Should I, a consultant, go to Yale law school? Forum

[subgdubb]

This thread is proof of my theory that most people on here are assholes. Most of them have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, and are more driven by the idea of wearing a prestigious law school's sweatshirt than actually finding a career that they enjoy.

Of course going to to law school will help you start a Washington career. There are thousands of lawyers in DC working for every sort of administrative agency. You're not going to make as much as you would at the job you have now, but a lot of government lawyers really like the jobs they do.

[Bosque]

This smells of troll...

[scionb4]

Are you this kind of consultant? If you are, while you're deciding whether or not to go to law school, I hope you're firings go really well.

--ImageRemoved--

"What is it, you'd say, . . . you DO here?"

[jdhopeful11]

if you want

[qualster]

This thread is proof of my theory that most people on here are assholes. Most of them have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, and are more driven by the idea of wearing a prestigious law school's sweatshirt than actually finding a career that they enjoy.

Of course going to to law school will help you start a Washington career. There are thousands of lawyers in DC working for every sort of administrative agency. You're not going to make as much as you would at the job you have now, but a lot of government lawyers really like the jobs they do.

For what it is worth, I think the OP, a consultant, should go to Yale. A law degree from Yale would make him hot property in the field of politics.

[chadwick218]

Chadwick: you follow accusatory with curious. That's kinda mean, especially the part where you call me an idiot. I'm really a consultant, I'm really admitted into Yale. As for my essay, it's 250 words, not 500, and what I selected was (no joke) my take on the Westphalian international political order. I got "orgy of bloodshed" in those 250 somewhere, and I guess that got me in.

I'm not at a big-name consulting firm. I'm at a very up-and-coming boutique shop, and I am advancing in a rapid and promising way, as the firm doesn't give a crap about advanced degrees. So, I have a very good thing going. That's what makes this such a hard choice: I have a really great opportunity in consulting, but am wondering if Yale would get me the kind of work I really want.

Insight, and not bitter crap, is much appreciated.

Ok, I relent. Congratulations OP! I think that this ultimately depends on your law term goals ... how much longer do you plan to stay with your current firm. IMO, a JD from Yale is the closest thing that you can come to a golden ticket in the legal world even if you do decide not to practice a day in your life.

[Iuvo]

They way you use your commas irks me. You sound like a douchebag.

[Blindmelon]

I, a former consultant, am attending Boston University law school.

I, a former consultant, do not regret my decision. If I, as a former consultant, desired to do so, then I, as a former consultant, could go back into consulting.

Does this help you with your, as a consultant asking for inquiries, question?

[Matypete]

ever consider this?

http://wws.princeton.edu/

[iminlstrick]

I can't believe someone used the word druthers on an internet forum.

FINALLY someone says it! +0980423240892034

[notanumber]

I'm going to offer a bit of a dissenting opinion and suggest that law school might not be the best choice given your goals. Also, and I know that saying this is sacrilege here, but if you do decide to attend law school Harvard might be a better option.

So, here's the case. Law school will take up three years of your life. Three years where you're losing tens of thousands of dollars. In exchange for this time and money you get a very prestigious degree, a sharper legal mind, and a certain set of professional connections. If you're not going to be a lawyer, the value of all three of these things diminishes sharply, and what you're left with is likely not worth the trade-off given your situation.

Have you thought about Harvard business school, or Wharton, or the GSB? It's easier to move from there to truly international careers, you'll be more likely to build the networks to do that sort of work, and it provides more options post-graduation.

And this leads me to why I think Harvard might be a better choice if you do decide to go to law school. You can jump just as easily from there to intl. or gvt jobs as from Yale. Prestige differences between a Harvard and a Yale degree outside of academia and clerkships are, frankly, overstated. For your case, the larger network of JD folk to rely on paired with the access to Harvard Business, a much better program than Yale's business school, might make Harvard law a better investment. And, honestly, Boston v. New Haven? That alone should make the difference unless you're doing it for academia/clerkships or because there is something specific about Yale's program that you like (beyond "it's #1 in USNews).

Honesty though, unless you want to practice law, I'd suggest just jumping straight into government work or international business consulting. You don't need a JD to do it (or to go into politics) and you can start making money and gaining experience right now instead of three years down the line when you're older and hundreds of thousands of dollars poorer. For government work in particular, these three years of pension-building will pay when you can retire a couple of years earlier.

[PigNipple]

PigNipple, still bitter about that Yale rejection, eh?

Sure I am, but I'm a Google baron on the verge of working as Apple's VP, so no sweat. Haven't you been keeping up with my posts?

[98234872348]

Uh, I can't really see the downside for you. Worst case scenario seems like you spend three years, get a ultra-prestigious degree, and go back to making a (likely larger) moderate six figures as a consultant. Best case scenario seems like you're the next Tim Geithner.

TCR.

[englawyer]

this phrase: "consultant in technology" means a few things that make YLS the automatic choice:

#1. he will not have access to top general management positions like the top strategy consultants do.
#2. he will not get into a good MBA program, or at least one of YHS law school caliber. the last thing MBA programs want is more IT consulting applicants

OP,

whether or not your current firm cares about advanced degrees, that doesn't change the fact that the consulting industry IN GENERAL is very pedigree-oriented. if you are Looking for Greener Pastures down the line or nice exit options, you want to go for an advanced degree now IMO.

