The issue with law is that it while it requires a bit less time investment, it requires a substantially larger investment of money. PhD programs pay you, not a

The issue with law is that it while it requires a bit less time investment, it requires a substantially larger investment of money. PhD programs pay you, not a lot, but at least 20-40k a year. A top legal program (the only kind that will realistically get you a decent legal job) costs about 75k a year in non dischargable loans. There is some merit aid, but it requires you to trade down to a worse school. A good bet if you can get into the elite schools and trade down to a good school (like from Harvard down to Cornell or UMich). But if you can just barely get into Cornell or UMich, you don't really want to trade down to GWU or WUSTL. I'd rather spend another 5-6 years in grad school / post docs than have huge student loans. Worse, law keeps weeding people out well past the bar exam. A lot of lawyers spend 7 years in school and 3 years in practice and just leave the industry, often with well over 100k in debt. Legal salary statistics are a bit skewed by sample bias. NALP relies on reported salaries. Also legal jobs tend to be in high cost of living areas, while a lot of PhD employers are colleges in bumfuck.