University Degree: Law or Neuroscience?

I’m aware these seem like two incredibly different degrees, but I am really interested in of them and it’s proving extremely difficult to work out which route I’d rather go down. Would appreciate any advice that anybody has on this matter.

I have been considering Law with Spanish for a very long time but I suddenly realised that I know very little about what it entails and so I’m not sure to what extent it would be right for me - I’m a very vibrant, enthusiastic person who loves discovering new things but gets bored quite easily. I have little interest in reading but can do it if necessary and I love to learn about people. I’m more interested in what comes AFTER the degree than the degree itself, but I’m scared I’lol lose motivation along the way.

However, I started taking Psychology at A-Level and was absolutely fascinated by it. I enjoy the subject so much, but especially the biopsychology and cognitive neuroscience units, and so I have found a course for a joint honours in Psychology and Neuroscience that I am able to take with my awkward subjects (Literature, Spanish and Psychology) I think I would enjoy.

I’m finding it so so so hard to pick between these two pathways and would appreciate any advice you could possibly give me.

I’m aware these seem like two incredibly different degrees, but I am really interested in of them and it’s proving extremely difficult to work out which route I’d rather go down. Would appreciate any advice that anybody has on this matter.

I have been considering Law with Spanish for a very long time but I suddenly realised that I know very little about what it entails and so I’m not sure to what extent it would be right for me - I’m a very vibrant, enthusiastic person who loves discovering new things but gets bored quite easily. I have little interest in reading but can do it if necessary and I love to learn about people. I’m more interested in what comes AFTER the degree than the degree itself, but I’m scared I’lol lose motivation along the way.

However, I started taking Psychology at A-Level and was absolutely fascinated by it. I enjoy the subject so much, but especially the biopsychology and cognitive neuroscience units, and so I have found a course for a joint honours in Psychology and Neuroscience that I am able to take with my awkward subjects (Literature, Spanish and Psychology) I think I would enjoy.

I’m finding it so so so hard to pick between these two pathways and would appreciate any advice you could possibly give me.

Deffo neuroscience. A law degree can be quite dry. And a STEM subject is more flexible and more likely to result in a job and better pay

You have found a subject you have a genuine interest in so I would go with that one for uni. It is still perfectly possible to convert to law at a later stage if you still have an interest in that career in a few years time. Lots of people training to be solicitors did non Law degrees and that is not considered a bad thing in the profession.

Thanks so much for your advice! I have considered taking the Psych and Neuro course, and then doing a GLD, however I’m slightly concerned that this will be an awful lot of money and a very long time to not be earning anything...
I also know that if I do Psych and Neuro I will probably never look back, which is a really conflicting thought for me as I had had my heart set in Law for a very long time. I am still incredibly interested in being a barrister, which was my original plan, but so many people say that a Law degree is dull and I’m scared I’ll lose motivation halfway through

Thanks so much for your advice! I have considered taking the Psych and Neuro course, and then doing a GLD, however I’m slightly concerned that this will be an awful lot of money and a very long time to not be earning anything...
I also know that if I do Psych and Neuro I will probably never look back, which is a really conflicting thought for me as I had had my heart set in Law for a very long time. I am still incredibly interested in being a barrister, which was my original plan, but so many people say that a Law degree is dull and I’m scared I’ll lose motivation halfway through

Hi,

I was in a similar boat to you but I eventually decided on neuroscience as it's such a flexible degree which has links with my fave subjects including psychology, forensics and law. Like you have stated, you can do a postgraduate in GLD for a year but you can go into a law related job with a science degree if it's not a lawyer you necessarily want to be. For example, you could go into regulatory affairs, forensic neuroscience where you go into courts and give evidence with brain scans on how this caused them to commit the crime. Also, if you did wanna be a lawyer or solicitor many people actually want them to have a science degree for background so it could come in use. I don't wanna sound bias but I'd say you have more job prospects in neuroscience than law and you could go from neuroscience to law as a career but I would say this would be harder to do wise versa. Honestly, I'd say just go for what you could see yourself doing more. Here's some links that helped me a lot in my decision (I think you'll like the first three)

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/patent-attorney
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/regulatory-affairs-officer
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/patent-examiner
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/neuroscientist
https://www.bna.org.uk/careers/

Thank you so much!!! I read through all your links and they seem so interesting. The hardest thing is I son’t really know what I can see myself doing more - because I’ve been so set on Law for a few years now, i managed to picture myself on prosecution and that’s the image i had, and I still think I’d really really enjoy that. My main concern is losing motivation along the way - I know it is an awful lot of repetitive reading and paperwork, and I get bored quite easily and enjoy things that are more dynamic, and where I’m always discovering things.

It’s so hard because I can picture myself going down both routes, I love psychology so much (especially the biopsychology and neuroscience units) whereas Literature bores me now. I love the idea of what comes AFTER a law degree but I don’t know if I’d lose motivation getting there.

(Original post by kamzuna)I'm really curious if you still have an account, what did you end up picking?

I went for Law! I got into oxford uni for it and it's been absolutely amazing, but the work is exhauuusting. Looking to hopefully take a back route into criminology after my degree because I really miss psychology! I'm gonna focus on working as a barrister for a while first cause I can't afford the BTC and a masters right now, but hopefully I'll return for the criminology and criminal justice masters someday!