Alternative Ambitions
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 5:31 pm
This is a post aimed at stirring discussion among those of us with alternative ambitions. I first found TLS a little over a year ago, and am extremely grateful to the people on this website. People's experiences here helped me mold my study habits, and I received an LSAT score in the range that I wanted -- 160 to 165 (I scored a 164) -- thanks to all the advice.
However, my ambitions diverge a bit from those of the common population here. Posts about bimodal trends, t14 analysis, big law whatevers, "is it worth if I won't be making 160 grand right out of school," etc. simply boggle my mind. I am approaching law from a philosophical background, and am genuinely interested in jurisprudence, legal ethics, and social/critical theories. But above all, law to me means options.
I skipped a possibly miserable experience in graduate school because I wanted to have options. Academia just seems like a dead end, and my experience has been that professors with freedom to do research and to actually impact someone or something come from alternative backgrounds (law, medicine, entertainment). I have been working for a non-profit, and my goal is to be able to come back someday with some kind of leverage and a useful skill.
Eventually, however, I will pursue a Ph.D in philosophy. If for no other reason, then because it is a passion. But I think I will be infinitely enriched by my law school education, a few years of practice, and experience with actual people rather than merely books.
With that in mind, my choices have been schools that offer plenty of options. I have looked at GW, Minnesota, FSU, etc. Several have waived fees, such as Minnesota, but I think as a Florida resident I will stick to either UF or FSU, because of low tuition, the excellent education they offer, and my long term goals.
40,000 a year sounds like a lot for me (living fairly comfortably on about 11,000 right now).
Anyways, my choices are being informed by a seemingly alternative, and probably naive, desire to experience life with what I believe to be an important civic skill. Is anyone else interested in law not so much for a paycheck or prestige, but moreso because of an alternative desire?
(Sorry about the rushed post, I'm off to work).
However, my ambitions diverge a bit from those of the common population here. Posts about bimodal trends, t14 analysis, big law whatevers, "is it worth if I won't be making 160 grand right out of school," etc. simply boggle my mind. I am approaching law from a philosophical background, and am genuinely interested in jurisprudence, legal ethics, and social/critical theories. But above all, law to me means options.
I skipped a possibly miserable experience in graduate school because I wanted to have options. Academia just seems like a dead end, and my experience has been that professors with freedom to do research and to actually impact someone or something come from alternative backgrounds (law, medicine, entertainment). I have been working for a non-profit, and my goal is to be able to come back someday with some kind of leverage and a useful skill.
Eventually, however, I will pursue a Ph.D in philosophy. If for no other reason, then because it is a passion. But I think I will be infinitely enriched by my law school education, a few years of practice, and experience with actual people rather than merely books.
With that in mind, my choices have been schools that offer plenty of options. I have looked at GW, Minnesota, FSU, etc. Several have waived fees, such as Minnesota, but I think as a Florida resident I will stick to either UF or FSU, because of low tuition, the excellent education they offer, and my long term goals.
40,000 a year sounds like a lot for me (living fairly comfortably on about 11,000 right now).
Anyways, my choices are being informed by a seemingly alternative, and probably naive, desire to experience life with what I believe to be an important civic skill. Is anyone else interested in law not so much for a paycheck or prestige, but moreso because of an alternative desire?
(Sorry about the rushed post, I'm off to work).