To the hate crime; I believe it’s hard because we are trying to guess what was in someone’s mind at that moment. Whereas in premeditated vs crime of passion there are other cues, hate crimes are not so easily determined. For instance, if someone regularly uses racial slurs and is an alcoholic prone to fighting with people of any color, does a fight with anyone not the persons color or sexual orientation automatically constitute a hate crime? Or is it just a drunken idiot? What if they use a slur right before they hit? Is that different than if someone yells a derogatory remark against women right before hitting a woman? What if it was another woman?

I think that there is a trend of thinking that any time you have two people from separate groups (I guess) fighting, it is automatically a hate crime. In Denver there was a group of Hispanic boys robbing and beating people at train stations. They only ever seemed to hit white males. Hate crime, or coincidence? It’s hard to tell!
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Subjects like History, Sociology and English Language or Literature would be seen as acceptable and there are loads more depending on which college you go to. Psychology, Critical Thinking, Business etc.

Just make sure that from the ones you pick, there are skills which are transferable into studying a course like Law at Uni. The real answer is that it doesn’t matter as long as your choices vaguely relate at this stage.

If you are serious about a career as a criminal lawyer though you will want stay away from subjects like art, photography, graphics or any performing arts. Even though the will get you the grades to get into Uni, future employers will look back at minute details to see how your subject choices have groomed you to suit a job in that field.
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As has been said above, Criminal Law is the state prosecuting individuals that may have committed a crime involving fines or prison if guilty.

Civil Law is all about to legal entities, could be companies or individuals or both, taking actions against one another, to seek damages, enforcement of a contract, or injunctions, i.e. a court ruling which instructs one party to stop doing something.

In Criminal Law you usually have a jury and the defendant is allowed a reasonable doubt, so you have to be certain to convict.

In civil law the ruling looks at what is most probable.

Hope this helps.
References :

Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. There are four theories of criminal justice: punishment, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. It is believed that imposing sanctions for the crime, society can achieve justice and a peaceable social order. This differs from civil law in that civil actions are disputes between two parties that are not of significant public concern.

The process begins, obviously, with an alleged crime. A complainant makes an accusation, which is investigated by the police, acting as agents of the government. A formal charging document called a complaint or an indictment brought by a grand jury is filed with a court in the appropriate jurisdiction. If the offense is classified as a felony, the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States requires that a federal case be referred to a grand jury for an indictment. The Supreme Court has held that the right to a grand jury does not apply to the states. Therefore, each state has its own set of grand jury procedures. Some follow federal practices, but others make use of the indictment optional, and allow the prosecutor to file a complaint or information to formally charge the defendant with the crime. Two states (Connecticut and Pennsylvania) and the District of Columbia do not use grand jury indictments.

The interests of the state are represented by a prosecuting attorney, while the interests of the defendant are represented by his defense attorney or by the defendant as pro se, acting as his own attorney. The Sixth Amendment guarantees a criminal defendant the right to a speedy and public trial, in both state and federal courts, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime was committed, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of Counsel for his defence.

While the specific process varies according to the local law, the process culminates with a jury trial (as required by the Sixth Amendment), followed by mandatory or discretionary appeals to higher courts.

Criminal statutes spell out the exact circumstances which constitute a crime. These circumstances are known as the elements of the offense. Unless all the elements are proven by the prosecuting authority, the defendant is not guilty of the offense. There are three kinds of elements: the act itself, the actus reus, guilty act; the requisite mental state, the mens rea, guilty mind; and the attendant circumstances. As an example, the common law definition of burglary was as follows: unlawful entry into a dwelling house at night with the intent to commit a felony therein. It is the duty of the prosecution therefore, to prove not merely the act (unlawful entry), and the mental state (the intent to commit a crime therein), but all the attendant circumstances (that it was a dwelling house, and that it was at night). Most modern criminal statutes have modified the elements, changing the "dwelling house" to a more general structure, and eliminating the "at night" element..

In defense, the accused could argue that he had no intent to commit a crime inside the house, that it occurred during the day, or that his entry was lawful. He could also, of course, argue that the incident never happened, or that someone else committed the offense.

Criminal law in most jurisdictions, both in the common and civil law traditions, is divided into two fields:

Criminal procedure regulates the process for addressing violations of criminal law
Substantive criminal law details the definition of, and punishments for, various crimes.
Criminal law distinguishes crimes from civil wrongs such as tort or breach of contract. Criminal law has been seen as a system of regulating the behavior of individuals and groups in relation to societal norms whereas civil law is aimed primarily at the relationship between private individuals and their rights and obligations under the law. Although many ancient legal systems did not clearly define a distinction between criminal and civil law, in England there was little difference until the codification of criminal law occurred in the late nineteenth century. In most U.S. law schools, the basic course in criminal law is based upon the English common criminal law of 1750 (with some minor American modifications like the clarification of mens rea in the Model Penal Code). In civil cases, the Seventh Amendment guarantees a defendant a right to a jury trial in federal court, but that right does not apply to the states (in contrast with criminal cases).

Civil law (legal system), a system of law based on the Corpus Juris Civilis prevalent in continental Europe, Central and South America, Quebec and Louisiana. In this sense the term is opposed to common law.
Laws imposed by the state. In this sense it is opposed to natural law.
References :
Wikipedia