Background: Current 2nd year at NLUD, graduated high school last year. Never really pictured myself in law, mostly kept CLAT/AILET as a backup to Economics from DU, which had been my first priority for a lot of time. However, I caved in to parental pressure at the last minute- after which I have really cursed myself this past year, I have been pretty unhappy with law and the thought of spending 4 more years doing the same thing seems heartbreaking, which might sound dramatic, but I did get into Hindu and Stephens last year- and for a long time I was disgruntled and suffocating in self pity- but I decided to take action and took CUET this year.
Now, I'm done with CUET and the paper was extremely easy, so cutoffs will skyrocket- but I'm pretty confident about my accuracy but nothing can be said with certainty about me getting into North Campus again. Colleges like SRCC/
Stephens/Hindu/Hansraj , of course, are the goal- but will have to wait for the answer key for now.
Now, what the issue is that even simple graduation degrees from DU now last 4 years- so I will graduate in 2026 shall I choose to make the shift or stay here- but I will miss out on the professional course element there- even though Econ is what I wanted to do in the first place.
I've made this one big really mistake of not listening to myself last year- but I have been trying to move past that and trying to salvage what I can but is it possible that it is too late or just not right anymore- given CUET+degree framework changes+essentially losing 2 years (1st year of law school+extra year of UG)?
Would appreciate any advice, thank you:)

Hi buddy, as an NLUD alumnus, I would advice you to reach out to your seniors in the profession from our college. Preferably those who have graduated to get a sense of how your post graduation life will look like if you stick with NLUD. If your heart is not in it, no point continuing with something you'll likely end up doing for the rest of your life - but do note that graduating from NLUD comes with its fare share of benefits which you might regret not taking up in your mid 20s. Think hard, speak to seniors and trust your gut. Good luck!

Okay, first of all, from a career perspective, losing two years makes NO difference, even in the short run. And you're not even losing two years, it's only one year. The extra year in the Econ degree is definitely a change of circumstances, but won't be taken as a gap year, as you being behind the curve.
From a family liabilities perspective it may be a little different, that you needed to start earning as early as possible., in which case the 3 year Econ degree would have helped. But look at it prospectively: from this point onward, both the law degree and the economics degree will take the same amount of time. So you will graduate in 2026, regardless of the path you take.

Economics is an absolutely wonderful subject. And it does have greater international permeability, that is absolutely true. It is easier to move abroad with an economics degree than it is with law. There are more scholarships for postgrad in economics too. But what do you want to do with it? Do you want to go into consulting roles, developmental/policy research, or do you want to go into academia? My advice would be to figure out the answer to this question: what is it you want to achieve, which degree better helps you achieve it and how so.

Because law and economics are really not as disparate fields as you may be thinking. Since you're just starting your second year, all you've probably been exposed to is constitutional law and contracts. I get it, even I don't like those.
But there are some very exciting areas of law too that have a lot to do with economics. Competition law is ENTIRELY based on economic principles. The actual laws are very bare-bones and it relies very heavily on economic analysis. Even pleadings sometimes include more economic principles than law: the market shares of the entities, efficiencies of production, degree of market saturation, plotting the supply-demand curves to determine the sustainable price level and then see if current market prices have been artificially inflated. It's can be a lot of fun.

Then there is international trade law. To take a recent example, public stockholding of wheat: governments have infinite resources, private players cannot always compete with them. The government needs to procure wheat to ensure food security. But what if it starts exporting this cheaply-acquired wheat? It would disrupt international trade patterns. To what extent should a government be allowed to favour local industries before it is seen as discriminating against foreign players? Again, a sound understanding of economics is crucial here.

International investment law also has a very fundamental nexus with economics, especially at the policy and academic level. But in arbitral practice economics is only used indirectly, the reliance is more on law and legal theories (based on economics, but still).

There are also a lot of LLM/Master's programmes that will allow you to integrate your law degree with economics. You can also just take a correspondence degree in economics from IGNOU or somewhere with light coursework (so you can manage it along with law), so that you have the basic requisite papers, and then you can apply for an MA/MSc in economics abroad. In India, it'd be even simpler: usually there is no requirement/minimal requirements for postgrad students to enroll in a course, so you can get your law degree and then get an MA in economics from DU. (This para is just an idea I had, not too sure about this, so you'll have to check and double-check everything).

