Top Law Schools

Hi everyone! This is my first post on this forum after months of just lurking through and reading everyone's posts. Happy to be here.

I have a question... but knowing that everyone here is law and/or law school oriented, this question may be prone to some severe sample selection bias but I felt that I would ask anyway if only to get a glimpse of what the general consensus on the answer would be.

Is law school worth it?

To put it into context, I'm a rising senior undergrad at George Washington University with a cumulative GPA of 3.93. I'm studying this summer while working full-time to take the LSATs in October. So far, my plan is to just take the LSATs now while I'm still very academically and study-minded and then just sit on whatever score I get until I am either ready to apply to law school, until the scores are about to expire, or until I get tired of working... whatever comes first.

I've been hearing a lot of bad things about the law job market lately. I recently read an article where a boston law firm posted on the Boston College Law School's career website a job posting that offered about $10,000 in compensation for their associates. (http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exch ... 53092.html) I know, and the article even says this, that this is a an exception to number of other law firms that pay lavishly. Either way, I'm merely taking it as a sign of the times. Yet... after numerous recent law school grad friends of mine telling me to run far away from law schools because of how difficult it is to actually get a job, I'm starting to actually doubt, or at least question, whether or not all of this is worth it...

I admit, I don't know much about the state of the industry really other than what I've been told, so what do you guys think? Can anyone give me any information or advice on this at all?

Thanks in advance, TLS!

Financially: it depends on the caliber of law schools you can attend and how much scholarship money you can get from those schools (both of which depend almost entirely upon your LSAT/GPA, since your GPA is top notch, ideally a 170+ would put you in a good position).

Career: it depends on whether you want to be a lawyer and do the kinds of work lawyers do. If you do, law school is the only way to get there. If you don't then law school really won't have much to offer you.

bk187 wrote:Financially: it depends on the caliber of law schools you can attend and how much scholarship money you can get from those schools (both of which depend almost entirely upon your LSAT/GPA, since your GPA is top notch, ideally a 170+ would put you in a good position).

Career: it depends on whether you want to be a lawyer and do the kinds of work lawyers do. If you do, law school is the only way to get there. If you don't then law school really won't have much to offer you.

Without more info, this.

As the poster above you noted, you are in a relatively good position law school-wise, as most people here will tell you go to a top school or lower-ranked school with hefty scholarship. You're in a good position to get into a good school and/or to minimize your debt.

For you, the determining factor will be if you want to practice law. Do you want to be a lawyer?

I definitely want to be a lawyer. It's been a dream of mine since high school.

I guess I'm just scared of becoming that dude with thousands of dollars in law school debt and no job. I know nothing is guaranteed but how do I position myself in the best possible way to make sure this doesn't happen?

Take a couple of years off, getting work experience and saving money. Go to the best school you can for the least amount of money (it's a balancing test). Network and spend all three years of law school hustling to get the kind of job you want. Have a plan before you go. Good luck!

ccordero wrote:I definitely want to be a lawyer. It's been a dream of mine since high school.

I guess I'm just scared of becoming that dude with thousands of dollars in law school debt and no job. I know nothing is guaranteed but how do I position myself in the best possible way to make sure this doesn't happen?

Step 1: Go to a T14
Step 2: Get good grades
Step 3: Don't be weird in interviews

ccordero wrote:I definitely want to be a lawyer. It's been a dream of mine since high school.

I guess I'm just scared of becoming that dude with thousands of dollars in law school debt and no job. I know nothing is guaranteed but how do I position myself in the best possible way to make sure this doesn't happen?

As to 1, why?

As to 2, get into a top school or get a crap ton of scholarship money, to minimize risk. Ideally, do both. To do this, start by getting a good LSAT score. Then, get good grades in school (what grades are "good" depends on the caliber of school), then don't act like a moran in interviews.