Should I go into law school or investment banking? Forum

[streampaw]

I go to a state school right now, so obviously I can't be one of those "ivy league" people who just get an IB job straight out of college. My state school doesn't even appear on the US news top 200 list. And it's a public university.

So basically, my GPA is 3.55 right now but I could theoretically raise it up to a 3.75. I'm a junior right now.

Here's my goal: To make as much money as possible. My goal is money. But I live on the west coast, and getting into an IB firm that pays 100k right after undergrad, out of a no name state school... well, it's not very likely.

However, I was wondering, if I ace the LSAT, and get my gpa to a 3.7+ range, then maybe I could go to a top 10 law school and then go into IB after law school?
OR I could go to law school and specialize in personal injury?

Where do you think I would make the most money, and advance the fasters, as an investment banker, or personal injury lawyer? Coming from my background from a no name undergrad...

Help?

[t-14orbust]

lol

lol so hard

[streampaw]

lol

lol so hard

?

[Trout et al]

If we are assuming that you will go to LS either way and that your career choices are limited as above then it would make more sense to go with Option 1:

Option 1: Kill LSAT --> Free JD at regional LS --> get on that personal injury grind. It might be very difficult to get into a small personal injury shop but you could always hang a shingle if you had minimal debt. Making money could be hit or miss but you will have a ton of competition. Unemployment is a real possibility.

Option 2: (T10 LS --> I-Banking) is much more difficult IMO b/c: 1) you have a higher chance of BIGDEBT given your GPA if you go T10; and 2) getting an I-Banking job will be a considerable uphill battle even at a top school. I'm sure some have done it but its not at all common and those who go this route probably have relevant pre-LS work experience or a target UG background.

In sum, neither option is particularly good for making max $. Maybe keep brainstorming?

[streampaw]

If we are assuming that you will go to LS either way and that your career choices are limited as above then it would make more sense to go with Option 1:

Option 1: Kill LSAT --> Free JD at regional LS --> get on that personal injury grind. It might be very difficult to get into a small personal injury shop but you could always hang a shingle if you had minimal debt. Making money could be hit or miss but you will have a ton of competition. Unemployment is a real possibility.

Option 2: (T10 LS --> I-Banking) is much more difficult IMO b/c: 1) you have a higher chance of BIGDEBT given your GPA if you go T10; and 2) getting an I-Banking job will be a considerable uphill battle even at a top school. I'm sure some have done it but its not at all common and those who go this route probably have relevant pre-LS work experience or a target UG background.

In sum, neither option is particularly good for making max $. Maybe keep brainstorming?

What if I go to a t14 law school (and take out the necessary loans to pay for it)? Would that give me more opportunities for high salaries?

[streampaw]

If we are assuming that you will go to LS either way and that your career choices are limited as above then it would make more sense to go with Option 1:

Option 1: Kill LSAT --> Free JD at regional LS --> get on that personal injury grind. It might be very difficult to get into a small personal injury shop but you could always hang a shingle if you had minimal debt. Making money could be hit or miss but you will have a ton of competition. Unemployment is a real possibility.

Option 2: (T10 LS --> I-Banking) is much more difficult IMO b/c: 1) you have a higher chance of BIGDEBT given your GPA if you go T10; and 2) getting an I-Banking job will be a considerable uphill battle even at a top school. I'm sure some have done it but its not at all common and those who go this route probably have relevant pre-LS work experience or a target UG background.

In sum, neither option is particularly good for making max $. Maybe keep brainstorming?

What if I go to a t14 law school (and take out the necessary loans to pay for it)? Would that give me more opportunities for high salaries?

bump

[LRGhost]

Stop making shitty threads.

[twenty]

T14 -> biglaw -> make more money than your IB friends

[lawstudent_87]

yeah bro, if you want that 160k + bonus, personal injury law is not the route to take. Only go into personal injury if you are happy making 38K for the first few years of your career. Are you interested in finance at all? While people often debate between going into IB or to law school, normally people don't debate between personal injury shitlaw and investment banking; it's usually between biglaw M&A and IB or something along those lines.

[sublime]

..

[LRGhost]

also l-o-fucking-l at a Junior with a 3.5 at a shitty school making a shit ton of money in banking. Rethink your priorities. Big Law is not the path to riches either, bro.

