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Where should I go next fall? / From a recently barred attorney - What I wish I knew before I went to law school
« on: November 22, 2011, 01:14:28 AM »
Before applying to law school, please read the following:
I graduated from a top 50 law school last May in the middle of my class, passed my state’s bar exam, and I’ve been having incredible difficulty just finding legal jobs that I can apply to. I’m certainly not alone, as about half my graduating class is still unemployed. There is so much press coverage about the shortage of legal jobs, I can’t understand why flocks are still enrolling in law school.
I strongly urge you (because I wish someone would have urged me before I went to law school): if there is ANYTHING that excites you other than law, go do it instead of law school.
Please, before you start 1L, understand what you are getting into. With the exception of going to a T-14 school, chances are good that you will have extreme difficulty landing a job. And even if you do land a job after graduation, chances are pretty good you won’t be that happy or be making that much money (only the top top students get 6 figure jobs).
Law schools are money-makers just as much as they are educational institutions. Don’t trust each school’s published employment statistics, as so many are fraudulent. For example, my school claimed that the average starting salary for 2010 graduates was $92,000, but very fine print at the bottom of the page stated that that was only based on 45% of the class reporting.
Going to law school was honestly the worst mistake of my life, and I hope you don’t make the same mistake as me.
If you have any individual questions, I will happily respond to them.
I graduated from a top 50 law school last May in the middle of my class, passed my state’s bar exam, and I’ve been having incredible difficulty just finding legal jobs that I can apply to. I’m certainly not alone, as about half my graduating class is still unemployed. There is so much press coverage about the shortage of legal jobs, I can’t understand why flocks are still enrolling in law school.
I strongly urge you (because I wish someone would have urged me before I went to law school): if there is ANYTHING that excites you other than law, go do it instead of law school.
Please, before you start 1L, understand what you are getting into. With the exception of going to a T-14 school, chances are good that you will have extreme difficulty landing a job. And even if you do land a job after graduation, chances are pretty good you won’t be that happy or be making that much money (only the top top students get 6 figure jobs).
Law schools are money-makers just as much as they are educational institutions. Don’t trust each school’s published employment statistics, as so many are fraudulent. For example, my school claimed that the average starting salary for 2010 graduates was $92,000, but very fine print at the bottom of the page stated that that was only based on 45% of the class reporting.
Going to law school was honestly the worst mistake of my life, and I hope you don’t make the same mistake as me.
If you have any individual questions, I will happily respond to them.