Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School Forum

(Applications Advice, Letters of Recommendation . . . )
User avatar
Holly Golightly

Gold
Posts: 4602
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 10:30 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by Holly Golightly » Wed May 12, 2010 4:31 pm

soundgardener wrote:Aaaaaaand I was right. Both her and her husband's families are disgustingly wealthy and powerful.
SHOCKING

User avatar
Always Credited

Gold
Posts: 2501
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:31 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by Always Credited » Wed May 12, 2010 4:53 pm

Holly Golightly wrote:
soundgardener wrote:Aaaaaaand I was right. Both her and her husband's families are disgustingly wealthy and powerful.
SHOCKING
I NO RITE! GOOD THING THE WEALTHIEST AMONG US HAVE THE BEST PERSPECTIVE TO OFFER US GUIDANCE ON OUR LIVES!

User avatar
Lonagan

Bronze
Posts: 338
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:03 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by Lonagan » Wed May 12, 2010 5:42 pm

CMDantes wrote:This woman seems pretentious and annoying.

legalized

Bronze
Posts: 309
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:45 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by legalized » Wed May 12, 2010 5:45 pm

SandyC877 wrote:I thought this was a great blog article for 0Ls to consider reading. I hope that her experience is an anomaly, but based on my observations on TLS, I think many of us do go to law school without giving it a clear thought.

Here's a short excerpt from the interview:
Really. There’s whole notion of “drift” that I think a lot of people fall into with law school. They don’t decide, necessarily, to go to law school, but they drift into it, really for lack of a better idea.

And I think that’s one of the reasons so many lawyers are unhappy. They hear these lines that, on their face, seem to make sense: ‘It can’t hurt to take the LSAT.’ ‘I can always go to law school.’ ‘I can always change my mind later.’ That’s what happened to me. I drifted into it. My father is a lawyer, and he’s very happy, but I didn’t give it a lot of thought. Then I got into Yale, and thought ‘wow, this is great.’ And I did well at Yale. Each step of the way I was like ‘wow, I’m editor-in-chief of the Law Journal, that’s cool!’ And then it was: ‘a clerkship with Justice O’Connor! That’s fun!’ But I really had no plan, no vision.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/09/23/on- ... in-part-i/
Whoever that is is lying their ass off. It takes a lot more than drifting with the tide to get into Yale (unless she's a legacy, is she?)...and all those things she did required way more effort than normally associated with a mere drifter!

She's trying to show off if you ask me. Make her achievements look like "it's so easy even a caveman could do it".

If not, I can't help wondering if she realizes how she looks to people who really want to be in her position and can't. smh. She sounds rather ungrateful of the air she's breathing to say that. and rather stupid to have used up so much of her life and not figured out how to focus. If she drifted into something she's good at and wants to do then that to me is not drifting that is fate and opportunity meeting her talent at a crossroads in her life.

Guess I will see if a closer look at her opinions changes my mind here.

User avatar
soundgardener

New
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:17 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by soundgardener » Wed May 12, 2010 5:54 pm

Rmember Kids: follow your dreams and do whatever makes you happy. Just make sure that you have a trust fund, are a double yale grad, and married to a hedge fund manager whose father is a billionaire power broker. Simple.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


09042014

Diamond
Posts: 18203
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:47 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by 09042014 » Wed May 12, 2010 5:56 pm

Do you know how many TLS posts are basically, "I can't get a job with my BA in Classics, I guess I'm going to law school?"

A lot.

User avatar
Mr. Matlock

Silver
Posts: 1356
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:36 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by Mr. Matlock » Wed May 12, 2010 6:05 pm

Well, I really didn't know what I wanted to do for the month of June. Dad asked if I'd be interested in hanging out at the Imperial Suite, Park Hyatt-Vendôme, in Paris France for the month. Why not I thought? Sure, I was pampered and indulged, but it's not like Paris is any better than... say Geneva. You just have to really try and Get to Know Yourself and make the most of any situations that's presented to you.

CMDantes

Bronze
Posts: 420
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:37 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by CMDantes » Wed May 12, 2010 6:06 pm

soundgardener wrote:Rmember Kids: follow your dreams and do whatever makes you happy. Just make sure that you have a trust fund, are a double yale grad, and married to a hedge fund manager whose father is a billionaire power broker. Simple.
+1

I love her advice stating that following happiness often requires a loss in prestige and money. She cites the career change from lawyer to yoga instructor or some equally bullshit feelgood career path.