The point I'm trying to make is, law and economics are not diverging fields. Within legal practice there is a lot you can do with economics. And you can do economics even after law. And you are at a top law school too, so I'm sure you'd be alright.

So in my opinion, you should make the switch if what you want to do is possible only with an economics degree, not with a law degree, or the econ degree at least confers a significant advantage. Or if four more years in law school is COMPLETELY unsustainable for you.

Good luck. :)

I agree with the comment #4. In fact, 'law & economics' is such a strong and versatile field, it outdoes trade law in funding and opportunities any day. Just so you know, the 1991 Nobel Prize in economics went to a law & economics guy - Ronald Coase for his Coase theorem (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1991/coase/facts/). US scholarship heavily relies on law & economics where it is highly revered. US also generally has good opportunities for the law & ... disciplines, e.g., law & psychology.

If you really like economics, law & economics might be a great option for you. Perhaps you have not been exposed to it, but do read up on it and see if this interests you. Dip your toes into it and if you do not like it, then of course you have other options. There is also the whole field of economic analyses of crimes, for example.

My personal two cents: If you have a law degree and specialise in economics (either by an MS economics or otherwise) - your opportunities will exponentially increase than if you did only one. This combination of expertise is in high demand not only in academia but also in both law and economics industries. Three great law & economics people you may have heard of: Amartya Sen, Kaushik Basu, and Jagdish Bhagwati. One won a Nobel Prize and the other two are worthy of one. You can be one of the them. :)

As someone from the same college, I would advise you to stay put. College is anyway easy, you have a lot of time to pursue econ-related activities if you want. Do that, and pivot once you graduate. In my experience all one picks up during law school is critical thinking and analysis, and those will hold you in good stead anywhere.

Honestly, go for it.

As your story also evidences, the same problem is plaguing legal education that was for the longest time plaguing engineering and medicine. Too many people are now joining law school because it appears to be the safest non-science-y alternative out there. I am not going to lie and tell you that your immediate prospects out of NLUD and out of a DU Econ course, even from a top college, would be the same, all other things being the same. In all probability, you will earn considerably more straight out of college if you get a good law firm placement, contingent, of course, on your maintaining decent grades throughout college.

That is where the benefits end, however.

One oft-overlooked consideration when pursuing a law degree is that your status as a 'professional' will in fact close more doors than it opens. People would be extremely hesitant offering you a non-legal role in say, marketing/operations/HR because a) it just does not strike them that a law student would have the interest or the aptitude to do these and b) because they are scared you will bolt the first chance you have to 'be a lawyer'. Your occupational mobility (short of a good MBA) is severely restricted as a law graduate, which would not at all be the case if you study economics. In my opinion, this is worth far more than a better pay straight out of college.

On the topic of mobility, as even a cursory glance of the discussion threads here would tell you, moving abroad as a lawyer is extremely difficult. UK recruitments out of college are extremely rare and often get down to luck, and lateral hiring is restricted to a few practice areas, incidentally also regarded as being the worst in terms of intellectual stimulation on LI itself. Even if you do not plan to move abroad on a permanent basis at this stage, it helps to have that option open, should you change your mind or just wish to have a life experience of this kind for a couple of years.

If it is societal standing that matters to you, then let me assure you that NLUs are known by so few people that a DU college is likely to leave a much better impression in people's heads. Before I am told off for encouraging unhealthy validation of this kind, let me just clarify that this is hardly a point worth considering in my opinion, but often forms the very reason why starry eyed high schoolers join NLUs in the first place, learning of its futility only when it seems too late.

But it isn't, not for you OP. Study economics if that is what your heart desires. The financial remuneration is likely to be decent out of DU, even in the worst case scenario, especially when seen over the long term. And, if all of this still fails to convince you, look to your senior batches to see the disillusionment that has firmly set in. Too many students who never should have been here in the first place. Take this advice from a college senior who means well.

Best of luck with the choice, and please excuse any typos or grammatical errors that may have creeped in.

Hey, as someone who wanted to study economics too, caved in to parental pressure to do a professional degree and studying in NLUD, I’d say please study what you like. At the end of four years, you’d have either graduated from NLUD or DU, it doesn’t really matter. It’d have sounded like a bad choice if you were to drop out after 2nd year. If you don’t like the studies at NLUD now, you’ll lose all motivation in 3rd year because the courses are very dry and hectic. If you chose to move to DU, the end of 2026, you’d at least have studied something you actually like