How did you know lf law school was right for you? Forum

[LawyerBrah]

Cliff notes

- I've wanted to be a lawyer since i was little kid
- Love subjects like politics, government, law, philosophy, and so forth
- Have a decent GPA (3.8 )
- Really think I'd enjoy law school would find it both challenging and interesting
- Have anxiety issues and really nervous about the idea of going six figures into debt
- Don't really like the idea of working 80-100 hour work weeks in a job where I'm easily replaceable

Kinda torn over this.

[20130312]

Cliff notes

- I've wanted to be a lawyer since i was little kid People always say this. You aren't special.
- Love subjects like politics, government, law, philosophy, and so forth See above.
- Have a decent GPA (3.8 ) A point in law school's favor
- Really think I'd enjoy law school would find it both challenging and interesting lol
- Have anxiety issues and really nervous about the idea of going six figures into debt You should be. Don't do that.
- Don't really like the idea of working 80-100 hour work weeks in a job where I'm easily replaceable That's because working 80-100 hours would be terrible, even without the latter part of that sentence.

Kinda torn over this.

[kwais]

Most of your responses will look like the above so I'll add something a little different. I did a bunch of other stuff before law school and met a lot of people doing all sorts of jobs, and the people I've met in law school are generally more content and confident. I went to law school on essentially a whim, for reasons no better than yours. I really like it despite the debt, my average grades, the mind-numbing classes and the gunners. If you want to go, go. If you can minimize debt, do that too. But ultimately, anyone who tells you that the decision to go to law school should be a cold cost benefit analysis is overstating it. No one KNOWS it's right for them so take your reasons and make a gut call.

[rebexness]

[LawyerBrah]

Most of your responses will look like the above so I'll add something a little different. I did a bunch of other stuff before law school and met a lot of people doing all sorts of jobs, and the people I've met in law school are generally more content and confident. I went to law school on essentially a whim, for reasons no better than yours. I really like it despite the debt, my average grades, the mind-numbing classes and the gunners. If you want to go, go. If you can minimize debt, do that too. But ultimately, anyone who tells you that the decision to go to law school should be a cold cost benefit analysis is overstating it. No one KNOWS it's right for them so take your reasons and make a gut call.

This is a beautiful response

<3

[bingbang1025]

You have to understand some things about TLS.

As smart as (most) everyone here is, a lot of the information here is funneled and regurgitated by 0L's who really don't know squat. I may be one of them.

Sure, debt sucks. Sure, not getting BigLaw can make paying that debt back difficult. But at the end of the day, you're going to have your law degree for the rest of your life (and for that matter, the name of the school next to your name). No one can take it away from you. At worst, you'll be able to hang up your degree and do solo practice.

You'll come out of the experience a more analytical thinker, a better writer, and having gone through serious adversity. It's a valuable experience and a great education.

Most people will practice for 35+ years after they graduate law school. As much as everyone complains and freaks out about being $150k in debt, it's really not that big a deal if you go to a decent school, know how bad the market is and in turn are willing to work hard.

[NoleinNY]

How did you know lf law school was right for you?

I'll tell you after I graduate.

[ephemeral.bete.noire]

How did you know if law school was right for you?

I took a job at a law firm before making the plunge to at least get a sense of what practice was like.

[RedBirds2011]

How did you know if law school was right for you?

I took a job at a law firm before making the plunge to at least get a sense of what practice was like.

TITCR

[bartleby]

Anxiety issues are bad. I thought I was anxious during my LSAT takes...but finals is a diff monster. You're in a room with 70 other people, all of them radiating off anxiety. If the guy next to you is doing well or humming along, that could mean you're getting nudged down. Law school sucks so badly.

[top30man]

How did you know if law school was right for you?

I took a job at a law firm before making the plunge to at least get a sense of what practice was like.

TITCR

I did this as well. I worked at a big law firm for a year. It didn't scare me away but it was definitely eye opening.

[nekha123]

Cliff notes

- I've wanted to be a lawyer since i was little kid
- Love subjects like politics, government, law, philosophy, and so forth
- Have a decent GPA (3.8 )
- Really think I'd enjoy law school would find it both challenging and interesting
- Have anxiety issues and really nervous about the idea of going six figures into debt
- Don't really like the idea of working 80-100 hour work weeks in a job where I'm easily replaceable

Kinda torn over this.