Must be nice to throw around that kind of advice when everything was pretty much taken care of for you when you:
A. Were born
B. Married even richer

I maintain that this woman is pretentious and annoying.

legalized

Bronze
Posts: 309
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:45 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by legalized » Thu May 13, 2010 10:51 am

Desert Fox wrote:Do you know how many TLS posts are basically, "I can't get a job with my BA in Classics, I guess I'm going to law school?"

A lot.
More often than not it's people whose family has the money to look after them even postgrad that take up such bullshit majors in UG.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


legalized

Bronze
Posts: 309
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:45 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by legalized » Thu May 13, 2010 10:53 am

soundgardener wrote:Rmember Kids: follow your dreams and do whatever makes you happy. Just make sure that you have a trust fund, are a double yale grad, and married to a hedge fund manager whose father is a billionaire power broker. Simple.
:D

From the comments. How interesting!
8:12 pm October 11, 2009
Mark K. wrote:
I agree with LOL!, Gretchen Rubin is full of pyscho-nonsense. I am positive that Gretchen Rubin is very HAPPY since she and her children will be inheriting hundreds of millions of blood money from her father in-law, Robert Rubin. In January 2009, Rubin was named by Marketwatch as one of the “10 most unethical people in business”. Where did all that trillion dollar tax payer money from the banking crisis go to? In the pockets of Rubin and his jewish cabal friends like Paulsen, Lloyd Blankfein, Greenspan, Geithner, etc. Millions of Americans have lost their homes and jobs; hundreds have committed suicide, US homeless has doubled in one year; millions of kids couldn’t afford to go to college this past year; millions of small businesses have gone under, etc.

Ironic isn’t it? Her father-in-law bamboozles the US government for tax payer $$ and her family and several generations will extremely benefit from this fraud. Now she goes around telling people how to be happy while the majority of people can’t afford to pay their bills and put food on the table. Why doesn’t Gretchen write a book on how she and her family lives with themselves after all of this misery her father-in-law caused?

To the Dalai Lama poster, Gretchen had lots of plastic surgery and was considered in school quite homely before she married Rubin. How do I know? I went to school with her and have photos as proof.
Someone else had said her father in law was actually former secretary of the US treasury. Hence the fraud claims in this one.

User avatar
soundgardener

New
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:17 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by soundgardener » Thu May 13, 2010 1:26 pm

This is her father in law's wiki page. He was the treasury secretary under Clinton. Sounds like a pretty slimy dude, check out the criticisms section.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rubin

Borhas

Platinum
Posts: 6244
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:09 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by Borhas » Thu May 13, 2010 2:49 pm

yeah, I think I'll stick with Aristotle
CMDantes wrote:
I maintain that this woman is pretentious and annoying.
yes, and she also strikes me as stupid or naive
Last edited by Borhas on Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bk1

Diamond
Posts: 20063
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:06 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by bk1 » Thu May 13, 2010 3:32 pm

legalized wrote:
soundgardener wrote:Rmember Kids: follow your dreams and do whatever makes you happy. Just make sure that you have a trust fund, are a double yale grad, and married to a hedge fund manager whose father is a billionaire power broker. Simple.
:D

From the comments. How interesting!
8:12 pm October 11, 2009
Mark K. wrote:
I agree with LOL!, Gretchen Rubin is full of pyscho-nonsense. I am positive that Gretchen Rubin is very HAPPY since she and her children will be inheriting hundreds of millions of blood money from her father in-law, Robert Rubin. In January 2009, Rubin was named by Marketwatch as one of the “10 most unethical people in business”. Where did all that trillion dollar tax payer money from the banking crisis go to? In the pockets of Rubin and his jewish cabal friends like Paulsen, Lloyd Blankfein, Greenspan, Geithner, etc. Millions of Americans have lost their homes and jobs; hundreds have committed suicide, US homeless has doubled in one year; millions of kids couldn’t afford to go to college this past year; millions of small businesses have gone under, etc.

Ironic isn’t it? Her father-in-law bamboozles the US government for tax payer $$ and her family and several generations will extremely benefit from this fraud. Now she goes around telling people how to be happy while the majority of people can’t afford to pay their bills and put food on the table. Why doesn’t Gretchen write a book on how she and her family lives with themselves after all of this misery her father-in-law caused?

To the Dalai Lama poster, Gretchen had lots of plastic surgery and was considered in school quite homely before she married Rubin. How do I know? I went to school with her and have photos as proof.
Someone else had said her father in law was actually former secretary of the US treasury. Hence the fraud claims in this one.
zomg jewish cabal friends?!?!?!?!?!??!?!!?!?!!!!?!

