Torn between Law and Economics

[DhIB]

Hi guys, I'm a 10th grade/Year 11 student going into IB next year. I'm torn between studying Law or Economics at University. So i was wondering if anyone could help me with subject choices so as to keep my options open.

My school offers: Economics, Business and Management, sciences, maths, english, French, Arabic, Spanish and psychology.

So far my choices are:

HL: Econ, BnM and Maths SL: English, Arabic and physics/chem

Would these subjects be enough to allow me to study either Law or econ at top Universities?

Any help would be appreciated.

[MariliaNasi]

In order to study Law or Economics these are the subject you could combine :you need for use your nature Language so English(HL),you could take Buisness and Managment(really friendly subject) in SL, for sure Economics HL and also Maths SL finally you could take Arabic SL and Chemistry SL! Not take Physics SL it's not at all related and its a really difficult choise!

[TykeDragon]

I study law, and my HLs were English, History and Philosophy. However, these debate/essay/content based subjects aren't the only subjects universities would look for to study law. Econ HL is absolutely fine, Arrowhead on this forum just finished his law degree at LSE (I believe it's the 3rd ranked uni only behind Oxbridge) and he studied HL Econ, history and English (if I remember correctly.) English A1 at SL shouldn't be a problem either - Gaby (also on this forum) is studying law at oxford and she studied English B HL. HL Econ will also keep your options open for if you want to do Economics.

I will however slightly tentatively say that BnM HL may not be the strongest subject for law (I am sure there are exceptions though) and this would probably be better replaced by HL English/an essay based humanity such as history/ a HL science such as physics/chem if science and maths are your strong points - and maths must be a serious strong point for you otherwise Maths HL is a terrible idea. a 6 in HL maths is an extremely difficult feat and only for the strongest and most devoted mathematicians. Bear in mind that for a good law uni you will be asked for 666 at HL as a minimum - usually looking at 766+ for the top universities (KCL, UCL, Durham, LSE, Oxbridge...) so only take HL maths if you are confident you will have the talent and study commitment for that.

Hope this helped

[DhIB]

Thanks for the input

Just to reply to some of the points, I would love to be able to take History however unfortunately it is not offered. And with regards to BnM I know its considered a soft subject but Im really just stuck for ideas on what else to take. Ofcourse pyshcology is an option but I'm apprehensive about taking a subject im not at all interested in at HL, but English HL is an option, is it recommended for future law students?

With regards to maths i have no real choice seeing as most universities require HL to study econ, I'm fairly good at maths with a predicted grade of A* in my cambridge iGCSE so hopefully ill be able to get through it.

So do you think this would leave my options open? HL econ,english,maths SL chem,BnM,arabic

Im quite apprehensive about taking eng HL, would BnM really not be useful?

[Gaby]

From what I've heard, taking BnM and Econ together doesn't look good. You don't really need English HL, I did English HL, but it was B level, so a piece of cake, and I did Polish A at SL. You said your school offers Psychology, maybe consider that? It's a really interesting course, albeit hard, but does teach you analytic skills. And you can wow your friends by randomly talking about research studies that relate to real life situations. Having said that, if you've no interest in Psych whatsoever, don't take it or you'll feel like slicing your wrists.

[Arrowhead]

Drop B&M, take English if you want to. Any strong traditional subjects work for Law at the top unis.

Read these two threads on a similar dilemma.

Arrowhead.

[DhIB]

I think I'll take a look at psychology since that seems the best option. Either that or just hope that my school starts to offer History that would be ideal I think

Thanks for the input guys, its been useful.

Also Arrowhead I see you applied to universities in the US, do you know if they require SAT's for British based students?

Edited November 15, 2013 by DhIB

[Arrowhead]

I think I'll take a look at psychology since that seems the best option. Either that or just hope that my school starts to offer History that would be ideal I think

Thanks for the input guys, its been useful.

Also Arrowhead I see you applied to universities in the US, do you know if they require SAT's for British based students?

They require SATs/ACTs for everyone. Go on over to collegeconfidential.com to learn more about applying to the US.

[MariliaNasi]

It requires L-Nat!

[Arrowhead]

It requires L-Nat!

Only 10 unis actually ask for the LNAT for Law entrances and 2 of those 10 aren't even in England.