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I was among the so-called toppers and nerds of my school. My friend circle now has three to four top IIT grad engineers earning way more than I would earn, and one or two are who are not quite there and are hovering a bit below what I would get. I do not doubt that considering my performance in school, I would have certainly made into middle tier IITs if not the top ones like my peers. I am not envying my friends (or maybe I am), but the broader point is not to be a foolish rebel kid who sticks to his decision of doing law irrespective of what others say.
Rebel kids make horrible decisions of choosing narrow streams like commerce and arts in 10th grade. I thought to myself that I am a great person; I chose commerce in spite being a school topper; I am different in that I have not followed the bandwagon. Utter crap. Choosing a stream is making a major a decision on what career you want. Don’t just decide on what your 17-year-old heart thinks is of interest to you, and what is boring to you. Most rebel kids don’t know what their career or “passion” really looks like. Most aspiring law students don’t know an average day in the life of a corporate lawyer. How exactly do you know that you want to be a CA if you don’t know how audit or accounting works?
Be genuine. Your so-called dreams are rarely based out of personal work experience of what you observed around you. It’s mostly the aura that is created by the society around you regarding that job. You know nothing about what various tech jobs are, how the work of CA, Lawyer, IAS officer etc. feels like. So, filter your so-called passions and acknowledge that what you are thinking might not be a complete reality. Those engineer-turned-influencers, who rant on engineering and ask you to follow your heart…. won’t feed you if you don’t get employed.
Please don’t make the terrible mistake of thinking law is largely about debating, arguing, gift of gab etc. Regardless of what kind of law you end up in, you are going to do just reading, things which would end up being mundane and boring, day in and day out. More so in corporate law (as per my trusted alums and what I foresaw during internship). FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD, every job largely involves boring stuff (you do same stuff again and again), and some job is way boring than others. You are not going to get an adrenaline rush every day. Secondly, it's okay if you don’t like subjects in PCM or Engineering as long as you are a student who takes grades seriously and would score better regardless of interest. My sibling is a mechanical engineer who does nothing but operates Excel for a foreign MNC. My friend is a chemical engineer from a tier 2 IIT who works in ICICI Bank as an analyst (and he is not an MBA). These jobs will never go to non-engineers. That is how our country’s market is. What you do and What you studied need not have substantial correlation?
You have no idea how limited your scope becomes once you choose non-science stream. Therefore, when elders, especially educated elders say to take PCM they are saying it for a reason. My take is this: until and unless your dad is a bigshot CA, CS, Lawyer, whose clientele you wish to take over, or you want to pursue medicine, you are not certain what you want to do with life ahead. So, take the stream which would have many more gates open.
Most of my NLU friends I would say took what I would now say as the correct path. They tried their luck with JEE and NEET and then gave CLAT. Around 75% of my batch were from science background.
One more advantage of science stream I would say is that you have at-least two-three attempts to succeed in engineering. Even if you didn’t do well in JEE, you still can write GATE and get the same if not more package than a person from top NLU would get. You can try your luck with MBA as well. On the other hand, if you are doing law, CLAT-AILET UG is all that you have to get a good chance of T1 law firm job. You flunk, and statistically your chance of making 17-18 LPA is drastically reduced. LLM even from top NLUs like mine won’t fetch enough jobs around this figure that you decide to do an LLM only for such a job. It would be just an aspiration and not an expectation like UG kids have. Face it, it is this 17-18 LPA figure that attracts most middle-class students. Even if you say that you don’t want a law firm job, deep inside these numbers do give a sense of job security.
Lastly, and this might be off-track for most of you but know this your worldview, needs, philosophy, interests all might change with time. Earlier in school, I was of the view, what is earning lots of money, one day you are going to die and will take nothing. Better live to serve our country. I knew I had cringe level honesty and I wanted to make a difference therefore “Government Job”. My worldview changed a lot, perception of importance and the power of wealth also changed. Now, I hardly care about “service”, I wanna make as much money as possible provided it is legal and doesn’t take a toll on my health. I analysed the possibility of an MBA only to find how big was the opportunity cost of choosing law over engineering.
This change of perspective and worldview should also be understood by T1 law students. Right now, due to increased exposure of LI to law students (though it results in NLS V JGLS cringe), kids like us know that most of us might not stay in law firms for long given the long work hours, high pressure, day to day screaming and burn out. Therefore, a chill life with decent pay might be our goal after law firm. So, maintain your high GPA (or at least the minimum required for govt. jobs or judiciary or academia), keep publishing, take difficult credit courses or external certificate courses etc. even after getting a job.
I am not saying don’t take law. Just know all these and make a conscious decision.
Tldr:
1. Take PCM if you don’t know about future, and 99% you really don’t know. Don’t fake your confidence.
2. Stream is not just about subjects you like but career you want.
3. Give a shot at engineering if you are still confused after 12th.
4. Law is not that big in scope as influencers make out to be and is way more mundane than you think.
5. Know that CLAT UG is the only chance for safely landing that 17 LPA figure
6. Know that your interests, worldview, needs, philosophy etc. would change with time. most of the folks from targeted audience won't be here at LI, but if you agree with my stance do share it with your kith and kin****
She has described the mundane nature of Law jobs across the board, compared to consulting, engineering and the likes. Also, let's be honest, law firms are the only avenue to make any kind of liveable money. I would've liked if you mentioned examples of careers which pay even decent sums, so the young minds may consider.
Not only have you made a biased presumption, due to your lack of comprehension and experience, you haven't even made attempts to read through properly. The OP clearly mentions that PCM opens more gates. You CANNOT by regulation, even attempt engineering or medical, or any related fields without a PCMB background. A class 12 humanities student only has very few courses to pursue that would enabl3 them to pay bills for life.
