That being said, I am just now starting to think about law school, and I would love to hear some advice. I just finished my sophomore year at the University of Texas at Austin. I currently have a 3.96 GPA and three majors: Computer Engineering, Economics, and Plan II Honors. Because of those three majors, I will be in undergrad for five years, so I have a bit of time to think about things (some may challenge my decision to take five years in undergrad, but I'm happy with it, and I have all except the last semester payed for in scholarships at the moment). For some time, I wanted to get a Ph.D. in Economics and become an Economics professor. I love teaching, I loved Economics, and I think I had change-the-world delusions. While that still is an active option for me, I'm scared about the job market for Economics professors, and I'm less in love with the subject than I used to be. I know that the market for lawyers is hardly thriving at the moment, the "market" for academic economists consists of students from top five schools having a decent shot at tenure track positions, students at top ten schools having an existent shot at tenure track positions, and other students having a rather difficult time. Getting into those top five schools is ridiculously difficult, and even more difficult for me, because I don't have a Math major (I chose Computer Engineering over Math because Computer Engineering seemed like a much more practical major than Math for getting a job straight out of undergrad, and I was not willing to choose Math solely on hopes of getting into a top Econ grad school).
I am currently working an internship at a fairly well-respected company as a software developer. I like it, but I struggle to see myself doing this for the rest of my life. And part of what I enjoy is working at a company that (in my opinion) has a fantastic working environment for its employees, and, if I had to be a software developer at a place without that, I probably would be somewhat less happy. That being said, I like having software development, or the many related fields covered by Computer Engineering, as a potential backup. I'm hardly miserable doing this work; I'm just not as enthusiastic about technology development as most of the people around me.
So where does that leave law school? It's been an option that I've thought about for awhile, but I've become more interested in it lately. Perhaps my reasons are silly. I'm not sure if they're too close to "I like arguing". But I really enjoy reading, writing, and critiquing ideas, even relatively boring ones. I also find myself honestly interested in the law. I don't harbor change-the-world delusions in the same way that I did about Economics. I'd be lying if I said that I was not attracted to the money that lawyers supposedly make, at least according to popular legend. For some (possibly silly) reason, I find myself drawn more to the idea of a high-stress long-hours environment in which I am writing and reading ideas about things than the idea of a slightly-lower-stress slightly-fewer-hours environment of writing code. Perhaps that's a silly and inaccurate forecast; perhaps it's caused by a grass-is-always-greener mentality. But there's something about the possibility of going to law school and being a lawyer that excites me right now.
I've yet to take the LSAT. I am going to administer myself a practice exam under realistic timing tomorrow morning. We'll see what happens. I've played around with practice logic games before and done well, and I've looked at the formats of the other questions, but that's pretty much the extent of my preparation at this point. I've had good luck on standardized tests (SAT/PSAT/ACT) in the past. I honestly don't know what to expect.
Like most parents, my parents don't have the resources to pay for my law school, so I would likely take on significant debt, which is a little frightening. I know the state of the legal job market. The pre-law adviser at my university thinks that I will have a good shot at T14, but I suppose we'll see after I start working on the LSAT.
I've read a lot of people say that GPA and LSAT are much more important than other factors for getting into law school, such as majors. I am happy with my GPA at the moment, but my Electrical/Computer Engineering program is relatively well ranked (#10-ish in the country), and it has difficult classes that could hurt my GPA at some point. I haven't gotten anything lower than an A- in an Engineering class yet, but that could change. However, I am not willing to pull out of Engineering to potentially get a higher GPA. I like the classes a lot, and I like knowing that I have a good shot at a good job right out of college if I need to take it.
I think this post sounds more cynical than accurately reflects my mood. I don't feel too cynical about any of the options that I listed, and, like I said, I honestly feel somewhat excited about the possibility of law school. I do, however, feel a little overwhelmed and confused at the moment about what to do with my life. Better in college than at any other time, though, I suppose!
Anyway, I'd love to hear any advice about whether or not I should go to law school. Obviously, I know that I can't expect this forum make my decision for me, but everyone here seems much more knowledgeable about all things law-related than I am, so I'd appreciate opinions.
OK, I'm not trying to be harsh, but I can say that because I'm old(er than you). All-nighters are one thing when you're 19 and playing COD:BLOPS or working on a paper for a class you like, but this switch flips after about 25 where suddenly staying up 30 minutes past midnight on New Years Eve feels like a major accomplishment. Forget about when you're over 30, maybe have a family and wife waiting for you at home and...oh wait, you said you were a computer engineering major. Nevermind...Ooooh, sick burn! LOL, just kidding. (Hey, admissions deans can be funny, can't we? Maybe my one semester as an engineering major has made me bitter. My apologies.)
