Need to Pick Today Forum

[rad lulz]

I've been preparing for school for over a year now and I believe I am ready to succeed academically.

You've never taken a law school class. What does this even mean?

[Master Tofu]

I'm deadset on school this year (after much consideration) because I really don't want to spend a year waiting tables in a city where I don't know a soul. Believe it or not, but this isn't the easiest thing in the entire world to do. I've been preparing for school for over a year now and I believe I am ready to succeed academically. I know it might be "foolish", but my job prospects currently fucking suck, and I don't believe I can possibly break into a new market (Seattle, Bay Area) simply by showing up and "looking for work".

Where is family? Are they in the Davis area? Can you establish in-state status after attending law school for the first year?

[WisemanAEKDB]

So how are you planning on breaking into a new market by going to law school there? There's a good chance you will end up unemployed with an onerous amount of debt coming out of Davis/UW, in part because a lack of ties. How is that not worse than your current situation?

1) by doing the best I can in school. I realize it's ridiculous to expect top 20% or even any number, but I will do the best I am capable of.
2) by utilizing the reformed career services at Davis to maximize my chances of desirable placement.
3) clinics and externships to start to tack up resume items and network.
4) by actually trying and being active with my education.

[rad lulz]

So how are you planning on breaking into a new market by going to law school there? There's a good chance you will end up unemployed with an onerous amount of debt coming out of Davis/UW, in part because a lack of ties. How is that not worse than your current situation?

1) by doing the best I can in school. I realize it's ridiculous to expect top 20% or even any number, but I will do the best I am capable of.
2) by utilizing the reformed career services at Davis to maximize my chances of desirable placement.
3) clinics and externships to start to tack up resume items and network.
4) by actually trying and being active with my education.

You and basically everyone else will be doing this stuff

[WisemanAEKDB]

I'm deadset on school this year (after much consideration) because I really don't want to spend a year waiting tables in a city where I don't know a soul. Believe it or not, but this isn't the easiest thing in the entire world to do. I've been preparing for school for over a year now and I believe I am ready to succeed academically. I know it might be "foolish", but my job prospects currently fucking suck, and I don't believe I can possibly break into a new market (Seattle, Bay Area) simply by showing up and "looking for work".

Where is family? Are they in the Davis area? Can you establish in-state status after attending law school for the first year?

I don't really have family ties at all (seriously). Really bad divorce between my parents. Only my dad talks to me now. He's in Philadelphia with 0 ties to the legal market. I essentially have the "instate rate" for 1L due to a waiver, and I can establish for 2L and beyond. COA in OP is reflective of this.

[20141023]

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[BigZuck]

So how are you planning on breaking into a new market by going to law school there? There's a good chance you will end up unemployed with an onerous amount of debt coming out of Davis/UW, in part because a lack of ties. How is that not worse than your current situation?

1) by doing the best I can in school. I realize it's ridiculous to expect top 20% or even any number, but I will do the best I am capable of.
2) by utilizing the reformed career services at Davis to maximize my chances of desirable placement.
3) clinics and externships to start to tack up resume items and network.
4) by actually trying and being active with my education.

So you're special unlike the rest of your classmates.

Look, plan on ending up at median. Median at Davis has a very good chance of unemployment, especially with a lack of CA ties.

Do not go to Davis unless its close to a full ride and you are ok with potentially spending three years in law school with nothing to show for it.

[jbagelboy]

given that you are "100%" going to law school, go to Davis - Utah blows, I agree with you.

What everyone is getting at here is, why are you 100% set on going to law school? It's just not the right time. UC Davis is a solid regional choice and you should still be proud of yourself for your accomplishment. Nevertheless, since you have no ties to said region, it will be difficult to establish new ones, and reading through your reasons for why you would get ahead, they are the exact same justifications 80% of your class will have. I know its tough to admit to oneself, but if you are a median applicant to law school, you have no logical reason to expect to be anything but median in the class.

Why not hold off on law school and work?

Gun to head, davis.

[Master Tofu]

I don't really have family ties at all (seriously). Really bad divorce between my parents. Only my dad talks to me now. He's in Philadelphia with 0 ties to the legal market. I essentially have the "instate rate" for 1L due to a waiver, and I can establish for 2L and beyond. COA in OP is reflective of this.

I think this is a tough decision.

I understand where you are coming from - waiting tables is a grueling and thankless job. Hard to argue with not wanting to spend another year cleaning tables and mopping floors.

That being said, the decision to go to law school really should not be based on knee-jerk repulsion to your current work. As you are already aware, that's not a good way to make decisions.

If you don't like your current work, then change it. If you don't like living in/waiting tables in Utah, move to Cali and do it there. Maybe the sunshine, the beaches, etc, will help you last another year while you raise your LSAT. Or do well on the LSAT and then spend the next year tutoring LSAT while you apply to law schools.

Waiting tables is a tough job and you should do something about it but I don't think it has to be attending Davis at 120k.

[GM544]

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[TheNextAmendment]

1) by doing the best I can in school. I realize it's ridiculous to expect top 20% or even any number, but I will do the best I am capable of.

I don't think Davis or Utah hand out "Most Improved" or "Hardest Worker" scholarships. Be a high school teacher...Law schools dont care about your best.

[shifty_eyed]

If you want to be an employed lawyer with a manageable debt load, Utah. This is what I assumed when I voted for Utah.

If you want to live in the Pacific Northwest, you should move there NOW. Get a job, any job you can, and study for a retake.

