Top Law Schools

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Don't go.

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Well...this feeling seems natural to me, but I would normally expect this after you've committed somewhere, not before.

Well, first, are you doing anything that you know is objectively unwise? Like taking on sticker debt to go to a T30 expecting BigLaw? If you are, that's your common sense telling you to eject. If not, keep reading...

The good news is that you haven't committed to anything at this point. You haven't sent anyone any money, quit any jobs, or planned to move anywhere. So, getting out is as simple as a couple of emails and deleting your TLS account (since hanging around here will make you want to go lol).

Here's what I suggest. Don't do anything right now. If you can, go take a visit to the school that's your top-ish choice. Meet people, get a feel for it. On your visit you'll be surrounded by soon-to-be and already-there members of the profession you would be entering. If you can't stand them and want to barf, then you're getting an answer. ASWs also often have mock classes, hopefully yours does too. Sit in on that mock class...does the professor make you want to vomit? Does the behavior of the little twerp gunner sitting in the front row make you want to commit a felony? Or are you feeling like this is at least interesting enough to survive 3 years of. I think after that experience, you'll know all you need to know. You know what lawyers do, you said. If that seems awful, then clearly you shouldn't be going.

If you can't go to ASW, take your law school up on the offer I'm sure they've made to talk to a current student. Ask them some questions. Hell, try to build a rapport such that you can ask them if they regret the decision they made and they give you a straight answer.

After you do that stuff, you should be ready to make your choice. If you still feel like this, don't go. Life will go on.

To post substantively:

If you're concerned about the cost and aren't sure you want to move, don't go right now. Law school will always be there.

I think it's easy for 0Ls (and law students) to live in the future. You think that if you get into Harvard, you'll get the biglaw job you want, not becuase it's what you want forever, but becuase you can spend a few years paying off the debt and then you can move into (insert dream here).

That's very obtainable. It's the modal outcome from a good school so you think you can plan on it. What you're not recognizing is time. It'll be three years until you're in law school. It'll be six or seven years until you start to reach that "next job" stage.

Seven years.

That's a long time. Even if you took time off between, for most law students, if you wind back the clock seven years you're back in high school or middle school. Think about that. You could spend a full year thinking it over more, change your mind, go to college for a new degree, and graduate and enter that field in that time. (And, you would probably have less debt at the end of the process.)

Don't go. One thought you'll have during the three years of law school will be "this better be worth it" and even if you really enjoy the job you end up in, I promise you will wonder what might have been elsewhere.

Until you've made peace with those other choices, don't go. It seems hard but it really is that easy.

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lunixer wrote:Bleh.

I feel so trapped. I got into pretty much my top pick of school and am now thinking that I don't want to go. I had been hoping for a full ride at a lower ranked school, but alas while I got into my top(ish) pick, I got YP'ed out of everything else (waitlisted at all but 1 of them, which gave me a disappointing scholarship).

I just feel super trapped and kind of wish I had never applied. I really love my life and where I live, but know that if I don't go to school this year I'll regret it for the rest of my life. Wouldn'thave had this dilemma if I hadn't applied in the first place. Any of you feel the same way? I'm thinking I already have a great job and enough education to have a wonderful career in my field and where I live. I also have already applied in two cycles, retaken the LSAT, etc. I know I'm not going to get a better opportunity to go than now.

I'm considering deferring, but thinking about how much I'd hate myself when I'm sitting at my boring (but really really good) job every morning. And then I'd feel obligated to go because I've already spent money on a deposit.

And I don't know much about the law. I have a very good idea what lawyers do (know a ton of them) but how can I possibly know if I want to spend the rest of my life doing what I decided to do in my mid-20's?

I really wish I had never applied and wasn't faced with this dilemma.

Listen to your doubts. You were planning on going to law school under different circumstances: namely that you would have a full ride.
I think you are being pragmatic.
Don't fall for the sunk cost theory and let past spending convince you to go to law school at a price you don't want.
Lots of people decide not to go if they don't get what they need in terms of schools or scholarships.

Edit: you don't have to say that you will never regret going. Everyone will have little regrets about past choices from time to time. That isn't a deciding factor.'

Don't try to talk yourself into something you know may not be the right choice for you.

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lunixer wrote:

smaug wrote:To post substantively:

If you're concerned about the cost and aren't sure you want to move, don't go right now. Law school will always be there.

I think it's easy for 0Ls (and law students) to live in the future. You think that if you get into Harvard, you'll get the biglaw job you want, not becuase it's what you want forever, but becuase you can spend a few years paying off the debt and then you can move into (insert dream here).

That's very obtainable. It's the modal outcome from a good school so you think you can plan on it. What you're not recognizing is time. It'll be three years until you're in law school. It'll be six or seven years until you start to reach that "next job" stage.

Seven years.

That's a long time. Even if you took time off between, for most law students, if you wind back the clock seven years you're back in high school or middle school. Think about that. You could spend a full year thinking it over more, change your mind, go to college for a new degree, and graduate and enter that field in that time. (And, you would probably have less debt at the end of the process.)

Don't go. One thought you'll have during the three years of law school will be "this better be worth it" and even if you really enjoy the job you end up in, I promise you will wonder what might have been elsewhere.

Until you've made peace with those other choices, don't go. It seems hard but it really is that easy.

Thank you very much for this input. I wish it were that easy, but I think of I'm ever going to go, I have to go this year. I took the LSAT three times and know I am at my best score. And I am pretty sure that if I turn down this school this year, they won't admit me again. The life implications of ending up in a lower ranked school because I chose to wait another year are huge. And so are the personal implications-- what an I going to think of myself every day when I'm sitting in my cubicle shuffling papers? That's kinda why I feel trapped. I don't see any way I can turn out down without feeling horrible about myself.

