Top Law Schools

ohiodem wrote:
2. What are the propsects for a wannabe international poverty-fighting lawyer? Does this job exist, do people actually get it, and is it possible to make a difference?

3. Are dual degrees stupid? My heart says no, but my wallet says yes.

ohiodem wrote:I just want to help people, particularly in the "third world."

ohiodem wrote:So I was pumped to go to a T14 school starting this fall. Suddenly I've convinced myself that going to law school would be a terrible mistake, that it's really an MPA that I'm after, and that even in a best case scenario my career will consist of sitting behind a desk in DC doing something that's only meaningful on paper. Worst of all, I'm locked into that for 10 years.

Now, I'm generally one of those that brushes aside the doom-and-gloom types who hate the idea of law school, and prove how much they do by reminding all TLS-ers that nobody will ever get a job (and those who do will hate it), especially given that I'm set for a relatively well regarded top school. And I thought I was really excited to start in the fall. But this has really thrown me. I'm seeing doors closing all around me and can't even imagine the propsect of being happy at any point between 2013 and 2030. I think I've managed to hold on to just enough of my sanity at this point, though, to realize that this kind of thinking is crazy.

Now time for issue-spotting:

1. Let's say I just call it all off, find some kind of yearlong research placement or even (heaven forbid) congressional assistantship. Then I realize that, oh wait, law school was a terrific idea! If I'm withdrawing from my dream school with not really any good explanation in July or even August (with numbers hovering just above the medians), is it fair to say that I'm going to need to find a new dream school?

2. What are the propsects for a wannabe international poverty-fighting lawyer? Does this job exist, do people actually get it, and is it possible to make a difference?

3. Are dual degrees stupid? My heart says no, but my wallet says yes.

ohiodem wrote:I guess I should have asked if any other members of the class of 2013 have been having sudden urges to run in the other direction.

ohiodem wrote:So I was pumped to go to a T14 school starting this fall. Suddenly I've convinced myself that going to law school would be a terrible mistake, that it's really an MPA that I'm after, and that even in a best case scenario my career will consist of sitting behind a desk in DC doing something that's only meaningful on paper. Worst of all, I'm locked into that for 10 years.

Now, I'm generally one of those that brushes aside the doom-and-gloom types who hate the idea of law school, and prove how much they do by reminding all TLS-ers that nobody will ever get a job (and those who do will hate it), especially given that I'm set for a relatively well regarded top school. And I thought I was really excited to start in the fall. But this has really thrown me. I'm seeing doors closing all around me and can't even imagine the propsect of being happy at any point between 2013 and 2030. I think I've managed to hold on to just enough of my sanity at this point, though, to realize that this kind of thinking is crazy.

Now time for issue-spotting:

1. Let's say I just call it all off, find some kind of yearlong research placement or even (heaven forbid) congressional assistantship. Then I realize that, oh wait, law school was a terrific idea! If I'm withdrawing from my dream school with not really any good explanation in July or even August (with numbers hovering just above the medians), is it fair to say that I'm going to need to find a new dream school?

2. What are the propsects for a wannabe international poverty-fighting lawyer? Does this job exist, do people actually get it, and is it possible to make a difference?

3. Are dual degrees stupid? My heart says no, but my wallet says yes.