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Should I go to law school?
Question : Should I go to law school?
Help! I don’t know if law school is the right decision for me. I graduated undergrad in December from a top liberal arts school with a BA in English. I took time off during undergrad for health reasons (eating disorder), and after I graduated, I had to take off some more time to get treatment. I am feeling in a pretty good state of mind, but am still hesitant about law school.
I like having free time, but I also want to be able to support myself some day. Right now, I am living at home, and going to law school will mean that I can be on my own again, living in the dorms.
I got a half tuition scholarship at one of the top 75 schools. I did a week long pre-law boot-camp, and found the curriculum interesting. I am ok with reading cases.
But, I can’t imagine working at a big firm or working more than 50 hours a week once I graduate.
I have never held a full time job before, and would not know how to go about finding one right now if I don’t end up going to law school.
Right now, all my ducks are in a row to start law school in August. I have considered trying it to see how the first year goes, and if it really is abysmal, drop out after the first semester. Should I at least try it to see if it is a good fit? I don’t think it’s the wrong decision to go to law school, but I also am not convinced that it is the right one either.
Please help! Thanks!
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Best answer:
Answer by Bryce Hunter
Well.. when a good opportunity comes around to you.. its really good to take it.. when your old you don’t get many opportunities anymore and if you don’t take them now I guarantee you that when your older.. you will regret it.. thats what my dad always says anyway….
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#2 written by ET 1 year ago
Your Ducks are not in a row until you feel a whole lot better about going to law school; or any other school. You haven’t started yet and you’re talking about dropping out after the first semester.
All lawyers don’t work for large law firms. There are firms with 2-3 lawyers. Some specialize in Bankruptcy, Real Estate, Family Matters. Some become town or village lawyers, handling all the legal work for the Mayor/Supervisor and their boards.
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#3 written by Studious 1 year ago
You don’t have to work 50 hours a week at a big firm. You can go to a Small town and start your own office and live comfortably and have a reasonably quiet, relaxed life. You could even hang out your shingle in a bigger and town and choose what type of law you want to practice. Perhaps estate planning etc would keep the hours and stress levels down. Down feel you fail if you don’t squeeze out every last dollar you can. Be comfortable and be content.
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I don’t think anyone should attend law school because they don’t know what else to do, and this is made worse by the fact that you have never held a real job outside of college. Even with a half tuition scholarship, you’re very likely going to be in significant debt after graduation with a degree in something you may or may not like, which prepared you to work in a career you may or may not want.
Many individuals treat law school like graduate school – a place to go after college where you can shelter yourself in the warm embrace of academia, but law school is professional school, designed to set you on a very specific career path. It’d be like going to medical school without knowing if you want to be a doctor. It’s expensive, time consuming, and difficult, and is only useful if you want to pursue the career for which you have been trained.
Out of a tier two school, you very likely won’t have access to the jobs that make you work 50-60+ hours a week. That’s biglaw, and biglaw is extremely competitive, even for graduates of top-14 law schools. More than likely, you’ll be going into midlaw/small-law, where the hours are much more manageable. Even smaller firms work attorneys 40-50 hours a week, and sometimes weekends, depending on the case, but biglaw can be absolutely insane comparatively. Government jobs don’t work you long hours, but they generally pay less and, surprisingly, are much more competitive than your average law firm job. Maybe because of the hours?
Also, the job prospects in general are not great out of tier two schools, but I can’t say for certain without knowing which school you’re attending. You could go for a semester, acquire a little debt, and see where you land class rank-wise (and figure out if you like it, too), but you would probably benefit from deferring for a year and getting a job. During that time, you could also re-take the LSAT and try to get into a tier one with a scholarship.
Good luck to you and let us know what you decide.