It is not a huge ask, for a career to pay you decently. It's a basic human right, a human need. In 2024, you cannot pursue a course on gender rights and then also cover for your basic needs.
Litigation pays nothing. Nor does policy. Do tell us what else you know. A further educational investment is required for an academic career, which may also not be viable for everyone.
While I agree the fact that a career is interesting or mundane, is to themselves and their opinion, there is such a thing called objective boredom inducement. And that is corporate law. There is not one person who would do it for litigation money. Not one sane person who's dad isn't an amarchand or khaitan.
While there are upvotes on your comment, they are just random people not reading your flawed statements vis a vis the OP but just amused with the devils advocacy you have so disrespectfully attempted. Rather than making allegations, it would serve you good to suggest these avenues you boast of after you also clear your own credentials?
you can make much more than IIT grads make
Provided you become an entrepreneur
All lawyers doing their own practice are entrepreneurs, whether they understand it or not
You solve big problems for businesses, you can make big money
I just paid 3.5 lakhs to a litigator in Delhi for a very specific kind of result in the court which he has a track record of producing
He will do very little, mostly his team will do heavy lifting
He does 10 matters like that per month
Making money as a lawyer is quite easy - just need a bit of hustle. If you are intelligent its not difficult at all
I initially chose science despite not being strong in it, based on advice similar to what you're sharing. I failed my 11th standard exams and had to leave school to switch to humanities via an open board. This period was the worst time of my life and left me deeply depressed.
After passing my 12th exams, I pursued a law degree at a private university, which transformed my life and personality. I discovered a practice area I was interested in and dedicated my 4th and 5th years to internships and competitions in that area. I secured an offer from a firm that I interned at.
Today, I have a 16+ LPA package placement in a domain I love. I am more confident and better at public speaking and writing.
Everyone has different strengths, interests, and ambitions. While a 17-year-old may not have a comprehensive understanding of the world, suggesting a one-size-fits-all approach like "study science" or "do engineering" is overly simplistic. Instead, we should encourage young people to explore their interests and strengths to find their path.
I also read about a farmer's daughter who failed in 11th and recently became a deputy collector: https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/daughter-of-farmer-who-once-failed-in-class-11-becomes-deputy-collector-comes-6th-in-mppsc-examination-101717765177728.html
i was not good academically so i failed jee even in my drop year and now going to take admission in local pvt college but in my teenage years i kinda developed interest in law , i am very confused between law and engg .
btw may be your siblings/cousin who are in non engg jobs did their engg from tier 1 engg colleges and they did internship there and thats how they ended up there , it has nothing to do with engineers
The stream you choose in your +2 should depend entirely on what interests you period! Otherwise the bheed that is in science won't decrease but will actually keep on increasing. Harming not just the people who actually are interested in science by fucking their mental health and chances but also those who select science just because of money. More students becoming directionless, getting fucked again and again by the entrances for the subjects they don't even care about a bit. And finally losing motivation after facing failure for the nth time.
Not every thing should be chosen according to money prospects. Happiness matters! A career will be something that you will have for your whole life. Why would anyone want to be depressed their whole life?
75% of your batch is from science because not everyone succeeds in those entrances. 99% of people in science do not end up with good colleges after their 12th, decide to take a drop and then repeat that cycle. Everyone knows this! And law being a good second option, people shift their careers. They have been doing that for a long time now and still are doing it.
Giving 3-4 chances to these entrances means giving 4 years of your life to just get a college. That is not a joke! You might have graduated recently but you don't the current situation. How burned out we get after our 12th! Drop is not a joke.
Honestly to me, you seem bitter just because your sci friends are earning more than you. 17LPA is not less. It is more than what most of the population in India earns. 17LPA might seem measly to you, but in reality it is not!
You seriously have boomer mentality. Never expected to hear this from someone of the same generation.
I think there are a few key facts to remember. First, in order to study law at university, you don't require prerequisits from school. As long as you have done intellectually challenging subjects at school (whether that is PCMB, or Maths, Economics, English Literature, History, perhaps a second language), you should have some kind of a good intellectual foundation for studying law. In addition, I think it is also important to remember that the five year law degree isn't the only option available to those wishing to enter the legal profession in India; there are plenty of graduate, three-year-long, LLB options at India's strongly performing law schools, meaning one can easily have a quite interesting time at university reading something else (History? Philosophy? Languages? Maths? Pure Science? Maybe even Engineering!?), before going for law at the graduate level. For the above reasons, I believe the OP's one size fits all approach to be very unhelpful.
Instead, my suggestion would be to have a good think about your future prospects, look back at your own strengths and weaknesses and make your own decisions based on what you think is right for you.
A suggestion: There was a debate held in Cambridge a number of years ago, between Lord Sumption, formally a judge, and Graham Virgo, a law prof at Cambridge, on the motion 'Those Who Wish to Practise Law Should Not Study Law at university'. While that debate takes place in the context of the legal profession in England and Wales, I think a lot of what they have to say could be helpful for people thinking about this topic in India as well.
Quick cultural note: In the UK, studying something 'at university' is understood to mean what higher education degree you choose to study after leaving school. This is probably obvious, but, after all, even a graduate law degree would be studied 'at [a] university', so thought it would be best to clarify, so as to avoid any and all confusion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMR1NIEifWM
According to your perspective only clat ug will land you a safe job of 17lpa?
Even the private universities are doing better, and it's not about nlu everytime, your package depends upon your learnings, experience etc and even the nlu student with no experience and skills cannot land up with the good package..
So please....
Is bullying people necessary? Can't you just keep quiet if you have got nothing helpful to contribute in the thread?