On the fence between med and law Forum

[Karna]

Hey everyone!

I am a recent graduate of a SUNY school with a 3.43 gpa. My major was Biochemistry which was insanely difficult at my school and it reflects on my gpa sadly. I was originally steadfast about going into medicine but obamacare, salary cuts, and the daunting amount of schooling is making me have second thoughts. I have no exposure to the law field unless you want to count Law and Order hehe
What attracts me towards a legal career is problem solving. I am just addicted to intellectual challenges and like to argue. But I still do not know for sure if Law is right for me. What are some resources or people I can talk to that can give me an in depth perspective?

Are there any pre requisite courses needed for law school? volunteer/work experience? Also if in the future I do decided to apply to law school will my 3.43 be forgiven considering my difficult major? I am pretty good at standardized exams so the LSAT won't be too much of a problem.

[Cradle6]

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[Rigo]

As for the LSAT, don't have too much false confidence about it. It's a rough test, standardized or not I wouldn't expect to do well because you've done well on the SAT or even the MCAT or GRE.

This.

Law is a very precarious career path and you shouldn't undertake it unless you're very sure. Too many risks. I suppose the same could be said for medical school, but the employment prospects are probably better.

Take some time off from school. It's way too big of a decision to be flippant about.

Edit to address questions:

Are there any pre requisite courses needed for law school? volunteer/work experience? Also if in the future I do decided to apply to law school will my 3.43 be forgiven considering my difficult major? I am pretty good at standardized exams so the LSAT won't be too much of a problem.

1) No.
2) WE is good but not really that helpful for admissions purposes.
3) No. A 3.43 equals a 3.43.

[rdawkins28]

Got to med school. I have 3 siblings in medicine. They're certainly way better off than me - the attorney.

[Cogburn87]

But I still do not know for sure if Law is right for me.

It's not.

[McAvoy]

But I still do not know for sure if Law is right for me.

It's not.

[iliketurtles123]

OP
People on this forum know nothing about med school. Trust me. This forum, for some odd reason, puts the medical profession on a pedestal.

Your job is to figure out why people are telling you not to go to law school (which this forum is good for) (edit: apparently not, from these comments). Then, find out why people don't want you to go to med school (which this forum is not good for. go to student doctor forums). You're smart enough to figure it out for yourself at that point by comparing.

Edit: That means being able to ask the right questions that won't illicit snarky responses. Any thread with "med school" on TLS will illicit snarky responses.

[pancakes3]

HA! There's a really easy way to tell the difference between law school and med school.

1) Google "law school employment rates" or go to http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/ yourself and look around.

2) Google "med school employment rates" and wonder why nothing shows up.

It's because 94% of ALL med grads, regardless of Harvard or East Bumfuck become doctors and the 6% that don't is because they goofed on the matching process. 94% employment rate is higher than HYS and their median pay is > 160k.

Let's not even get into the "I'm good at standardized tests so I'll probably skate through the LSAT" issue.

[lawhopeful10]

If you like to argue you should probably reevaluate your personality because that's a character flaw. Please don't go to law school because of that.

[rdawkins28]

OP
People on this forum know nothing about med school. Trust me. This forum, for some odd reason, puts the medical profession on a pedestal.

Your job is to figure out why people are telling you not to go to law school (which this forum is good for) (edit: apparently not, from these comments). Then, find out why people don't want you to go to med school (which this forum is not good for. go to student doctor forums). You're smart enough to figure it out for yourself at that point by comparing.

Edit: That means being able to ask the right questions that won't illicit snarky responses. Any thread with "med school" on TLS will illicit snarky responses.

I don't put med school on a pedestal at all. Med school just happens to be the means to a lesser evil and better chance of making more money.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

If you like to argue you should probably reevaluate your personality because that's a character flaw. Please don't go to law school because of that.

also, for someone asking "law or medicine?" to actually be making a good decision going to law school is very unlikely.

Please take a year or two off to either paralegal or work in a hospital to get more of a sense of whether either would actually make you happy. Looking at genital warts/horrendous injuries/sick children/disgusting puss-filled wounds is not something that makes most people happy to go to work. Dealing with irrational, deceptive, litigious people makes many people unhappy, and you are very likely to make less money than being a doctor.

I know a lot of doctors, and it is nothing like "House" or any tv show/movie.
I know a lot of lawyers, and I'm a 3L, and the law is nothing like "Suits" or any tv show/movie.

[star fox]

You're below gpa median everywhere worth going. Make sure you actually want to be a lawyer before you sign up for sizable debt and likely before you commit to LSAT study as well.

[TheWeeIceMon]

You should check out Student Doctor Forum. Much better place for info on med school. My suggestion would be to work a couple years and shadow/volunteer on the side to see if you really want to go to medical school. You may also consider doing a post-bac to bump that gpa up into a more competitive range, unless you are open to DO schools.

