LSAT's

[adpiucf]

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

*sigh* You know, I am intelligent enough to weight the risks myself without 8 million people telling me it is a bad idea. Also I am getting really tired of the "in this economy" and "now" things. Yes I would be entering next year God willing, but it takes three years to get your degree, possibly 4 if I get into a joint degree program I'm looking at. I'm not going to base long term decisions on what the current finical clusterfuck is.

That doesn't sound intelligent at all, but hey, if you have six figures to blow on an education that will never pay off, go for it. Dream big.

[ASTalumna06]

And sorry I'm double-posting, but this was taking it a bit too far, I think.

Originally Posted by adpiucf

That doesn't sound intelligent at all, but hey, if you have six figures to blow on an education that will never pay off, go for it. Dream big.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

That doesn't sound intelligent at all, but hey, if you have six figures to blow on an education that will never pay off, go for it. Dream big.

Wow, you are starting to sound like a Bitter Betty. Did someone pee in your coffee?

If Psi U MC Vito has done his research, which it appears he has, and understands the risks, then why can't he apply to a top law school? If he can get into a Stanford, Columbia, Yale, or Harvard--why not? He's not applying to Cooley with a 145 and a 2.5 from Jarvis Christian College and thinking he's going to roll up at Sullivan Cromwell, after all. Like I said before, the attorneys I know who went to those schools are all employed in their fields. To them, the debt's been worth it.

My skepticism in my earlier post was geared towards the OP, who seems really unprepared for the law school process in general, and might be looking to law solely due to its perceived status as a lucrative career. If you didn't go to a top undergrad and are prepared--GPA and LSAT wise--for a top tier law school, or if you don't have a guaranteed job waiting for you then, yes, your point may be valid.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

That doesn't sound intelligent at all, but hey, if you have six figures to blow on an education that will never pay off, go for it. Dream big.

Vito seems to be a smart guy, capable of assessing his resources, forecasting what he would want to do with a law degree, identifying the opportunities there might be for doing what he wants to do and making informed choices as to the risks and benefits.

The rest of us, on the other hand, are not in a position to assess any of those things. At all. So what doesn't sound very intelligent to me is passing judgment on the intelligence of his decisions.

Believe it or not, it is possible to go to a law school that is not in the T14 or T20 (or even T50), not incur crushing amounts of debt and find a good job after law school. I know enough people who have done it lately to know that it can be done.

Yes, the job market has been much tighter in recent years. But not everyone wants the job with the big firm in the big city (with the big expectation of big billable hours). And the degree to which the market has been tighter varies from region to region of the country.

Could it be challenging? Of course. But it can and does work out for lots of people.

[pbear19]

Since I posted above, I will clarify that I personally am not saying that people should not go to law school. I do agree with trying to be realistic about it, though.

I've enjoyed my time in school, and am not sure that I would change the decision I made before I enrolled if I could go back in time. But I honestly did not expect that I would have as much debt as I do, given that I am on a full tuition scholarship. I have really good grades, great job experience from my previous career, but I didn't get the lucrative summer jobs that I thought would take the edge off. Those summer jobs are, for the most part, no longer reality. For personal reasons I didn't foresee when I applied to law school, I wasn't able to work part time during the year as I planned on, except for one semester. So I have debt that I didn't plan on. And, I honestly thought the economy would be different by the time I graduated. It's not. That being said, there are still jobs. They simply are not as plentiful. I worry most about the person who is in the bottom 50% and doesn't have the social aptitude to network.

Plan to do well on the LSAT. Plan to work your ass off in school to be sure you are ranked well. Plan to scrimp and save on day-to-day stuff. Plan to network and get to know the attorneys in the area you plan to practice. Know the market you are getting into, which may mean going to a lower-ranked school if it is more respected and has better connections in the town you want to live in. Plan to be unemployed until after the bar exam results are published, which means a few months without a paycheck after graduation. If you are realistic, and understand that the jobs that there once were will never be around again, that's all that one can ask.

I would, however, strongly recommend anyone who tests poorly to forego law school. If you cannot handle the stress of an exam, and you don't have a parent's law firm to work in after you graduate, you are going to be in trouble.