[Tom Joad]

Everybody saying Davis here should really STFU and stop trying to ruin this impressionable, idealistic dood's life. This is a one time decision for all the marbles and you can't lead this man astray. The only choices are Utah, retake, or don't do law school. All of them are pretty good choices. As for wanting to get out of Utah. Have you ever heard the expression, "the grass is always greener on the other side?" Get to know people and make an effort to fit in with the local culture and you will love it there in no time.

Also it should be telling that all the people saying Davis are 0Ls and people in law school are saying anything but Davis.

[WisemanAEKDB]

You had some good advice until this absurd sentence.

Get to know people and make an effort to fit in with the local culture and you will love it there in no
time.

Anyone who's ever lived in Utah would laugh at your face here. I've managed to fit in very well with my "sub-culture" in Utah. "Making an effort to fit in with the local culture" includes becoming indoctrinated in the local LDS ward and signing your life over to the most absurd place on earth. I've heard stories of adults who BAN their kids from playing with non-LDS kids for fear that they're "impure" and shit like that. I've lived here for four years. I have great friends. I have not had a "shitty time" here. But I am so afraid of living here for 20+ years because I am not the culture. I will never be the culture.

[Tom Joad]

You had some good advice until this absurd sentence.

Get to know people and make an effort to fit in with the local culture and you will love it there in no
time.

Anyone who's ever lived in Utah would laugh at your face here. I've managed to fit in very well with my "sub-culture" in Utah. "Making an effort to fit in with the local culture" includes becoming indoctrinated in the local LDS ward and signing your life over to the most absurd place on earth. I've heard stories of adults who BAN their kids from playing with non-LDS kids for fear that they're "impure" and shit like that. I've lived here for four years. I have great friends. I have not had a "shitty time" here. But I am so afraid of living here for 20+ years because I am not the culture. I will never be the culture.

Have you considered converting? Might pay big time networking dividends later as well as social benefits.

[pinkcamellia]

You had some good advice until this absurd sentence.

Get to know people and make an effort to fit in with the local culture and you will love it there in no
time.

Anyone who's ever lived in Utah would laugh at your face here. I've managed to fit in very well with my "sub-culture" in Utah. "Making an effort to fit in with the local culture" includes becoming indoctrinated in the local LDS ward and signing your life over to the most absurd place on earth. I've heard stories of adults who BAN their kids from playing with non-LDS kids for fear that they're "impure" and shit like that. I've lived here for four years. I have great friends. I have not had a "shitty time" here. But I am so afraid of living here for 20+ years because I am not the culture. I will never be the culture.

He's subtly trolling you, buddy. But seriously... all the people who haven't been to law school are saying Davis, and those who have been there are saying don't go now. Not don't go altogether - just go later, when you have better options and a better shot at the job you want in the location you want with manageable debt. Can you at least entertain moving to the PNW and getting a job? I have a shitty liberal arts degree and I have a job in a completely unrelated field in which I had no experience. I think you should at least TRY that option. Your future self will thank you.

[nickb285]

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[BigZuck]

Why do all you "L"s think that every 0L is an uninformed idiot who is incapable of looking at/synthesizing data, making risk/reward calculations and then making wise decisions? Just because someone doesn't know what a tort is doesn't mean they can't see a bad life decision when it is presented to them.

tl;dr: the 0Ls aren't all saying Davis here

[GM544]

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[pinkcamellia]

tl;dr: the 0Ls aren't all saying Davis here

Not all, that's true. Uninformed people are saying Davis.

OP, I think you're just trying to justify Davis no matter what anyone else tells you. Good luck.

[qwertyboard]

So your job sucks and you hate the place you currently live in so you plan to move some place new to have 90% chance of ending unemployed or in a job you will also hate with 100k+ in debt?

LS is not a way out of your situation. This is one of the reasons the market is so flooded with new grads.

[Tom Joad]

Why do all you "L"s think that every 0L is an uninformed idiot who is incapable of looking at/synthesizing data, making risk/reward calculations and then making wise decisions? Just because someone doesn't know what a tort is doesn't mean they can't see a bad life decision when it is presented to them.

tl;dr: the 0Ls aren't all saying Davis here

0Ls have access to data and can and should make informed choices based on that, but they don't have as much experience meeting with employers and learning the hiring process. Until you get your feet a little wet you are only seeing half of the picture. Although it doesn't mean all 0Ls are wrong, it just means they don't have as much insight.

[qwertyboard]

I said Utah earlier because at least you could finish with less debt after ending up unemployed (likely) but this is like choosing between a turd and douchebag. And it's not you man.. you're probably smart and all but the options right now really suck.

[hephaestus]

Find a job in the market you want and work there for a year. Also retake. I have a useless degree and found a legal assistant job for a year. Paralegal/lit support/legal assistant/records/research jobs in firms are incredibly easy to come by and can give you insight on if you actually would tolerate what lawyers do.

[TheNextAmendment]

Why do all you "L"s think that every 0L is an uninformed idiot who is incapable of looking at/synthesizing data, making risk/reward calculations and then making wise decisions? Just because someone doesn't know what a tort is doesn't mean they can't see a bad life decision when it is presented to them.

tl;dr: the 0Ls aren't all saying Davis here

Because we're spending 3 years of agony and stress attempting to enter the most saturated, underpaid profession in America during the worst recession in nearly a century and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions in lost opportunity costs and, for many, sunk costs, while being fortunate enough to have data and numbers shoved in our face showing the unlikely chance we'll make any kind of profit, and still denying the numbers are true. I mean, c'mon were not geniuses...

< 0L

Self flame? Troll? Jesus I hate working retail.