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Hey guys--I have a few questions about admissions and post LS life. I'm sure I can find them elsewhere, but this forum is (justifiably) huge and I can only procrastinate so much at work.

1) I just received my academic summary report, and although my GPA is 3.74, it's only the 68th percentile at my school (Yale). Does this make it count for less in the eyes of law schools?

2) With regards to writing personals statements, is it advisable to write a "risky" one for reach schools and a "safe" one for targets? What's a good definition of "risky"?

3) I'm hoping to go to HYC (178 LSAT), and I know the job numbers look rosy in those schools despite the economy in terms of BigLaw. My question is: what does everyone here mean by BigLaw? Are we talking V10 firms? V50? Any firm that pays the standard 160K? What percentage of HYC grads go to a V10 firm?

4) What are the biggest legal markets out there? I know, of course, that NYC is the big one, followed by DC, (then LA area?) What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? It seems that one drawback to each is that NYC has an extremely high cost of living, DC is hard to get into, and CA is basically not hiring.

5) I know that many people only (planned or otherwise) do a 2-3 year stint in BigLaw. What kinds of careers do people transition into that have similar (and similarly scaling) pay? What are the prospects for partnership at a big firm nowadays?

6) Is a J.D. useful in non-legal fields, like business? How does it compare to an M.B.A.?

Thanks. Sorry this was so wordy and neurotic.

1. No.
2. You don't really have any places where your numbers put you out of play (except that HYS are reaches for everyone) so don't do something risky.
3. People generally mean either the NLJ250/V100 or firms that pay the market rate (which is 160k in large markets like NYC/DC/Chi/etc but can be something like 120k in smaller markets such as StL/Sac/etc).
4. NYC is the largest by a million miles. Then I think DC/Chi/LA/Boston/etc and then everywhere else. NYC is easiest to get a job. DC is the most competitive. NYC/DC don't care about ties. Chi/SF are in the shitter at the moment. Smaller markets have less competition (but also fewer job openings). Yes, money goes further in TX than it would in NYC/SF due to taxes as well as CoL differences.
5. I don't really know that much but people tend to do things like going in-house, going to a smaller firm, lateraling to other biglaw firms, going into the public sector, etc. Generally people take an overall paycut but end up getting more $ per hour worked because they work fewer hours at their new job. People who know more on this feel free to correct me.
6. Not really. If you want to be a lawyer get a JD, if you don't want to be a lawyer don't get a JD.

bk187 wrote:6. Not really. If you want to be a lawyer get a JD, if you don't want to be a lawyer don't get a JD.

Right, of course. I was asking the question because a possible joint program is on the back of my mind. The interest in it was heightened after a visit to HBS's ravishing campus last weekend.

merlin2009 wrote:Right, of course. I was asking the question because a possible joint program is on the back of my mind. The interest in it was heightened after a visit to HBS's ravishing campus last weekend.

I don't really see the point still unless there is some niche that you already know about and are intending to occupy that makes a JD/MBA reasonable. Having talked to several JD/MBA students they've said "you basically either choose to go the JD path or the MBA path because there really isn't much overlap."