Since it's your career issue, i'll be frank. Your reasons looks only you are trying to escape from 80hrs job and debt by trying to hide in a law school. I understand that lawyers earn far easier than any other professional. But there is a catch. You'll get different types of clients and issues. And you are being anxious, you've to reconsider your decision. Moreover I don't find that you are anywhere passionate about becoming a lawyer. Still, I may be wrong as the other person says none knows what suits them. Take a wise decision since life is short and can't get back the time wasted.

[Scotusnerd]

0L here, admitted to school with scholly. So take my opinion for what it's worth (i.e. not too much yet).

I never wanted to be a lawyer when I was a little kid. I was never the one who was skilled at arguing or any crud like that. I decided to try and be a lawyer after taking some quizzes while working my teaching job. I went out and bought a book about law for the hell of it, and discovered I had a real passion for the intellectual side of the law. I also went out and bought a book on how to take the LSAT for the hell of it, and began to really enjoy that too. That's when I came to an awful conclusion:

I am a nerd and I love boring, disgustingly complicated regulations. I enjoy reading court opinions (for now), and I've always been a voracious reader. It was like discovering an all-you-can-read buffet that never runs out. Admittedly said buffet has entirely too much stuff that sits in your stomach like a bowling ball, but nevertheless, it looks quite attractive.

I'm not really looking at law school as challenging or interesting or whatever. I know the material is convoluted, boring and stupid. I'm looking at getting a job as interesting and challenging. To do that, I have to play the law school game, but it's a means to an end. If I don't get a job on the other end of this, I'd consider law school a huge waste of time and money. It's about the goal and how you get there.

News flash about being easily replaceable: this will be true about any starting job. People flunk out of professions all the time. I did that with teaching. No one will give you responsibility until you've been there a while, and done the grunt work.

That said, I'm glad that you feel anxiety about going six figures into debt, OP. If you didn't, I'd be telling you to run far away from the law profession and find something else (not that you'd listen!) What TLS doesn't like to tell you is that there are an entire class of jobs and schools that do not follow the triple figure debt routine, nor the 80-hour workweeks. Check out strong regional schools that control their market (also known as 'bumblefuck' districts, by certain people on this site). Their LSAT requirements are generally lower, and they tend to offer good scholarships if you exceed them and show dedication.

[crossem]

"Sure, debt sucks. Sure, not getting BigLaw can make paying that debt back difficult. But at the end of the day, you're going to have your law degree for the rest of your life (and for that matter, the name of the school next to your name). No one can take it away from you. At worst, you'll be able to hang up your degree and do solo practice."

Boo!

"If you can minimize debt, do that too."

Yay!

"Anxiety issues are bad. I thought I was anxious during my LSAT takes...but finals is a diff monster. You're in a room with 70 other people"

Yay! x 5

"80-100 hour work weeks in a job where I'm easily replaceable"

You are always, always replaceable. If you were smart or good enough at anything to be irreplaceable, you would not be applying to law schools.


not edited, because its summer.

[LSATNightmares]

There are a few ways you can get perspective. Working helps, especially if you do legal-related stuff before law school. I worked as a legislative and regulatory analyst, so I learned that I actually enjoyed that stuff. Thus, 1L was really interesting for me, while some of my classmates were bored out of their minds. You can get more perspective by sitting on a law school class. I did that for Torts, and even though I couldn't follow everything, I was surprised by how interesting everything was (all you hear is that law is boring, but it's really not that boring). I won't lie... there are days when the material can be dry and every five minutes you have to browse Facebook. I found that you can't expect it to be super interesting, like some literature class, but the boringness part is hyped. But politics and philosophy are very much tied to everything, from criminal law to constitutional law.

I also have problems with stress. If you got through the LSAT without needing meds, you'll survive law school exams. But you can get really benign medicines from any doctor to help you get through exams if you tend to suffer from things like panic attacks (propranolol was a life saver for me... it's just a beta blocker drug that will keep your heart rate steady and stop your autonomic arousal system from kicking in). However, you're going to have to be really disciplined about finding stress relievers to get you through law school. Partly due to surgery, I was bad and didn't exercise this semester, and I found myself getting little sleep, especially toward the end of the semester when I was really stressed. I can't comment on working 80-100 hours per week yet, but I know that I get stressed with only 8-9 hour work days... that's why I'm aiming (actually, hoping) for government work.