Should I be thinking about law school? Forum

[jetsfan1]

Thanks all for the responses, you really helped me out.

[Generally]

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[texasellewoods]

I'm with Seamus on this one - go for it!! I'm a 0L as well so I don't have any real knowledge of anything haha but it sounds like this is something you are really passionate about and take seriously. With those scores and your WE I would say H is a strong chance, you never know about YS but I say apply anyways! You have a super interesting background and I think they would be attracted to your unique aspirations.
As far as money goes, could you see if your current job would help pay for it or the old job with the inspirational boss would do some sort of loan repayment if you go work for them? Lots of the top schools have LRAPs and if its a government position you might be eligible though those, it really depends on all the specifics but worth looking into. There are also outside scholarships though national/regional organizations - I have a friend going to a fantastic school on a full ride from an LGBT group.
Worse comes to worse, you don't get in/don't get enough money/change your mind and you simply don't go. It never hurts to try, and at least you wouldn't regret not taking a shot later on in life. You've got the grades and the LSAT score and I'm sure you will have a killer PS! Good luck with whatever you decide!!

[jetsfan1]

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[Tiago Splitter]

Nothing wrong with going since you can get a full ride in the T-14 pretty easily but I don't really see the point of going in without much of a plan. If you end up just following the herd to biglaw for a few years the whole thing will have mostly been a waste.

[jetsfan1]

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[Tiago Splitter]

I mean the plan would be clerkship -> fed gov't, with the idea of eventually working my way into one of those unicorn spots. Whether or not that is feasible is another story.

Well you just asked if this would be a good economic decision, which makes it sound like money is important. The plan you've outlined, even if it's guaranteed, is not especially lucrative.

I think you could make your dream job happen from a handful of T-14's but I'd shoot for HYS while applying broadly and see what offers come in. If you absolutely must do a clerkship and then federal government work BEFORE whatever the dream job is then HYS is tough to pass up.

It sounds like you understand the limited number of jobs in whatever field it is you'd like to end up in, so at least have a second option in mind that's a little more feasible. Maybe that's just government agency work or something.

[legit]

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[Johann]

I think law sucks, and on paper you should not go to law school. But living a life constantly wondering what if is no way to live.

[malleus discentium]

You might have a better than normal chance of getting a unicorn international law job, but given that the normal chance is basically 0% that's not saying much. In 30 years if you are not in this unicorn job, would you be happy that you spent 300K and years of your life chasing that dream instead of enjoying the job you have now, which you love? Life is nothing BUT little nagging regrets; it's seldom a real reason to do something so weighty. Don't throw away a good thing for a small, and very expensive, shot at something. And make no mistake, it will be very expensive, not just financially. Clerkships are expensive, and working in fedgov isn't baller money. You need to go to HYS if you're going to swing for a job like this, and since you will not be getting a scholarship there (no idea about grants), this is going to be a gigantic pile of money for "my boss has a really cool job and I want to be him."
You say you would enjoy government/PI work instead of this unicorn job, but then immediately admit that you "remain functionally naive about the realities of being a lawyer." What sort of government/PI work are you imagining? None of these goals make sense for going to law school, especially since "government" and "PI" mean pretty much anything.

[jetsfan1]

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[CanadianWolf]

Based on your numbers (3.9x and 173+ whatever that means), you should apply to all of the T-14 law schools which are of interest to you--including Georgetown because of its location & because of your career goals. If you get a full tuition scholarship, then your anxiety level should recede & you can make a decision based on more concrete information. I suspect that your biggest concern may be whether to attend H,Y or S versus a full tuition scholarship at Columbia or Chicago or another lower T-14 law school.

[celtslaw]

With your numbers, you will surely get lots of $$$$ if not a full scholly at T14s. A close friend applied this past cycle with a 3.7/171 and got near full ride at UVA and UChi.

[shump92]

You mentioned the DOJ, and I did intern in a CRT office there during UG so I can speak to that some. My office did litigation so the attorneys were at their desks a lot of the time and some cases would go on for more than 5 years with all of the appeals. The arguments they were having over the law at hand were also extremely tedious. I sat in on meetings a couple of times too and there was an interesting dynamic of how the two parties (my office as one) would interact. Basically, I am saying that at those jobs you really need to find value in the general work your office/firm is doing. A lot of the day-to-day stuff is pretty dull. Though that is probably true for a lot of jobs. The deadlines for motions and process of review among the internal hierarchy also seemed pretty stressful. So in summary, law would be a lot of time and effort for lower pay (if not Big Law) and less direct feelings of accomplishment, and it all could come with a hefty payment up-front. That being said, it sounds like law school makes a lot of sense for you and I think you should have some really good options.

[rnoodles]

In your case I think it's appropriate to paraphrase Tennyson: "Tis better to have applied and lost than to never have applied at all." In other words, your stats are killer and you have what sounds like a genuine passion for the field. You may very well get a sizable scholarship at CCN, or later find yourself willing to take on the debt of HYS. If not, so what. At least you applied and decided to not go on your own terms - no 'what ifs' hanging over your head. Good luck!

[jetsfan1]

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[jetsfan1]

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