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[runandrewrun]

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[Nova]

Almost universally insufferable classmates (it's true what they say)

Naaa. Most law students are boring at worst.

[John Everyman]

Gotta be honest, of all the "don't do it" threads, this one is probably the least persuasive. The "practicing attorneys tell you your top choice is bad" was definitely the most frightening one, but that was mostly only because of rad lulz avatar.

[TheSpanishMain]

You guys discouraged that dude pretty fast.

[Nova]

damn it

shoulda QFPed it

[Nova]

Oh wait, here it is

Full disclosure: I'm a 3L at a relatively inexpensive Tier 1 law school. I have non-law related employment secured post-graduation (it's what I looked for, for reasons I'll detail below) that will pay more than most law jobs would and will, assuredly, provide me with meaning and satisfaction based on my own professional goals.

During school, I clerked for a state supreme court, worked for a firm, worked in the public sector (see, I gave it a chance) quit journal, refused to participate in OCI, and realized a year and a half ago that worrying about grades is for 10th graders.

In short, I'm one of the lucky ones.

Still, I'm begging anyone considering making the jump to law school to examine themselves and their motivations and consider: is it worth it to take $100k-$200k out in loans for the privilege of banging your head against the wall for three years and then floundering in a job market that won't improve anytime soon? Take your parents out of the equation; they grew up in a different time. Take your insecurity out too; if you work hard towards something you care about, you'll do spectacularly well there.

Go to law school and you'll be greeted with:

- Almost universally insufferable classmates (it's true what they say)
- Pompous professors who simultaneously tear you down and make you feel like you'll be the lucky one appointed to the federal bench
- A career services office who's stuck in 2002.
- Largely outdated coursework (and that's just 1L year, just wait until you run out of interesting electives after one semester of being a 2L)
- Ego-driven student organizations
- Butt-kissing of current lawyers with substance abuse problems
- An infectious sheeple mentality that keeps lw students shuffling from one crisis to the next (Grades! Journal! OCI!).
- So much more.

There are only three circumstances in which I really think going to law school is a sound choice in 2014:

- You have a lucrative family practice waiting for you and really like money.
- You want to practice law and, here's the kicker, understand what that actually entails. Go sit in a trial court for a day. It'll blow your socks off how routine and unfulfilling the vast majority of lawyers' jobs are. And those are the ones who have jobs.
- You love attention and would be content with being an inconsequential state senator.

For anyone who wants to run a business, save the environment, fix the education system, cure poverty, end the war on drugs, or just make a ton of money, there are so many better ways to do those things. Like... actually doing them. Being a lawyer tangentially related to those goals (and maybe on the wrong side, depending on who's paying you) is a fool's game.

For example, here's some advice to anyone coming out of Teach For America: "education policy" is a phantom. And the jobs that do exist there are just as easily, and less expensively, obtained by working in education.

Law school is not a shortcut to better jobs if you know what industry you want to work in. It's an extremely expensive diversion.

Don't give these jerks lying to you during the admission process any more money. Find a real job and stick with it.

[Quest4Knowledge]

Go to law school and you'll be greeted with:

- Almost universally insufferable classmates (it's true what they say)
- Pompous professors who simultaneously tear you down and make you feel like you'll be the lucky one appointed to the federal bench
- A career services office who's stuck in 2002.
- Largely outdated coursework (and that's just 1L year, just wait until you run out of interesting electives after one semester of being a 2L)
- Ego-driven student organizations
- Butt-kissing of current lawyers with substance abuse problems
- An infectious sheeple mentality that keeps lw students shuffling from one crisis to the next (Grades! Journal! OCI!).
- So much more.

Lol.