[lawstudent_87]

If you only care about making money go into finance. Most people in finance are only in finance to make money considering the entire industry is based on using money to make more money. I suggest checking out the "wall street oasis" message boards if you want to learn more about breaking into high finance.

[Optimist Prime]

.

[Dr. Filth]

also l-o-fucking-l at a Junior with a 3.5 at a shitty school making a shit ton of money in banking. Rethink your priorities. Big Law is not the path to riches either, bro.

dont listen to this negative bs, op

i think if you can pull that gpa up to 3.6, you can def get an IB job depending on how prestigious the state school is. one of my brother's friends got a job with about that and said it was super easy

[LRGhost]

also l-o-fucking-l at a Junior with a 3.5 at a shitty school making a shit ton of money in banking. Rethink your priorities. Big Law is not the path to riches either, bro.

dont listen to this negative bs, op

i think if you can pull that gpa up to 3.6, you can def get an IB job depending on how prestigious the state school is. one of my brother's friends got a job with about that and said it was super easy

Just bootstrap, OP.

[Dr. Filth]

also l-o-fucking-l at a Junior with a 3.5 at a shitty school making a shit ton of money in banking. Rethink your priorities. Big Law is not the path to riches either, bro.

dont listen to this negative bs, op

i think if you can pull that gpa up to 3.6, you can def get an IB job depending on how prestigious the state school is. one of my brother's friends got a job with about that and said it was super easy

Just bootstrap, OP.

this is actually good advice. thanks for not just being a troll.

it won't be easy, but as long as you try hard in school and interview well, you can definitely do it.

[LRGhost]

also l-o-fucking-l at a Junior with a 3.5 at a shitty school making a shit ton of money in banking. Rethink your priorities. Big Law is not the path to riches either, bro.

dont listen to this negative bs, op

i think if you can pull that gpa up to 3.6, you can def get an IB job depending on how prestigious the state school is. one of my brother's friends got a job with about that and said it was super easy

Just bootstrap, OP.

this is actually good advice. thanks for not just being a troll.

it won't be easy, but as long as you try hard in school and interview well, you can definitely do it.

Just be from the south and relate to the south and hope the interviewer was in your frat.

[star fox]

Looking to Law School as a fast track to riches is incredibly stupid. Best case scenario is you burn three years going to Law School and another 3-5 of working long, brutal hours to re-pay the BIG LOANS it requires to go to a T14 (especially with that GPA) to give yourself a reasonable shot at BIG LAW. Worst case scenario, you're financially ruined, working some low-paying job to cover your law school debt (good luck with that).

Learn how to program if you want lucrative career opportunities for the 21st century. Seems you're still caught in the previous century.

[englandco]

wow you suck

[tangelo]

With a forum full of dicks like this one, who needs a forum? Give the guy a break, he was being sincere. It's not his fault you are all jaded, bitter assholes.

[sublime]

..

[BigZuck]

Self-righteousness ITT

[cron1834]

I'm confused as to who is addressing whom!

[tachikara]

There's very very little chance that you're going to get a banking job coming out of any law school, period. The only times I've heard of that happening is if that person has finance experience. Personal injury is also a very risky gamble, and honestly not an easy way to make money. Like others have said, the majority of PI lawyers make little money.

The safest way to make money is obviously to kill it on the LSAT, get a hefty scholarship from the T6 (or some similar number), and go big law. Maybe, just maybe, if you're about to make partner in M&A at a prestigious law firm, you'll have the opportunity to jump to banking.

Being at a state school does not necessarily close all doors, so you should at least make an honest effort to get a relevant job coming out of undergrad. Even if you get a "measly" 60k job, that would set you up nicely for B-school, where you could try to transition to banking or similar. This is probably your most realistic path to banking.

TLDR: You're not going to get banking out of law school

[BigZuck]

Is it an actual, bonafide fact that personal injury attorneys don't make good money? Without thinking about it too deeply my impression is that for the most part they just don't really exist long term, meaning people try it and never really get their feet/firm off the ground. Or the sign on as a new associate in a small personal injury firm with a low to modest salary and either can't hack it or hate it and never become a seasoned personal injury attorney.

I would be very surprised if a guy has been doing it for 10 years is still only making like 50K. He's probably doing just fine, it's just hard to become him because most fail or refuse get to that point in their personal injury career.

Happy to be proven wrong if I'm totally off base however.