BobCostas wrote:Nope definitely didn't confuse these two things. I put a fairly significant amount of research into all of these careers and medicine, dentistry, optometry and science (specifically biology and chemistry) are not as wonderful as they seem. Their respective professional schools will preach high attrition rates, increased demand etc but in reality it's a similar situation. Medical, Dental and Optometry schools are being opened up at quite a rate as well, and the standards to get into those schools isn't much higher than it is for Law Schools. A 300 on the OAT, an 18 on the DAT, a 27 on the MCAT combined with a GPA above 3 can give you a pretty good shot, it just depends how much you're willing to spend. Hop over to student doctor forums and you'll see people talking about the professions with the same pessimism I see on TLS.
Some people have said they know tons of lawyers who aren't in a good position. Well I know tons of doctors, dentists, optometrists and biologists facing similar fates. In fact, the people who I know who are the best off are....lawyers! I will admit I don't know nearly as many of them, but 100% of the ones I do know are rich.
I'm just failing to see any concrete evidence that the law profession is in that bad of shape, or that it's significantly worse than the other professions I've mentioned. I am most definitely very concerned, but I'm also somewhat skeptical.
i still dont see how that means they are unstable professions (at least for a doctor or dentist, i cant speak for the other two). the chances of a newly minted MD and DDS getting a job are significantly > than a newly minted JD getting a legal job...esp. if you compare their avg. starting salaries. also, your OP was about high initial investment costs of being a dentist -- that is not proof dentistry is an unstable profession at all.
that being said, there is a LOT of concrete evidence that the law profession is in bad shape lol, how have you not seen it? i cant help but not see it -- i mean if you can get yourself into a top law school, preferably without borrowing yourself into the ground, then yeah outlooks are rosier than the apocalyptic spiel we hear every day...but most people are not in that position (or the avg JD isnt in that position even)...relative to doctors or dentists? on a financial security level? not even close
unfortunately, your anecdotal evidence means virtually nothing. i have had the exact opposite experience (when it comes to doctors and dentists and lawyers at least).