[jbagelboy]

definitely neither. with that GPA you're going into debt all over the place

[Nomo]

I can't speak to medicine. But the primary downside to law is simple. Very few people can make enough money to justify the debt. Many law school graduates never get real legal jobs. Entry salaries are bimodal, with a very small share of graduates making 160k, and the overhwhelming majority (of those who do find paying legal work) making between 40-60k. You can find more salary information at the Law School Transparency website. The business is cut throat. The hours are bad and completely unpredictable, much worse than they were 25 years ago. Clients are putting pressure on lawyers to cut costs and write off billable hours. Clients and courts expect a level of perfection that is only possible at big firms where clients are willing to spend money on lots of billiable hours. If you litigate you are in a competition and someone on the other side is being paid to catch your mistakes and beat you with them - many find this stressful. Many attorneys find the work to be boring and to lack meaning.

But many people can enjoy the law if they find the right practice area and the right employer. Sadly, there is a lot of competition for interesting, meaningful work. And if you do want to get one of these positions, you will find that they don't pay much.

[Creditisgood]

Go on Craigslist New York City and compare the number of jobs
for legal/paralegal versus those for medical/health.
Self explanatory.

[Itwasluck]

My fiancee is at med school at a "top-ten school" (for whatever that's worth in the medical profession) and I go to a CCN law school. I think it is very worth noting that employment prospects are not even something people at her school talk about because everyone there matches at good programs and goes to to obtain full employment. Even at my law school people strike out or end up underemployed for some other reason far more often than a lot of people think. I was on the fence as you were, but ultimately decided law because it was something I knew I wanted to do. Medicine was much more up in the air for me. I will say that from an outsiders perspective of what elite med school is like, it is brutal. She did an incredible amount of reading, video watching, and note taking. Also, her school was only pass/fail with no honors. So she did all of this just to ensure a passing mark. Now that she is in rotations her hours are extremely long. When she was doing surgery, she would begin rounding at 5:15am and often not return home until 8-9pm 5 days a week with a half day on Saturday. Other rotations are better, but not by a huge stretch. Its a big time commitment.

I do echo what a lot of people on this thread have already said about the employment prospects being much better. A 3.43 is below median at many med schools, so you would still have to do well on the MCAT. At the end of the day, I think the debt entered into from med school is more assuredly going to be paid off, but if you can get biglaw you'll pay law school off a lot faster (a big "if" in there). I would spend some time thinking about where you would like to see yourself after graduation, and if the answer is not a resounding "practicing law," I would hesitate to go to law school. PM me if you have any more questions. Good luck with your decision.

[MikeJD]

Med schools actually regulate how many people total they take, if law schools did the same thing they would be so much better off..

[FSK]

S/O is in Med, I'm in law school. I wouldn't recommend either. Long hours and shitty work conditions for many many jobs in both.

[sideroxylon]

definitely neither. with that GPA you're going into debt all over the place

with work experience and a killer LSAT OP could pull NU ED

a high LSAT will get at least a 1/3 off everywhere T6 and below, so it's not like OP is doomed (for law) with that GPA

OP: if you can get into a good med school, go

you probably shouldn't go to law school

[Skool]

Med schools actually regulate how many people total they take, if law schools did the same thing they would be so much better off..

Yep. The folks who govern medical school seem to understand that it's unethical to create more medical students than there are residency spots for.

Law schools and their regulators don't give a fuck. These are the same people who give kids a hard time for getting caught drunk in public and peeing outside.

Consider the fact that this is a profession for whom standard operating procedure means eating its young. Every year. Ad infinitum. Yes there are challenges in getting into medical school, succeeding there, and practicing, but it's nothing like being a lawyer.

[FSK]

Med schools actually regulate how many people total they take, if law schools did the same thing they would be so much better off..

Yep. The folks who govern medical school seem to understand that it's unethical to create more medical students than there are residency spots for.

Law schools and their regulators don't give a fuck. These are the same people who give kids a hard time for getting caught drunk in public and peeing outside.

Consider the fact that this is a profession for whom standard operating procedure means eating its young. Every year. Ad infinitum. Yes there are challenges in getting into medical school, succeeding there, and practicing, but it's nothing like being a lawyer.

We don't have to deal with bodily fluids, literally dying people. Couldn't pay me enough.

[Skool]

Med schools actually regulate how many people total they take, if law schools did the same thing they would be so much better off..

Yep. The folks who govern medical school seem to understand that it's unethical to create more medical students than there are residency spots for.

Law schools and their regulators don't give a fuck. These are the same people who give kids a hard time for getting caught drunk in public and peeing outside.

Consider the fact that this is a profession for whom standard operating procedure means eating its young. Every year. Ad infinitum. Yes there are challenges in getting into medical school, succeeding there, and practicing, but it's nothing like being a lawyer.

We don't have to deal with bodily fluids, literally dying people. Couldn't pay me enough.

*shrug* For what its worth, it makes a difference to the families you work for, especially the ones who are literally dying. On the other hand, staying til 3am helping a Fortune 500 company secure a few more million dollars it doesn't really need....

[Mack.Hambleton]

thanks obama