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If you ask someone from a top firm, the advice you'll get is that law school is a great option if you're able to get into a tier one law school and can reasonab

If you ask someone from a top firm, the advice you'll get is that law school is a great option if you're able to get into a tier one law school and can reasonably expect to be in the top ten percent of your class. There's a bit more wiggle room if you're at one of the top ten schools, but not much. Absent that, you're not getting hired by one of the big law firms that pay enough to make any progress towards paying off your student loans. You'll be lucky if you're able to keep up with the payments. If you're stuck in a shit contract review job, like a lot of new graduates are, you're screwed ten ways to Sunday. Some regional firms recruit from lower-ranked schools that are located nearby, but in some ways, the competition for those few spots is even worse. Needless to say, I'm glad that I changed my mind about going to law school.

bradleyjg 11y ago
Even if you win you lose, because those top firm jobs tend to be brutal quality of life wise. There are legal jobs that have good work-life balance, involve interesting work, pay decently (if not great), don't require you to hustle for clients, and are fairly well thought of by society at large: federal court judge and tenured law professor. For both it would behoove you to go to Yale or failing that Harvard. (Keep in mind when looking at these links, Yale's class size is about 1/3 Harvard's.) http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2004/04/where_federal_j.html http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2004/04/where_federal_... http://lsolum.blogspot.com/archives/2004_07_01_lsolum_archive.html#108912594144211701 http://lsolum.blogspot.com/archives/2004_07_01_lsolum_archiv...
rhino369 11y ago
You cannot reasonably expect to be in the top ten percent of your class. It's different from science, cs, and engineering classes. First, because the LSAT is pretty good at matching you with classmates who are similar ability. There are definitely exceptions but you have no idea if you are one. Second, the law school environment makes everyone compete at a high level. It's not a cs class where half the class is more interested in their side projects or finding a date for the house party Friday. Third, the classes are graded on a bell curve and the tests are subjective. Even if you know 100% of the rules, you won't get 100%. The exams are pure application of rules. You argue for and against liability/guilt/etc. Plus the whole field sucks.
- Bluestrike2 11y ago
  And that's a huge part of the problem. Even for someone who is brilliant, law school is a massive, quarter-million dollar gamble. You're making a decision based on assumptions about what law school will be based on a very different experience had as an undergrad. If you're wrong, you're in a financial position that's going to take decades to get out of... if you ever do.

bradleyjg 11y ago

Even if you win you lose, because those top firm jobs tend to be brutal quality of life wise. There are legal jobs that have good work-life balance, involve interesting work, pay decently (if not great), don't require you to hustle for clients, and are fairly well thought of by society at large: federal court judge and tenured law professor. For both it would behoove you to go to Yale or failing that Harvard. (Keep in mind when looking at these links, Yale's class size is about 1/3 Harvard's.) http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2004/04/where_federal_j.html http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2004/04/where_federal_... http://lsolum.blogspot.com/archives/2004_07_01_lsolum_archive.html#108912594144211701 http://lsolum.blogspot.com/archives/2004_07_01_lsolum_archiv...

rhino369 11y ago

You cannot reasonably expect to be in the top ten percent of your class. It's different from science, cs, and engineering classes. First, because the LSAT is pretty good at matching you with classmates who are similar ability. There are definitely exceptions but you have no idea if you are one. Second, the law school environment makes everyone compete at a high level. It's not a cs class where half the class is more interested in their side projects or finding a date for the house party Friday. Third, the classes are graded on a bell curve and the tests are subjective. Even if you know 100% of the rules, you won't get 100%. The exams are pure application of rules. You argue for and against liability/guilt/etc. Plus the whole field sucks.

Bluestrike2 11y ago
And that's a huge part of the problem. Even for someone who is brilliant, law school is a massive, quarter-million dollar gamble. You're making a decision based on assumptions about what law school will be based on a very different experience had as an undergrad. If you're wrong, you're in a financial position that's going to take decades to get out of... if you ever do.