Law School Discussion

extra time on the test, what they do in law school depends on your diablity. But its difficult to get accomidations.
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I have an ADHD diagnosis from my doctor but I'm not sure if I should try to get an accomodation or not. My doctor seems to think it's as easy as filling out a form and he's not really willing to discuss the matter when I explain that LSAC requires more than that. So I'm not really sure what to do: look for a new doctor or just take the test and see how I do.

I never had any accomodations in undergrad but I was almost always last when taking an exam. I've only taken a practice LSAT once with Kaplan and I ran out of time on every section. I don't know if that's related to my ADHD or just the fact that the test is new to me. I'm planning to take a prep course with Powerscore in August. In general, does timing tend to improve as you prepare for the LSAT?

Also, I noticed that law schools will be notified if you receive an accomodation for more time on the test. Thus, I thought that might be a red flag on my applications and jeopardize my chances of admission. However, I attended a law school forum this past Saturday and spoke to one of the assistant deans of admissions. She said that such an accomodation would not hurt my chances of admission in any way and she encouraged me to request more time on the test. This came as a relief but is it safe to say that other schools might not be so forgiving?

Quote from: Mason09 on April 09, 2009, 09:24:20 PM

So do you think a JD would open up more job opportunities as opposed to a MSW?

Here's my situation: I recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration of Justice. My cumulative gpa was 3.75. Unfortunately, I don't have a squeaky clean background (nothing too serious) and many jobs within law enforcement are not an option for me. So I figure grad school or law school are my only logical options.

I think the more important question is what kind of job you want, rather than which will give you more opportunities, for two reasons:

1. Both law and social work are fields that most people need to be at least somewhat interested in to be happy. Social workers in particular have incredibly high rates of burnout.

2. The degrees will, for the most part, give you really different opportunities. This is especially true if you're considering law generally rather than public interest law specifically.

I'm still having a really hard time making this decision. I just received an acceptance letter from grad school to pursue my MSW but I'm still a little indecisive. I wasn't expecting to get accepted. I was anticipating getting a rejection letter and then shifting my efforts to pursue law and prepare for the LSAT.
 
I was really excited yesterday but I had an interview at a law office this afternoon that left me indecisive once again. It was rather awkward in that the majority of the interview was spent discussing the pros and cons of law school versus grad school. The gentleman that interviewed me (a laywer) felt very strongly that social work was not a good field to pursue. His opinion was that it is a highly competitive field and the income is not very good. He seemed willing to hire me and said that it was a good job for somebody who is pursuing a law degree.

So I'm kind of conflicted again about what to do. I'm afraid to pass up the opportunity to go to grad school but I'm also afraid of passing up the opportunity to pursue law school. I've gotten the opinions of many people about this. Some have said law is the way to go and that you can do anything with a law degree. Others have said lawyers are miserable, unhappy people that are overworked with little time to spend with their families. The people that have spoken well about social work generally feel that it is good field, that it's growing, and that the income is very good if you go into private practice.

So given the two vastly different fields, do you feel that law would be the better choice of the two? You don't have to go into detail or anything I'd just like to get some more opinions before I make my final decision.

Well I definitely want to work with and help people. I am certain about that. Law appeals to me but I'm getting older (just turned 31) and I have a 3 year old daughter. I'm just afraid that law will give me very little time with my family. Also, the earliest I could get in would be the fall of 2010. But I already submitted my grad school application and if I get accepted, I could get in this year. Either way, it's gonna be a tough decision.

It could be a good way to develop skills/credentials if you're interested in advocacy/legislative work. Some people might think it's helpful if you want to do direct legal service with populations traditionally served by social workers - I tend to think that the benefit in those cases will probably be marginal and not worth the time/money (especially since most people who are sincerely committed to that kind of work already have a background working or studying in the area) unless you can do an accelerated MSW program (and even then it might not be worth it).
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So do you think a JD would open up more job opportunities as opposed to a MSW?

Here's my situation: I recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration of Justice. My cumulative gpa was 3.75. Unfortunately, I don't have a squeaky clean background (nothing too serious) and many jobs within law enforcement are not an option for me. So I figure grad school or law school are my only logical options.

I'm glad I found this thread. I've been having a very difficult time trying to decide whether to pursue an MSW or a JD. My question is: why would one pursue both?