Given that your b-school prospects may be shady (as i said, based on only that you are a "technology consultant". i may be wrong if you have other wow factors going for you), a law school like Yale or Harvard can be a great choice, because you could probably even leverage your background + pedigree into a strategy consulting position if you so desired.

[ughOSU]

They way you use your commas irks me. You sound like a douchebag.

I died a little bit inside the third time he used them that way.

Should I, a consultant, go to Yale law school?

I'm sorry, I'm new here, and no amount of Googling (or checking UrbanDictionary) seems to answer this: "TCR"?

Insight, and not bitter crap, is much appreciated.

I'm sorry, that was definitely bitter, but I am a bitter man.

[underachiever]

A Yale JD opens just about every door that isn't actually practicing Medicine...Go for it!

[Kiersten1985]

There's so much obvious jealously towards OP, it's laughable.

OP - enjoy Yale. Go do what you feel is right for you. Yes, YLS is a lot of money but it's virtually impossible to come out of there not making good money and with your experience, you would pretty much always be able to fall back on consulting.

[ughOSU]

There's so much obvious jealously towards OP, it's laughable.

I was fine with it until he started explaining how everyone was wrong about his consulting gig that actually is the greatest thing on the planet, but that YLS is also the greatest thing on the planet, and how he's conflicted in choosing between two fantastic opportunities that nobody on this board seem to understand how great they are.

I'm completely overstating my case at least half out of jealousy, but it is annoying when supposedly intelligent people come to internet boards to "help" them make a decision that has nothing to do with anyone else's opinions and everything to do with what the OP wants to accomplish in life. Nothing we say was ever going to affect what OP was going to do (assuming not a flame), the only thing that matters is what he wants to do. This is compounded by the fact that it is impossible for any of us to know the intricacies of his relationship with the partners at his consulting firm and what kind of stuff that would open up, how close is to senior management positions, etc. To me, it just seems like a ridiculous question to ask predominantly based on OP's desire to wave his dick around rather than seek any genuine advice on the options he has. That's just my take. I could be wrong, but that's how OP comes off to me.

That said, let me offer some useless advice: it's never a mistake to go to YLS if you want to go to law school. If you don't want to go to law school, guess what my advice would be.

[Borhas]

Hi all,

Just wanted to solicit some opinion here. I'm cross-posting this, please don't be PO'ed, I just don't know where is most appropriate.

I'm a mid-20s, and successful, consultant in technology and financial services. I make a moderate six-figure salary. I have been quickly promoted, and I stand to enter the management of my firm.

BUT, I'm not sure that my heart's in it. I've always been most animated by international politics and economics, and if I had my druthers, I would enter some kind of policy and politics career.

So, I applied to law school, and I was admitted to Yale, among others. My question now is: is this a good idea? Will law school get me where I want to be? Or pigeonhole me into somewhere I never intended to set foot?

Should I just be happy and stick with my current career? Go to law school and parlay that into a Washington career? Or do something else entirely to get there?

Thanks much for any insight.

go into the foreign service if you want "international politics and economics" work (maybe after your Yale degree)


if you want to become a politician then become integrated into your community, meet and befriend the rich people, and then run for public office.

both of those require you to leave consulting. But hey, if I were you and I got into Yale, I would have probably also gotten into Harvard. Seems like Harvard the better place for power and politics and Yale is more for academia. Plus, Harvard has more students, that means more connections with future "elites." You could use those connections better in "international politics and economics."


Why you would want to leave what you describe as a great opportunity in order to become little more than bureaucrat with a fancy title is beyond me... especially when you consider that you would be in the hole at least $500,000 (including lost wages, tuition, and living expenses)

[jack duluoz]

OP, pretentious much?

[T14_Scholly]

Wow, the responses in this thread made me crack up. Especially PigNipple's.

[watts]

This, thread, is, funny.

[ughOSU]

Wow, the responses in this thread made me crack up. Especially PigNipple's.

holy shit that was hilarious. I missed his posts because I was pissed about OP's use of commas (e: good god that sounded lame). I think me and pignip are saying the same thing, albeit he's saying it in a much funnier way.

ee: I think the real question here is should pignip, a successful investor, move into a VP position at apple?

[narkizopoint]

OP-go to yale and impose a self-ban on comma use (hyphens and parentheticals work just as well )

[Sangiovese]

Pignip, a successful investor, should not join apple. Steve Jobs, a successful Apple executive, is very sick. If Steve Jobs, a very sick Apple executive, can no longer work, Apple will fail.

As for the utility of soliciting advice from anonymous posters on an internet forum... it is a really bad idea if you intend to just blindly follow whatever the majority of posters say. However, there is a chance that someone may actually mention something that you had not yet considered. Something that you can then factor into your own decision making. The odds of gathering such a useful bit from a post on a forum like this may be small, but so is the investment in asking the question. In my book, it's well worth the time to post a question like that and hope that there is one person out there who provides something to think about.

As for the OP being a braggart... it seems like everything he posted was relevant to the question. Salary info is important because that defines a major portion of the cost of attending law school (gotta add the lost income to the price of tuition and living). Current job satisfaction is important, because it is a lot harder to give up something you are ok with (even if it isn't your dream) than it is to give up a dead end "I hate my life" type job.

I have nothing constructive to add for the OP... but for a bunch of future lawyers, we at TLS don't seem very good at seing both sides of an argument. Either that, or internet hyperbole is just too much fun