Lawschool Advice?
 

I'm about to start applying for law schools soon. I've yet to take my LSAT. (I'm taking 3 of those weekend bootcamps to study for it! ) Is there any advice or stories of personal experience that ya'll can bestow upon me? It'd be appreciated. Thanks!

be sure it's what you want to do. Do a search for the other law school threads. There's quite a few of them

It's a big investment of time and money, and as of right now, the job market really isn't too great.

kddani check your pm's!

Law school: don't do it.

I'm kidding, kind of -- just make sure law is really, really, really what you want to do. If you don't know your Myers Briggs type, that might be a good place to start, because I think there are some personality types that are not suited for careers in the legal field (why yes, I am talking about myself).

Make sure you've asked yourself the following questions --

What kind of law do you want to practice?

Do you have realistic expectations (for example, 99% of the people who say they want to do "entertainment law" are in for a world of pain and disappointment, and you probably won't make more than $50k a year, if you're lucky, if you want to do some type of public interest law)?

In what kind of environment do you want to work?

I am currently preparing for the October 1st LSAT. Here is a link to a lot of great online resources. http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/link...c7c3b7c228ff72

Thanks for the insights and websites. Is there a place to get your Myer's Briggs type online? Also I don't think I'd like to be an entertainment lawyer. Final salary is not going to sway me. I don't think making a lot of money is going to ever make me happy. I was hoping to be an advocate for battered women and neglected children so I am prepared to make next to nothing. Do you think this idealism is going to hurt me in the long run. I still feel like the law is a calling...

you might think differently when you graduate from law school tens of thousands of dollars in the hole. While salary may not be important to you know, when you have to pay the rent/mortgage, car payments, EAT, etc. you will very likely think differently

Good point. But aren't you proud and glad that you did it?

* Edited to add: Also I am married and my husband is a SAINT and being very supportive. In a way I feel guilty because he is basically going to support the both of us through out this.

Again I appreciate your insights and advice, and I want your honest opinions and insights from your life experience...

After 3 years of it, $85K in debt, a very tough job market, and studying for the bar, i'm not so sure. And I think most of my classmates would have the same opinion. It's rough. Law school beats you down.

I'm not going to lie and be like oh, it's all wonderful and light and happy clouds and all that. It can really suck. It does suck. And it's probably not going to be much better for awhile. EVERYONE wants to go to law school, and there's going to be a glut of new law grads and no jobs for them.

Don't be too idealistic, make sure you take a look at the negatives.

Gosh 85 K is ALOT of money!

And I go to a semi-public school. In state tuition was about 18,500 a year, plus fees and all that, books, and living expenses. If you go to a private school it'll be a lot more

what kind of law do you want to practice?

Whatever I can get a job in. Can't really afford to be picky

How close was the school you went to from where you grew up?

i was born several blocks up the street from my law school (Pitt) and have lived within 20 miles my entire life

So are you looking to relocate? That'd be so scary to do on your own!

I have to stay in PA because that's where i'm taking the bar.

These are all really some realities you need to consider before deciding this is something you really want to do. It doesn't sound like you really know what it entails. Look at the other law school theads, there's good, realitybased information on here

I'd agree that I don't know what I am getting myself into. Thanks for your help! If I make any decisions I'll let you know.

I just took the lsats. Haven't got my score back yet.

I'm looking to go into the army JAG corp and see how I like that. If it sucks, I'll do my time and get out. I have a buddy that does real estate law and he told me that if I concentrated on that he could get me a pretty good job.

Jus realize that unless you are in about the top 20% of your class you are going to wait tables. For a really good job you need to be at the very least in the top 10%.

I'll just end up going to WVU law school. I can live in my frat house for free, get free food, and a stipend every month. It can be a little loud, but I don't expect the work to be any more difficult than my engineering classes-hell, probably less so in some cases.

Also, look out because apparently starting law school makes you a terrible kisser.

What makes Pitt "semi-public"? I'm not trying to be funny, I've just never heard of that.

Is there any way you can get loan forgiveness for working in the public good? Some of my sisters, who ended up about $150K in debt (from Columbia), were able to get part of their loan debt forgiven because of the kind of jobs they took on.

Several of my friends who recently got out of law school weren't in the top 20% of their classes who had no problem getting jobs at great firms (ie, Cravath, Proskauer, Paul Weiss). But, then again, they graduated from schools like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford.

Pitt is "state-related" in that it's not a state school, but gets some money from the state (Penn State is the same way). So in-state students do get lower tuition.

I don't know about loan forgiveness in the legal field, if there is, it's not too common.

:D

Yeah that's definately something I am going to explore. Most of the work I'd like to do would be pro-bono anyhow so that's a great option for me!

I've never heard of loan forgiveness actually existing, which is sad since I worked as a PD, which as we all know, pays crap.

It's very rare that a law school graduate won't find a legal job SOMEWHERE -- the problem is that many, many places really suck. You could end up working at a small ass firm for $35k a year and working 60 hour weeks. I've seen it happen, but thankfully not to me because I knew firm life wasn't for me in any form.

