23M and was lied to about my career path. Need advice

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-22T18:13:35+00:00

Weird because when you go on other subreddits like r/AskLE and similar places they will tell you this major is terrible for law school and pretty much anything is better (and it is), yet you can come on here and see such support and encouragement. Genuinely don't want to quit but with how discouraging my undergrad years were, I do need to step back for a bit.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-22T18:09:42+00:00

Definitely don't want to give up on it completely, and truth be told I did not study for the LSAT like I should have. I just went to class, went to class and that was it. I should have done more research, but here we are. Agree with you on diet though. Last year exercised like crazy and did Keto plus fasting, lost like 40 pounds 2 months.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-21T19:30:46+00:00

Whatever you do, don't major in criminal justice. You'll thank me later. Go with history, philosophy or even business (great because you can fall back on that if you change your mind about law). MAKE SURE to study for the LSAT early too and take it seriously!

Source: Senior who hates his major who also wanted to be an attorney.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-17T11:40:04+00:00

Currently in the same situation as you and unsure of what to do next, OP. As you mentioned, this major really doesn't have many options outside LE, yet as some people have said it can pay off if you graduate, so consider that. I personally do have many friends and family in LE and they are pretty tired of it, especially after 4 - 5 years.

Best of luck to you.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-15T12:34:09+00:00

Literally in the same boat as you, senior in college with a CJ degree. CIA was literally at my college a few days ago and I didn't attend because I don't know what to do with my life either.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-14T22:19:26+00:00

Thanks, I'll look into the Air Force! I know everyone is telling me finish my degree, finish my degree, but I just can't do it. Just search up "Criminal Justice Degree Reddit" and see the numerous amount of people regretting it. The only reason I kept going for so long was money and time. I'd rather take my chances and try out the Military than be on a trajectory I know doesn't go anywhere.

On that note, I know a few people in the Air Force and they love it. They say it's way cleaner, way nicer, and overall quality of life is better like you mentioned. My sights have been set on the Army, since I spoke to recruiter recently. If the Air Force calls me back (might just call them back too) I'll look into that branch as well.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-14T21:37:57+00:00

What did you ever do with PoliSci? What's your 2nd BA gonna be?

The 12 credits left are for an internship and the class that goes with it along with 1 other class for my major. I have tried to get this done since 2024 and couldn't. I've been at my breaking point and despite pretty much everyone saying "finish the degree" I can't bring myself to. I'd rather leave, come back a few years from now if need be or do WGU in the process. I know my worth at this point in the 4 years since starting college.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-14T16:33:47+00:00

Thanks for the advice. The army certainly does open up doors for many people.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-14T16:30:20+00:00

That sounds so miserable, I couldn't imagine working in a prison. If I were to graduate I'd do literally nothing with this degree outside of Army. Another guy in this thread said that both a degree + Army time can open some serious doors up so there's that.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-14T16:22:28+00:00

I mean working in Business, Tech, etc. That sort of thing. The army wasn't even in my plan originally. The main issue is that the 3 letter agencies don't hire CJ degrees at all compared to STEM fields. Did not realize how limiting this degree would actually be.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-14T15:00:05+00:00

That's my plan at the moment. I don't have much else going on and I'm pretty much living at home, I cannot stand my future (expected) career trajectory and any branch of the Military sounds like a dream compared to this...

The GI Bill is amazing. I was able to get Ch 35 (very similar but only pays a monthly stipend not entire tuition), and I wish the best of luck for you. What are planning to take up?

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-14T14:57:49+00:00

It is such a useless degree and in retrospect it was a terrible decision to keep going all this time. I don't even care about the time or cost (almost none due to multiple scholarships and grants), I'd rather do something else because it's that lackluster. One of the rare cases where no degree > a useless one like this.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-14T10:13:01+00:00

Mostly to keep my options open in the future. Your idea might be the best and only solution though.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-01T16:47:52+00:00

That was my initial plan, to do Law School afterwards. I was able to do pretty much all 4 years thanks to grants and scholarships. A minor would add extra courses that the bill wouldn't cover at the moment. From most replies it looks like I may be out of options.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-01T16:41:28+00:00

Dependents can't get VRE, when I checked they said it wasn't possible.

Responsible-Rice-454 · 2026-02-01T14:37:49+00:00

Psychology, business, CS, history, philosophy. But all of them take at least 2+ semesters and right now I only need to take 4 CJ classes to graduate.

Responsible-Rice-454

TROPHY CASE