Have Hamilton/Ruby. Should I go to law school? Forum

[WahooLaw24]

That's fair, if you read it like that then I agree. My original point was that OP was on the fence about this decision and was assuming Biglaw, so I thought it was important to point out that Biglaw is only slightly better than a coinflip at these schools.

Only slight better than a coinflip? It's by no means guaranteed, and no one should be complacent about it, but it looks like anywhere from 80-85% of OCI/EIP/EIW participants at CCN are getting offers the past couple years.

I was referencing the percentage of the total class that got Biglaw and made the caveat earlier that someone else would have to speak to the percentage of students who wanted Biglaw and actually got it (as you just did, so thank you).

Basically, if OP is leaning toward staying, even assuming the best possible outcome for going to law school, I think he should stay.

[star fox]

That's fair, if you read it like that then I agree. My original point was that OP was on the fence about this decision and was assuming Biglaw, so I thought it was important to point out that Biglaw is only slightly better than a coinflip at these schools.

Only slight better than a coinflip? It's by no means guaranteed, and no one should be complacent about it, but it looks like anywhere from 80-85% of OCI/EIP/EIW participants at CCN are getting offers the past couple years.

I was referencing the percentage of the total class that got Biglaw and made the caveat earlier that someone else would have to speak to the percentage of students who wanted Biglaw and actually got it (as you just did, so thank you).

Basically, if OP is leaning toward staying, even assuming the best possible outcome for going to law school, I think he should stay.

Just wondering though, if you're say bottom 10 % of your class then wouldn't you be more likely to not participate in OCI since you figure it'll be futile anyways?

[WahooLaw24]

That's fair, if you read it like that then I agree. My original point was that OP was on the fence about this decision and was assuming Biglaw, so I thought it was important to point out that Biglaw is only slightly better than a coinflip at these schools.

Only slight better than a coinflip? It's by no means guaranteed, and no one should be complacent about it, but it looks like anywhere from 80-85% of OCI/EIP/EIW participants at CCN are getting offers the past couple years.

I was referencing the percentage of the total class that got Biglaw and made the caveat earlier that someone else would have to speak to the percentage of students who wanted Biglaw and actually got it (as you just did, so thank you).

Basically, if OP is leaning toward staying, even assuming the best possible outcome for going to law school, I think he should stay.

Just wondering though, if you're say bottom 10 % of your class then wouldn't you be more likely to not participate in OCI since you figure it'll be futile anyways?

I'm sure there's some of that going on. We'll never get great data that tells us how many students got Biglaw out of the number who wanted it when they started law school. Some people will geninely decide they don't want to pursue it, others will fall to the bottom of the class and say they no longer want it, etc.

The takeaway is that you have a very good chance of getting Biglaw if you want it from either school, though it is by no means a lock and any evaluation of options should not treat it as one.

[PRgradBYU]

/humblebrag

[sinfiery]

Yeah, his 180/4 in molecular biology leaves me thinking there is enough of a SD that the likely hood of him being at the bottom 15% of the class is like 1%.


Anyways, it seems like your current position is far less risky but offers less potential upside. You'll be fine doing either, if your chasing money, I'd say Law. If your chasing QOL, I'd say your current job. You probably want both, lol.

[RoyBatty]

Confused about the OP/"asking for my friend" aspect of this thread, but anyone with a hard science background who is probably going to do patent work should understand that for this group, leaving his/her career for the law is much less of a divorce from the old industry than it is for most prospective students. After leaving a big firm, he/she is relatively much more likely to get a good job back in the industry, as a lawyer or not. The science/patent thing also makes getting a law job easier. Unless 3 years of law school and a spin around the law firm block sounds too miserable to contemplate, which I could see, free LS sounds pretty good - especially given what looks like a flat income projection under the non-LS assumption.

[Redamon1]

OP says he enjoys his job now, but clearly if he took the LSAT, applied to all these schools, etc. he is looking for a way out or not completely satisfied.
I think an important question is how likely you are to be able to return to this field if either you hate being a lawyer or cannot find work. That way you can take a free ride, graduate debt free, and pursue your lawyer dreams, and not lose out on a whole lot if it doesn't work.

This. OP considered the opportunities to return to law school later, but should think about the flip side of the coin too. I'm in a similar situation, in the sense that I'm not extremely familiar with what law entails going in, but I feel comfortable knowing I've built up enough street cred in my current field that I can return when I want. Maybe a recent college graduate didn't have that time yet to build up that backup route?

In a somewhat unrelated note, Ruby will be gone after this year I believe, regardless of what you decide. If you're good enough to get a Hamilton, there's definitely other full ride options (i.e. Vanderbilt @ NYU, Levy @ Penn, Dean's Scholly at Berk, UVA, Darrow @ Michigan etc.) you can pursue at schools you haven't pissed off (IF they remember you after a few years of working); even if they're not #4s, I wouldn't completely rule out the "return to law school later" route as a middle ground to carve out a nice safety net before venturing into law.

This seems right to me.