Also, watch out for Law Body. There were people in my class who got fatter every day.

It is practically impossible to get loan forgiveness if you had any sort of scholarship. My boyfriend went to a first tier school on a partial scholarship and is now working as a PD in a rural county, and can't get loan forgiveness because he used loans for things beside school.

I'm going to a TTT and I won't get loan forgiveness because I have a full ride, so all my loans will be used on living expenses.

And Munchkin is pretty correct in saying that unless you go to a REALLY elite school, getting a job is not going to be a cakewalk.

What region of the country do you live in? Are you going to stay there for your husband's job? Did you have a good undergrad GPA?

Yeah I talked to my uncle today, who is a lawyer. He says I'll have no problems as far as my gpa. I live in North Texas, and the husband is willing to relocate. I'd like to stay in the Sunbelt if at all possible. I think I am going to go against popular opinion and just do it. That is if I score high enough on the LSAT. I do think I need to research more, but my mind is pretty much made up. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do...

Ok seriously this thread is freaking me out about job opportunities.

You shouldn't let that scare you if its something you want to do. It 's just a reminder to be in the top of the class thats all. If you get out & still can't find a job you can sue me! ;)

I wish I could've had the chance to be freaked out before I started law school. It took a little while for the economy to trickle down to the legal field, but it's been there for awhile.

Don't be freaked out - while Dani and valkyrie are totally correct that jobs are lagging in 'traditional' legal fields, it's a bit alarmist to be completely 'freaked out' and instead feel lucky to be forewarned . . . realize that if you're looking for niche work (read: sports agent, or first-chair entertainment attorney, or something equally pie-in-the-sky), or aren't willing to start at the bottom, you'll need to look for the expanding non-traditional fields.

There's simply not room for every law student to wind up in-house at GE, or to start as a baby at Baker Botts . . . law students are increasingly being forced into work as independent contractors, or in legal-related fields such as LawIT/e-discovery, consulting, or non-counsel in-house work.

Also, the "outside the top 20% is screwed" figure is completely pulled out of his ass - but it would definitely help to have the numbers.

The important thing to take from valkyrie and dani is to realize that the market is nowhere near as impressed with your JD as it was 10 years ago, especially away from the coasts, so you'll need to a.) keep your options open and b.) be flexible if you're not in a position to be choosy. This is one reason why I'm doing what I'm doing now - because I don't want to be $100k in debt and realize I hate what I'm doing. It's a try-out period, of sorts.

The main thing I would suggest to people considering law school is to HAVE A MAJOR YOU CAN FALL BACK ON. Sure, it's appealing to major in underwater basketweaving because you'll have the GPA for Harvard, but if you hate law school and drop out or finish in the bottom 3% of your class, you can still get a job with your UG degree. The accountants and engineers among my friends are a lot less freaked out than the general business and art history kids right now about undertaking all that loan debt.

Hardly. I don't make blind choices and a lot of alumni have told me that if you are not in the top 25% or so, you will not be offered a job at a medium to a large firm were you can make the money you need to at least pay for your loans. If you are happy doing legal work that a legal secretary can do, then yeah-do what ever you want in law school. To be competetive you have to be among the best in your class.

Engineering is ridiculous right now. A buddy of mine is a year from graduating and has around a 2.6 gpa and already has an awesome job waiting for him.

No offense Coramoor, but you haven't even started law school yet. You shouldn't be talking like you're an authority on hiring. And what one lawyer told you isn't the gospel.

Being in the top 20% may be the only way to get a decent job if you go to a crappy law school, but that's NOT true across the board.

OK - so you pulled the figure out of your ass, but at least it was based on anecdotal accounts from "a lot of alumni" (from WVU, I assume)?

Hardly something for Kevlar to base his own expectation on, although the sentiment you're applying is probably the most healthy way to look at it. Just realize that you're not exactly performing science (or logic) with your conclusion.

You also assume here that a primary goal is Big Law , which also draws considerably more graduates from (surprise!) bigger, better, coastal law schools . . . 20% certainly isn't an accurate requirement for graduates from Columbia, for instance, when it comes to finding work for the largest firms (or analogous positions in other sectors). There's far more available than "large or medium firms", as well, but I'm sure you've done the research . . . right?

Tautology? Solid LSAT prep, I guess . . .

Definitely the truth here, though, and even past the money the room for advancement for recent grads is pretty amazing in many engineering fields.

Why is no one else bringing up the apparent bad kissing epidemic sweeping the nation's law schools?

Yeah that's a pressing issue we must address. I can't believe such a blight on our nation is being swept under the carpet!

Maybe the single biggest piece of advice I can give you. Don't date anyone in your law school.

As one of my classmates said, "law school booty is bad booty"

:D

Oh gosh I can't imagine! We can even talk to each other in this thread without arguing! I'd never date someone else as argumentative as ME! (plus I'm married so I don't date anymore, but if I did ... )

Most of the schools that offer the most generous loan forgiveness programs are the ones that don't give out merit scholarships.

So, unless you were planning on going to a Columbia, Yale, or Stanford--it's probably not a good idea to bank on loan forgiveness.