timbs4339 wrote:echamberlin8 wrote:lawschool22 wrote:
Thanks - apparently I'm a moron for thinking through this decision thoroughly instead of blinding going with the general "T14 at sticker or bust" mentality. I'm so glad you cleared that up for me. This site is a truly great resource, but the rampant unwarranted hostility baffles me.
I agree with you there, lawschool22. Choosing a School seems to be a particular locus point for unwarranted aggression and insults in particular. I'm not sure what the deal is with that. From all of the lawyers I've met in real life, most of them are pretty polite, but then I see at least half of TLS being overly rude, so I wonder what the disparity is. Maybe the lawyers I meet in real life would insult a lot behind a computer screen too.
In any case, I still keep coming back to TLS because it has by far the best information from a 0L perspective online (at least that I've found).
Sorry I can't be of more help to your actual question, but I'm a 0L. Good luck, though.
The fact that people at TLS are "behind a computer screen" is exactly what makes the advice much better than what you'll get from IRL lawyers. Look, if some 0L walked up to me and told me all about how she wanted to pay 200K to a crap law school so she could be a congresswoman, even I'd feel a bit guilty about telling her to get new dreams. They're especially not going to do it in language that makes it plain exactly how dumb an idea it is. If the lawyers you meet are older, then they may not even be able to approximate the current tuition at their alma mater, have no idea about the state of the job market, or believe that boomer bullshit that hard work and gumption and higher education is what allows you to make it in America.
Next time you meet a lawyer, ask them specific questions. How many young associates have you hired in the last few years? If you have, would you interview someone who graduated median from my school? If not, why? Would you go to law school if you had to pay [insert massive tuition figure here]?
Yup. In the context of an advice forum for a major life decision, politeness and practicality are usually trade offs. A point that bears repeating: Literally tens of thousands are people are still going to godawful schools for a pissload of money. Most of them are going to regret this decision. TLS tries to connect the dots for people who can't see what an awful investment most schools are just by looking at the publicly available data. I meet people going or planning to go to awful schools who say things like "I just don't believe all that doom and gloom stuff", as though facts were something to be believed or not believed, like TLS dogmatically worships at the Church Of Don't Go To Law School. There's nothing to be "believed", it's just shit, and it's all right there in front of you.
If you were walking with a friend and he was about to step in dog shit, you'd say "Hey, watch out, you're about to step in dog shit." If he started talking about how can't avoid the dog shit because he's a bad test taker, or he's getting too old, or he's wanted to step in dog shit ever since he was twelve, you wouldn't start having a polite discussion on the relative merits of stepping in dog shit. You'd just say "What the fuck? That's retarded. Don't step in the dog shit." If TLS tells students considering awful schools "I don't think it's a good idea because blah blah blah", that gives someone the notion that it is a point that is legitimately up for debate. That's why TLS says "you are about to make a tremendously stupid decision"--to forcefully dissuade. Personally, I say the same shit IRL, but that's just because I'm a prick about that stuff. Most polite people won't tell you what an idiot you're being even if informing you so would help you--folks usually just aren't wired that way. But you need that information before doing something that could quite literally ruin your life. So the "rampant unwarranted hostility" is part of why TLS is such a great resource in the first place--so you don't base your decision on your Boomer parents' friends who keep telling you that everything will turn out great as long as you work hard and blah blah blah bootstraps.
People are saying ITT that making ambitions for a high-profile political career the top criterion for choosing a law school is dumb because, well, it's dumb. It's just not a realistic path for most people. Pick a path that you have a good chance of getting from the schools you're considering.
Yeah, you're right, there are like zero Congressmen, governors, state legislators etc. who started out as political staff. Working for Congress is such a stupid way to get into Congress.
