Alternative Ambitions Forum

[Arpedzio]

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).

[MC Southstar]

Yes. Get a scholarship.

I have some of the same feelings about going into law. The only reason I'd care about biglaw is to pay off school debt and maybe put my sister through college, I hardly care about becoming a partner or buying expensive shit. It is also the experience I think would be valuable in any future pursuit, including law.

[Columbia Law]

Yeah, tell that to someone with 200k in debt.

[zapper]

I have very similar ambitions. Not a lot of people have responded to this post and I only found it by searching the forum for "jurisprudence."

Arpedzio - I take it you're looking at FLA schools only? I live in NYC and Cardozo seems like a great option for these types of ambitions. There's also little discussion about Cardozo on this board other than whether it's worth it to take a scholarship there over sticker-price somewhere else.

Does anybody have any feedback regarding "law and ___" interdisciplinary studies, critical studies, pursuing a JD/MA/PhD with these ambitions in mind, particularly good schools for this, etc.? I'd be interested to hear. Also, any Cardozo students out there?