Think how trapped you will feel paying off massive student loans. That is a bigger trap than you are in right now.
This isn't a bilateral choice - there are many, many jobs out there in the world, it isn't law school or stay where you are.

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lunixer wrote:

Tls2016 wrote:

lunixer wrote:Bleh.

I feel so trapped. I got into pretty much my top pick of school and am now thinking that I don't want to go. I had been hoping for a full ride at a lower ranked school, but alas while I got into my top(ish) pick, I got YP'ed out of everything else (waitlisted at all but 1 of them, which gave me a disappointing scholarship).
...
I really wish I had never applied and wasn't faced with this dilemma.

Listen to your doubts. You were planning on going to law school under different circumstances: namely that you would have a full ride.
I think you are being pragmatic.
Don't fall for the sunk cost theory and let past spending convince you to go to law school at a price you don't want.
Lots of people decide not to go if they don't get what they need in terms of schools or scholarships.

Edit: you don't have to say that you will never regret going. Everyone will have little regrets about past choices from time to time. That isn't a deciding factor.'

Don't try to talk yourself into something you know may not be the right choice for you.

Thank you very much for your input.

One final point, you may notice a difference between the 0Ls view and the lawyers view here. Just keep that in mind. Good luck!

lunixer wrote:

smaug wrote:To post substantively:

If you're concerned about the cost and aren't sure you want to move, don't go right now. Law school will always be there.

I think it's easy for 0Ls (and law students) to live in the future. You think that if you get into Harvard, you'll get the biglaw job you want, not becuase it's what you want forever, but becuase you can spend a few years paying off the debt and then you can move into (insert dream here).

That's very obtainable. It's the modal outcome from a good school so you think you can plan on it. What you're not recognizing is time. It'll be three years until you're in law school. It'll be six or seven years until you start to reach that "next job" stage.

Seven years.

That's a long time. Even if you took time off between, for most law students, if you wind back the clock seven years you're back in high school or middle school. Think about that. You could spend a full year thinking it over more, change your mind, go to college for a new degree, and graduate and enter that field in that time. (And, you would probably have less debt at the end of the process.)

Don't go. One thought you'll have during the three years of law school will be "this better be worth it" and even if you really enjoy the job you end up in, I promise you will wonder what might have been elsewhere.

Until you've made peace with those other choices, don't go. It seems hard but it really is that easy.

Thank you very much for this input. I wish it were that easy, but I think of I'm ever going to go, I have to go this year. I took the LSAT three times and know I am at my best score. And I am pretty sure that if I turn down this school this year, they won't admit me again. The life implications of ending up in a lower ranked school because I chose to wait another year are huge. And so are the personal implications-- what an I going to think of myself every day when I'm sitting in my cubicle shuffling papers? That's kinda why I feel trapped. I don't see any way I can turn out down without feeling horrible about myself.

You'll still be shuffling papers after law school.

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Are you going to HYS? Impact litigation isn't a common outcome, even there.

You seem naïve.

Most lawyers would die for a federal job like the one that you have. You have federal hiring preference. What I consider as a more wise choice, go to school in something else while maintaining your federal job, and then switching agencies. It is a really serious benefit to be at a federal job, and I would not give it up for law because you're wanting to help people. There are about 1 million other ways to do that within the context of the federal government.

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Tls2016 is right that it's not a binary choice - law school or your current job. You could take the time and effort you'd have put into law school and work on identifying other jobs that would be more fulfilling that don't require law school.

I don't think all the things you're afraid of are realistic, or really related to law school (how does going to law school affect whether you can find a girl? You say you're afraid of change when you've figured out your life, but if you hate your job you haven't figured out everything and you're likely going to have to deal with change anyway, right?).

But that doesn't mean you should go to law school, either. This sense of do-or-die is something that you've manufactured. You could take more time off, but you don't want to. If your LSAT is going to expire, you could take it again - you just don't want to. You don't have any reason to think your current school wouldn't accept you again, you're just afraid they wouldn't - and it's not clear to me why it's your top choice without money. If you got YPed at schools you thought would give you money, you can apply again and counter the YP issue - you just don't want to.

It sounds basically like you don't know that you want to go to law school, you just don't want to be where you are. Either embrace law school as the way out, or figure out another path.

landshoes wrote:Most lawyers would die for a federal job like the one that you have. You have federal hiring preference. What I consider as a more wise choice, go to school in something else while maintaining your federal job, and then switching agencies. It is a really serious benefit to be at a federal job, and I would not give it up for law because you're wanting to help people. There are about 1 million other ways to do that within the context of the federal government.

It's also possible to volunteer and make a difference while you have a full time job. Your job isn't the only outlet to make a difference in your community or the world.

lunixer wrote:

smaug wrote:Are you going to HYS? Impact litigation isn't a common outcome, even there.

You seem naïve.

I am aware of this and I'm not naive. And I really don't want the school that I am going to to influence what advice I receive. That was one example of what I *hope* to do. There are other examples of ways that paper shuffling as a lawyer may be better than paper shuffling as a librarian.

You're naïve.

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lunixer wrote:

smaug wrote:

lunixer wrote:

smaug wrote:Are you going to HYS? Impact litigation isn't a common outcome, even there.

You seem naïve.

I am aware of this and I'm not naive. And I really don't want the school that I am going to to influence what advice I receive. That was one example of what I *hope* to do. There are other examples of ways that paper shuffling as a lawyer may be better than paper shuffling as a librarian.

You're naïve.

That is very nice and helpful of you, totally backed by strong logical support, and exactly what I was hoping to hear when I posted on a forum looking for moral support.

Not wrong, though.

Your fear that the school you got into won't accept you again may be unfounded. Have you considered asking them if they would grant you a deferral? That way you wouldn't even have to reapply and you could take another year.

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