Register now!

Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.

It's still FREE!


legalized

Bronze
Posts: 309
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:45 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by legalized » Thu May 13, 2010 3:58 pm

soundgardener wrote:This is her father in law's wiki page. He was the treasury secretary under Clinton. Sounds like a pretty slimy dude, check out the criticisms section.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rubin
Agreed.

User avatar
Kohinoor

Gold
Posts: 2641
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:51 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by Kohinoor » Thu May 13, 2010 4:12 pm

Is her big take-away really that hanging out with your friends makes you happy? This got her a book deal? Rain makes you wet! Lava makes you sad!

User avatar
herberthoover

New
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 10:15 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by herberthoover » Thu May 13, 2010 5:08 pm

I didn’t study Classics or History, although I enjoyed a course or two in the former. My assessment is that she has some of her more basic needs taken care of, to say the least, so she has the time to reflect and focus on aspects of herself that most people can’t afford to think about (see Maslow’s pyramid). Additionally, I think it is plausible that she “drifted” into law school, or at least had an easier time succeeding, because of the social and genetic influences that make her unique.

I won’t make personal attacks against her, despite the frustration that arises out of the fact that I wish I was not stuck in the survival layer of the previously mentioned pyramid. But I bet it won't stop others from doing so.

As for the point of the thread: I decided to go to law school through a process of elimination. And what do I think about making a career decision thusly? I think it is perfectly fine. Everyone has a complex constellation of skills, interests, and goals that do not always perfectly correspond to any one line of work. Finding the best fit (or least worst fit for that matter) makes pretty good sense to me.

SandyC877

Bronze
Posts: 297
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2010 5:27 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by SandyC877 » Fri May 14, 2010 4:05 am

I don't doubt that she's just some pretentious high functioning retard aimlessly drifting through life because she's so privileged and spoiled.

Yet her argument is still a valid one: whether your life is drifting due to so much comfort and privileges, or you're a classics major with nothing to do with your POS degree, too many people go to law school because they don't know what else to do.

I think the legal profession is disproportionately infiltrated by people who planned to go to law school as a tentative goal, until something else came up. Well, nothing came up so they crab about their miserable lives at happiness project and bs JD underground forums. They deserve to be miserable as long as they continue to bs themselves that they want to be lawyers.

Get unlimited access to all forums and topics

Register now!

I'm pretty sure I told you it's FREE...


User avatar
FlanAl

Silver
Posts: 1474
Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:53 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by FlanAl » Fri May 14, 2010 5:56 am

I've always felt that when rich people tell me I should follow my heart and do what I love its like some kind of conspiracy to keep poor people down. "Banking, no trust me you don't want to do that you should paint. Leave the banking to us rich folk we'll do all the suffering for you while you paint."

but this chick just figured out another way to make money with a book and a blog. she probably watched oprah one day and was like dude those self help guys probably make more than being a lawyer and they don't even have to do anything.

Everyone knows to think for a long time about law school. No one will ever tell you that you shouldn't think hard about a $200k investment. But then again I guess if you're ungrateful and your family is paying for it I could see how you could "drift".

User avatar
trialjunky

Silver
Posts: 908
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:41 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by trialjunky » Fri May 14, 2010 6:56 am

Always Credited wrote:
I have great disdain for people like this. She needs a reality slap.
SLAP, bitch
Image
Wake the hell up! This is a reality check, fool.

(spoken in my best Samuel L. Jackson voice)

User avatar
taw856

Bronze
Posts: 212
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:05 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by taw856 » Fri May 14, 2010 7:17 am

legalized wrote:More often than not it's people whose family has the money to look after them even postgrad that take up such bullshit majors in UG.
This is silly. Name a state school that doesn't have something like a communications or art history or theatre program filled with average but largely naive students.

Money isn't real to 17- and 18-year-olds unless they come from backgrounds where they actually HAD to work to help their family as teenagers and weren't just putting in part-time hours at the mall to afford a cell phone bill. But those people who paid their own cell phone bill at 17 probably don't have parents who'll bankroll a swanky lifestyle at 27.

It's all about perspective. Tell a middle class kid with an unprofitable set of interests that his liberal arts major will mean not making much money and the likely reaction will be "I'm not greedy" rather than "I know what it's like to live on $20K/year with student loan debt and I want to avoid that."

