I-8's points are valid. My advice on law school is don't go unless you really have a passion for the law. I graduated a decade ago and there is only a small percentage of folks that I graduated with who are still lawyers. I strongly suggest you do informational interviews with lawyers, former lawyers and even law students before you sign up for three years of your life and huge debts.
And as far as taking the bar, I will not speak to California. But here in the Northwest we look suspiciously on those folks that went to law school outside of here. And outsiders tend to do worse on our bars than those who went to schools in the NW.
Here's the advice you'll get from me and every other person you'll talk to who knows anything about the situation:
Don't go to law school now. Graduate. Work for a few years in the relevant field. Once you have some legitimate experience under your belt, sign up for an LSAT prep course. Spend the $1,000 for it. Then, write an excellent essay about the experience you got after undergrad.
Here's the advice you'll get from me (and yes, I know a bit about the situation).
Go to law school now. Party a lot. Find single law students, preferably the brightest ones. Don't go for looks. Shack up. Get hitched. Drop out of law school. Never work a day again. It's called the Husband Degree (or Wife Degree, depending on your gender).
yeah Weak Shit Superfan kinda said everything I'd have to say about law school. Sucks that you want to practice in cali cause normally it's no big deal if you go to a school in a state you're not planning on practicing in. It just turns out that California has a stupidly specific bar exam so it'd be hard to come back to.
The one thing I'd add about the lsat is take it early. I took it in December which meant I was in a real rush to get applications in (got my score on about January 1st and UW's deadline was January 15th). I like to think that's why I didn't get into UW....
It's definitely possible to do well on the lsat without taking a prep course but if you have the money it's probably worth it.
tl;dr: don't go to law school, I'm staring at 100k in debt and no job prospects
yeah Weak Shit Superfan kinda said everything I'd have to say about law school. Sucks that you want to practice in cali cause normally it's no big deal if you go to a school in a state you're not planning on practicing in. It just turns out that California has a stupidly specific bar exam so it'd be hard to come back to.
The one thing I'd add about the lsat is take it early. I took it in December which meant I was in a real rush to get applications in (got my score on about January 1st and UW's deadline was January 15th). I like to think that's why I didn't get into UW....
It's definitely possible to do well on the lsat without taking a prep course but if you have the money it's probably worth it.
tl;dr: don't go to law school, I'm staring at 100k in debt and no job prospects
Oh duh, I also forgot to mention the bar. California has the hardest bar exam in the nation (blow me, New York), and even though you'll end up taking a bar prep course anyway, why not just study there?
As for the doing well on the LSAT without taking a course -- this is true. I didn't take one, I did all right. I would have done better if I had taken a course, and trust me -- you want every advantage you can get. The money is worth it. Don't be like me and let your ego insist that you don't need it.
in all likelihood the thousand you spend on the bar course will be one of the best investments you make. Most likely it will translate into more scholarship money but if it doesn't then it will at least get you into a better school which is worth thousands of dollars of more money when you graduate
like I8 said i didnt take one either and it worked out fine for me but its hard not to think about how much better i could have done
Post by adamSnacksjr on Feb 24, 2011 22:46:28 GMT -5
Thanks for the info guys. You aren't the first crew who has told me to take some time before I go to law school or to just not go at all.
I'll probably either A. go to grad school (I've been looking at some MBA programs as well) or B. try and find a job in a closely related field like I-8 said. 200,000 of debt is just such a turnoff especially when there are no jobs.
Just curious I-8, if you don't mine me asking what kinda GPA and LSAT #'s were you rocking to get in to Hastings?
*Coachella Wknd 1 - April 13th-15th *Sasquatch - May 25th-28th
