law firms? (I would be looking to apply to Camb, UCL, Bristol etc)

Any information would be very helpful, thanks!

[roh]

(Original post by Charlottttte.X)
Really great information. I'm currently deciding whether to do a straight law degree, or a different degree, then go the GDL route.

In your opinion, how do law firms view law conversions vs standard law degrees?

Is geography a decent enough degree to be respected by city/Magic Circle law firms? (I would be looking to apply to Camb, UCL, Bristol etc)

Any information would be very helpful, thanks!

Most firms on their FAQs will assert that they don't care whether you do GDL or not and by and large I suspect this is true, as working as a solicitor doesn't usually involve much deep legal theory (that's what barristers get involved for).

For big City firms (MC, SC, American and plenty of others) the extra cost of the GDL is absolute peanuts and I suspect if they wanted to one year they could happily pay for all 90-100 trainees to do it. A poster on here who's an MC trainee reckons over half his intake are GDL. The same would be the case for most big regionals too I suspect.

For High Street firms who don't offer funding for GDL or LPC again I can't see them caring, as it's of no cost to them either way. They probably have more law grads, but I think this is likely because most non law students don't fancy the outlay of GDL and LPC for a fairly average salary.

In between there are firms who offer maybe 5-10 TCs with funding and these may feel the cost of the GDL a bit more and thus expect those candidates to be slightly better than an equivalent LLB candidate. This is just me guessing though and these firms will still want the best they can get and wouldn't notice the loss of 8k too much.

My sister recently decided to go for Geog over Law and I think it is a well respected degree. There are probably fewer Geog grads in law than History or English, but I suspect this is due to a combination of there being fewer geographers in general and that they can go into fields directly related to their degree, often with a more specific Masters. Last year I remember the A&O trainee profiled by Lex100 was a Cam Geographer.

In terms of doing a law degree there are some things I think people do forget.

1) It's harshly marked. Given your grades are vital and you're highly unlikely to get a TC straight out of uni without a 2.1 this is definitely something to be aware of. This isn't just the moanings of a law student, there's proof we have it tough http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/...concern-update

2) Can you cope with the boring bits? The Qualifying subjects system means at some point you will find yourself having to research something you find painfully dull and to be blunt this isn't fun. If you do really enjoy Geography it seems a bit daft to put yourself through this.

3) There's a lot of exams. Your entire year is likely to come down to 3 or 4 big exams in summer. By contrast in geography it's quite possible by summer you'll have done a couple of exams in Jan and essays and coursework will likely form a big part of your grade so you'll have a good idea how you've done before the 2-3 summer exams. Which assessment method would you prefer?

Also, I find myself jealous of my sister contemplating the likes of Birmingham as potential reserve choices. If you do law you'll find probably close to 30 unis asking for AAA so you're a fair way down the traditional food chain before you locate a reserve. I know someone in my year who had Oxford Firm and Northumbria as Reserve (not saying Northumbria's not good, it's combined course looks great, but it's not quite Ox) as her other 3 (Durham, Warwick and Leeds) were all AAA.

I don't want to put you off law, but do know what you'd be letting yourself in for if you did it. Certainly if you really enjoy Geog I'd recommend you do it.

[Dukeofwembley]

(Original post by Gary)
I was wondering what careers i could possibily do in the future if i was to a geography degree?, preferabbly money making careers. thanks

I suggest you drop out and apply for geology at aberdeen, they hav strong links with industry, you get a sponsered masters at imperial, and you can earn near£80-£100,000

+ theres only like less than 900 grads

500 ish if you dont count 2:2 and turd class