Combined with the way our culture promotes the American Dream as chasing whatever pipe dream you have via education -- it's no surprise a lot of people end up with useless UG degrees and a tendency to drift toward second attempts that they are less passionate about but which seem like better financial bets.

legalized

Bronze
Posts: 309
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:45 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by legalized » Fri May 14, 2010 9:41 am

taw856 wrote:
legalized wrote:More often than not it's people whose family has the money to look after them even postgrad that take up such bullshit majors in UG.
This is silly. Name a state school that doesn't have something like a communications or art history or theatre program filled with average but largely naive students.

Money isn't real to 17- and 18-year-olds unless they come from backgrounds where they actually HAD to work to help their family as teenagers and weren't just putting in part-time hours at the mall to afford a cell phone bill. But those people who paid their own cell phone bill at 17 probably don't have parents who'll bankroll a swanky lifestyle at 27.

It's all about perspective. Tell a middle class kid with an unprofitable set of interests that his liberal arts major will mean not making much money and the likely reaction will be "I'm not greedy" rather than "I know what it's like to live on $20K/year with student loan debt and I want to avoid that."

Combined with the way our culture promotes the American Dream as chasing whatever pipe dream you have via education -- it's no surprise a lot of people end up with useless UG degrees and a tendency to drift toward second attempts that they are less passionate about but which seem like better financial bets.
I didn't have to work to help my family as a teen and I wasn't even allowed a cell phone...but I did have to work for my own personal items and 'wants'. And I still knew better than to pick up a b.s. major because I don't have parents to fall back on if things don't work out, and cannot be paid money to go live with them either. As it is, I hate accounting, so I didn't major in that, and that is the surest business degree to have. They are not all average students, I disagree, but I do agree with everything else you said from they are naive on down. :) And you are dead on about the pipe dream educations...

I know someone who is a mass communications major and it takes every ounce of self control not to scream at them THAT IS BULLSHIT CAN YOU PICK SOMETHING THAT WILL ACTUALLY GET YOU A F*CKING JOB AT GRADUATION! I just don't understand why someone would want that right now. Supposedly the person intends to work behind the scenes at a radio station or network or something. Somehow that doesn't strike me as the type of job to aim for if you intend to be self-sufficient anytime soon after graduation.

Best undergrad majors these days are accounting, pharmacy (which unfortunately is no longer a 4 year degree but instead a PharmD. minimum), engineering, nursing, math and any hard science (geared towards k-12 education or consulting jobs). Period. Everything else is iffy. And if it's not in a solid general field like Business (including economics even though they put that over in the social science department) or health care, or you are not specifically planning on related grad school with solid job prospects (e.g. MSW), or pre-med and law directly after, it's b.s. (in this economy).

Even if going on to grad school I would still say in case those plans or your life change in the 4 years between, go ahead and do a solid UG major. People need to have sense when they are going to college and their family can't take care of them for the rest of their lives if need be...or cut their shit and go to a trade school for a year or two and get to work. Choosing a b.s. major says to me you're not particularly driven to be in college, but are there cause parents made you go or you don't know what else you want to do.

Communicate now with those who not only know what a legal education is, but can offer you worthy advice and commentary as you complete the three most educational, yet challenging years of your law related post graduate life.

Register now, it's still FREE!


User avatar
MC Southstar

Silver
Posts: 1191
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:27 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by MC Southstar » Fri May 14, 2010 9:49 am

This is all silly.

I'm going to law school to help the poor and defend the innocent!

User avatar
big_blue79

Bronze
Posts: 151
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 4:07 am

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by big_blue79 » Fri May 14, 2010 10:20 am

Lonagan wrote:
CMDantes wrote:This woman seems pretentious and annoying.

09042014

Diamond
Posts: 18203
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:47 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by 09042014 » Fri May 14, 2010 11:45 am

MC Southstar wrote:This is all silly.

I'm going to law school to help the poor and defend the innocent!
I'm going be a JD is just a good thing to have.

User avatar
BaiAilian2013

Silver
Posts: 958
Joined: Sun May 03, 2009 4:05 pm

Re: Drifting into law school vs Choosing Law School

Post by BaiAilian2013 » Fri May 14, 2010 11:59 am

Most of my friends are in or out of law school and they sure as hell didn't "drift" there. Which is weird, because none of them could have gotten into Yale for UG or LS either, so you wouldn't think they would be able to make this lady look so dumb. Go figure, I guess.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


Post Reply

Return to “Law School Admissions Forum”