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Make sense to go if full ride?
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 6:23 pm
by tbcthk
I graduated from a top engineering school with a 3.8 GPA but went to work in finance. I earn a good salary but have always had an interest in law. I have read many horrific articles about not going to law school. But I wonder what everyone opinion is if I do part time at a top 50 school with full ride scholarship. I am not interested in practicing law after graduation. I will keep my full time job. I want to
(a) use the skills to complement my job
(b) have an intellectual education / experience
(c) do pro bono work, as it has always been my passion to give back
Thanks in advance for all comments!
Re: Make sense to go if full ride?
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 6:36 pm
by thewaves
tbcthk wrote:I graduated from a top engineering school with a 3.8 GPA but went to work in finance. I earn a good salary but have always had an interest in law. I have read many horrific articles about not going to law school. But I wonder what everyone opinion is if I do part time at a top 50 school with full ride scholarship. I am not interested in practicing law after graduation. I will keep my full time job. I want to
(a) use the skills to complement my job
(b) have an intellectual education / experience
(c) do pro bono work, as it has always been my passion to give back
Thanks in advance for all comments!
B and C can easily be done without having to go to law school. In what way will the law school material complement your current job?
Re: Make sense to go if full ride?
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 7:33 pm
by tbcthk
thewaves wrote:tbcthk wrote:I graduated from a top engineering school with a 3.8 GPA but went to work in finance. I earn a good salary but have always had an interest in law. I have read many horrific articles about not going to law school. But I wonder what everyone opinion is if I do part time at a top 50 school with full ride scholarship. I am not interested in practicing law after graduation. I will keep my full time job. I want to
(a) use the skills to complement my job
(b) have an intellectual education / experience
(c) do pro bono work, as it has always been my passion to give back
Thanks in advance for all comments!
B and C can easily be done without having to go to law school. In what way will the law school material complement your current job?
Thanks a lot. For C, to be more specific, it's always been my passion to help refugees / immigrants through the immigration process and a law degree is typically required for that.
For A, I do a lot of transaction work
SO Legal documents are a regular for me. I think having a law education provides me to read / understand better (and without getting screwed over).
Re: Make sense to go if full ride?
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 7:50 pm
by mvonh001
IF its free... and remains free, *see no stips, then I don't see a downside, unless the time you spend at school is time away from your family or your work that you currently do degrades due to stress...
Re: Make sense to go if full ride?
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 7:57 pm
by politics89
tbcthk wrote:thewaves wrote:tbcthk wrote:I graduated from a top engineering school with a 3.8 GPA but went to work in finance. I earn a good salary but have always had an interest in law. I have read many horrific articles about not going to law school. But I wonder what everyone opinion is if I do part time at a top 50 school with full ride scholarship. I am not interested in practicing law after graduation. I will keep my full time job. I want to
(a) use the skills to complement my job
(b) have an intellectual education / experience
(c) do pro bono work, as it has always been my passion to give back
Thanks in advance for all comments!
B and C can easily be done without having to go to law school. In what way will the law school material complement your current job?
Thanks a lot. For C, to be more specific, it's always been my passion to help refugees / immigrants through the immigration process and a law degree is typically required for that.
For A, I do a lot of transaction work so legal documents are a regular for me. I think having a law education provides me to read / understand better (and without getting screwed over).
Wait so your plan is to work in finance but also help immigrants on the side? Like as two part-time jobs? Or do you just help immigrants as a hobby? This isnt making much sense to me.
Re: Make sense to go if full ride?
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:06 pm
by tbcthk
politics89 wrote:tbcthk wrote:thewaves wrote:tbcthk wrote:I graduated from a top engineering school with a 3.8 GPA but went to work in finance. I earn a good salary but have always had an interest in law. I have read many horrific articles about not going to law school. But I wonder what everyone opinion is if I do part time at a top 50 school with full ride scholarship. I am not interested in practicing law after graduation. I will keep my full time job. I want to
(a) use the skills to complement my job
(b) have an intellectual education / experience
(c) do pro bono work, as it has always been my passion to give back
Thanks in advance for all comments!
B and C can easily be done without having to go to law school. In what way will the law school material complement your current job?
Thanks a lot. For C, to be more specific, it's always been my passion to help refugees / immigrants through the immigration process and a law degree is typically required for that.
For A, I do a lot of transaction work so legal documents are a regular for me. I think having a law education provides me to read / understand better (and without getting screwed over).
Wait so your plan is to work in finance but also help immigrants on the side? Like as two part-time jobs? Or do you just help immigrants as a hobby? This isnt making much sense to me.
More as a hobby / community service.
Re: Make sense to go if full ride?
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:15 pm
by thewaves
More as a hobby / community service.
I would look into what is actually required to do this kind of community service.
I've volunteered as a non-attorney at legal immigration clinics. I'm allowed to do general intake but report back to a staff clinic attorney on the general cases. Volunteer attorneys do the same--they all report back to the clinic attorney. If you're looking for more extensive pro bono work--representing clients in court for example--you may need to be an actual staff attorney at the clinic, rather than practicing on the side. But this may vary by program.
Re: Make sense to go if full ride?
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:30 pm
by Lumieres
If you're not going to use your law degree to advance your career in finance, don't do it.
Re: Make sense to go if full ride?
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 11:47 pm
by Ti Malice
tbcthk wrote:I graduated from a top engineering school with a 3.8 GPA but went to work in finance. I earn a good salary but have always had an interest in law. I have read many horrific articles about not going to law school. But I wonder what everyone opinion is if I do part time at a top 50 school with full ride scholarship. I am not interested in practicing law after graduation. I will keep my full time job. I want to
(a) use the skills to complement my job
(b) have an intellectual education / experience
(c) do pro bono work, as it has always been my passion to give back
Thanks in advance for all comments!
Definitely would not spend the time on it if you're not interested in practicing law. If you're not planning to represent people in Immigration Court, then you definitely don't need a JD to do volunteer work with immigrants and refugees. If you live in an area with a substantial immigrant population, there are undoubtedly clinics and non-profits that would love to have your help. But, like thewaves said, if you're not a staff attorney, you're going to provide the same assistance as a volunteer regardless of whether you have a JD or not.
As for intellectual experiences, there are far more enjoyable and effective ways to have them than attending law school. Law school is mentally taxing more than it is intellectual.
Also keep in mind that, if you should want to change careers at some point, having a JD can be a liability outside of the legal field. But I suppose that you could just leave it off your résumé since you wouldn't have an employment gap to explain.
Re: Make sense to go if full ride?
Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 8:00 am
by mr.hands
Lumieres wrote:If you're not going to use your law degree to advance your career in finance, don't do it.