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If you had to do it over again what career would you pursue if law wasn't an option? Or if you haven't started law school yet, what alternative careers have you considered? Why did you ultimately decide on law school?

I've already bought into going to law school so this is really just an interesting hypothetical to consider.

definitely spit rhymes and get mine

I would work with Americorps in some capacity and learn as many new skills as possible. I might do it for 5+ years before I look for more permanent options.

I was originally looking at State Schools.

Now, I am 99.9% sure I am going to go to DC and get a MPP and try to break into Capitol Hill. Or a federal government position. I will try for law again in 5 more years.

Continue to teach. I'd work towards my masters and principal certification over the next few years, and go into administration.

Thinking about that gets me depressed though.

Cop ---> Detective

As long as you're moderately creative, sociable, okay with doing 7th grade math, and have no desire in working longer than 9-5, I highly recommend contracting. People tend to either go purchasing -> contracting, lateral in from asset management, or do contracting with the military. But once you're in an actual contracting position, you make a lot of money for the amount of work you're doing. There's also a very clear talent:reward ratio. If you suck, you'll chill at 90k/year indefinitely. If you're really good at it, you could be making seven digits easily.

Financ e, which I could have done straight out. I had no loans, top undergrad, good major. Still regret it at times.

A TLS-er from my cycle ('09) who was considering law school got a semi-science/policy masters and has been moving up at an energy company.

I was considering doing CS (possibly going back to UG if getting a degree would help with job prospects). Another TLSer I knew was making the same decision (CS UG vs T14 sticker) and chose to go back to UG. I sometimes wonder how he's doing.

Interpretive dance

Be a journalist. It's a career with a mildly parallel skill set to lawyering, too, so I suppose it's also my backup plan if this venture fails.

I think I'd generally be an advocate for exhausting other obvious career paths before law school, but journalism has a seriously terrible career outlook

PhD in mathematical/applied economics.

Trophy wife

Still not sure how my JD got me a trophy husband, so that was unexpected

Probably something in int'l development or educational policy in developing countries.

I would probably do a History PhD, which I want to do, but has even worse job prospects than law.

Probably still working at NATO. I was very close to not leaving the position. At some point I probably would have left for an MBA. Overzll you could do a lot worse than NATO. The pay was good, really nice benefits and I got to live overseas (which was good and bad) but the deployments suck and at the time I really thought I wanted to be a lawyer. I'm happy with my decision but I think I would have been happy if I stayed in Belgium as well.

worldtraveler wrote:Probably something in int'l development or educational policy in developing countries.

Write a novel already.

Probably teaching at a private high school or college (if possible). I also thought about being a technical writer at one point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_writing. Pre-ITE you could break into it with just a B.A. in the humanities.

Something social work-ish, client-oriented and low-paid, like serving as an advocate at a domestic violence agency.

seespotrun wrote:

worldtraveler wrote:Probably something in int'l development or educational policy in developing countries.

Write a novel already.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm.

banjo wrote:Probably teaching at a private high school or college (if possible). I also thought about being a technical writer at one point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_writing. Pre-ITE you could break into it with just a B.A. in the humanities.

A friend of mine writes training manuals mostly for the military, but for other fields as well. He makes 80K+. I had no idea that job existed, let alone paid like that.

Photographer. Didn't seriously consider it for a first career because the money's not that great. Considered it as a second career but picked law instead because I think I still have a couple decades of serious earning power left in me. For now, I'll stick with photography at the "advanced amateur/semi-pro" level I'm at now and revisit the idea when I'm done w/law.

worldtraveler wrote:

seespotrun wrote:

worldtraveler wrote:Probably something in int'l development or educational policy in developing countries.

Write a novel already.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm.

It's not. Over the past two weeks, I've read more than a handful of the stories you've shared with TLS about your enormous, power-lifting dad and his twin brother slash wilderness-survival partner; your Nigerian bodybuilding, stalker guardian angel; the Nigerian town flasher/other stalker; your Nigerian host witch-mother and so on and so on. That's enough for a pretty solid novel right there. You don't even need to include a chapter about your creepy Not Ok Cupid friend to get that one to sell.

seespotrun wrote:

worldtraveler wrote:

seespotrun wrote:

worldtraveler wrote:Probably something in int'l development or educational policy in developing countries.

Write a novel already.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm.

It's not. Over the past two weeks, I've read more than a handful of the stories you've shared with TLS about your enormous, power-lifting dad and his twin brother slash wilderness-survival partner; your Nigerian bodybuilding, stalker guardian angel; the Nigerian town flasher/other stalker; your Nigerian host witch-mother and so on and so on. That's enough for a pretty solid novel right there. You don't even need to include a chapter about your creepy Not Ok Cupid friend to get that one to sell.

I've actually thought about doing that, but I somehow need to publish it under a pseudonym and make sure no one in my hometown finds out, or my mom will hear about it and die of a heart attack.