5 ms·

I would agree. One of the things I tell students is that studying success stories is extremely valuable, but only if you do it the right way. You're looking fo

I would agree. One of the things I tell students is that studying success stories is extremely valuable, but only if you do it the right way. You're looking for two things: 1) Trends. 2) Ideas. Not blueprints. (On the med school survivorship bias comment: I don't know about the US medical system, but every other high-earning profession I'm aware of has a significant failure rate. Don't go to law school in the UK assuming that you'll make partner at a major firm, for example - or indeed that you'll automatically manage to land a job as a practicing lawyer.)

arethuza 9y ago
I don't know about the rest of the UK but in Scots law a surprisingly low percentage of students from the top law schools even manage to get trainee places. My wife is a fairly successful lawyer and she was adamant that she wouldn't encourage our kids to go into law - too brutal and the probability of success too low to make it worth it. The other nasty secret is that a lot of people who are partners at smaller firms actually have a terrible income - but the are desperate for "partner" status that they will do anything. Edit: Even the old requirements of being very posh and/or stinking rich aren't enough to make it to partner these days...
- thenomad 9y ago
  That tallies with what I've heard about the rest of the UK and the legal profession, although I'm Scotland-based too.
Mendenhall 9y ago
Very much agree with the 2 things you are looking for. I notice one thing that most success dont have, them just sitting on couch doing nothing.
kerbalspacepro 9y ago
I think looking at "professional" areas isn't fair. The idea behind OP's comment is that there is still a rather high range of income that you can get to on an "if-then" basis. Becoming a top-tier, MM lawyer is hard, but there is an instruction set that guarantees you'll be able to do it if you follow that instruction set. The more "random" aspect of it is if you actually have the predisposition to actually be capable of following that instruction set.

arethuza 9y ago

I don't know about the rest of the UK but in Scots law a surprisingly low percentage of students from the top law schools even manage to get trainee places. My wife is a fairly successful lawyer and she was adamant that she wouldn't encourage our kids to go into law - too brutal and the probability of success too low to make it worth it. The other nasty secret is that a lot of people who are partners at smaller firms actually have a terrible income - but the are desperate for "partner" status that they will do anything. Edit: Even the old requirements of being very posh and/or stinking rich aren't enough to make it to partner these days...

thenomad 9y ago
That tallies with what I've heard about the rest of the UK and the legal profession, although I'm Scotland-based too.

Mendenhall 9y ago

Very much agree with the 2 things you are looking for. I notice one thing that most success dont have, them just sitting on couch doing nothing.

kerbalspacepro 9y ago

I think looking at "professional" areas isn't fair. The idea behind OP's comment is that there is still a rather high range of income that you can get to on an "if-then" basis. Becoming a top-tier, MM lawyer is hard, but there is an instruction set that guarantees you'll be able to do it if you follow that instruction set. The more "random" aspect of it is if you actually have the predisposition to actually be capable of following that instruction set.