INSTITUTIONAL DENIAL ABOUT THE DARK SIDE OF LAW SCHOOL

[jingle bells]

lover of women you still never disclosed what school you go to, are you in a t6 school

Why should I out myself?  178 LSAT/3.96 GPA, did my 1L summer at a biglaw firm, you do the math.

LSAT 178?! I'm sorry but you're stupid fella! Take a look here:

http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/prelaw/index.php/topic,32561.msg576898.html#msg576898

[LoverOfWomen]

lover of women you still never disclosed what school you go to, are you in a t6 school

Why should I out myself?  178 LSAT/3.96 GPA, did my 1L summer at a biglaw firm, you do the math.

LSAT 178?! I'm sorry but you're stupid fella! Take a look here:

http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/prelaw/index.php/topic,32561.msg576898.html#msg576898

*shrug*

It got me into my top choice school.  I didn't really need anything besides that.

[::]

[LoverOfWomen]

Misogyny.

[tamra]

Misogyny.

[LoverOfWomen]

Misogyny.

Wow.  Did you just join LSD just call me a homo? 

[eastman]

Law school will teach you many things: to think logically, to write precisely, to speak persuasively, to argue effectively, and it will almost definitely guarantee that you become more marketable. Best of all, when you argue with people, all you'll have to say is, "Excuse me, but I'm obviously correct. I'm in law school. Clown."

Though law school can offer you all of these things, there is one thought that must be at the front of your mind when deciding whether to apply: LAW SCHOOL IS A MEANS, NOT AN END. In other words, law school is not supposed to be fun. It absolutely sucks. Even if you end up loving your career as a lawyer, the actual process of going through law school is usually miserable. So with that sunshine-y news in mind, here are a few other not-so-glamorous things to consider when deciding whether law school is in your future:

- For three years, you will ignore your laundry and do the smell test on your socks. Why's that? Although some law schools offer part-time/night programs for the masochists who want to work and study law at the same time, most JD (Juris Doctorate) programs are full-time and last for three years.

- Law school is extremely competitive and stressful. Beyond the glossy brochures (and lawyers' glory-days stories) you have an extremely difficult academic experience in store. Hours run long, tensions run high, and first term grades may run low. You'll read and read and read case after case after case. And then your professors will call on you, asking you to sort out case ambiguities on the spot.

[sdlaw]

The solution is for the ABA to stop approving so many schools.  Seriously, T3 and T4 schools are essentially worthless to the profession.  I would say even most schools outside of the T6 probably are. 

In the meantime, depressed law students will just have to get by on this:

The ABA should stop approving so many schools, as I said earlier, but it should also crack down on those which refuse to raise their standards.  Honestly, if your school's bar passage rate is below, say, 90%, the school isn't doing it's job (recruiting and training effective lawyers) and should be denied ABA accreditation.

so by your standards Stanford is a bad law school?  1 UCLA 88.7% (235/265)  2 Stanford 88.0% (73/83)  3 Boalt 87.0% (201/231)

The vast majority of lawyers did not go to a top 6 school (although since Stanford didn't pass 90% I guess you would not count them as a good school so now you are saying 5 law schools?

[tamika]

After graduating with a degree in Food Communications, I worked as a cookbook editor and a home economist. I knew cookies and calories, not courts and cases. The hours of reading, the Socratic method and indecipherable judicial decisions had my head spinning. Overwhelmed? I skipped that step and went straight to terrified.

But about a month into school, I finally found a guide that brought everything into focus. No, it wasn't Emanuel or Gilbert. It was Harry Potter. The similarities to my own situation struck me immediately as I watched. In the movie — no time for books this semester — Harry goes off to Hogwartz, a wizardry school. Everything he encounters is strange and different. The things he needs to learn seem to have no connection to the outside world. This was my initial reaction to law school.

Harry has classes in potions and sorcery; I learn the black arts of torts and contracts. He studies spellbooks; I study casebooks. An evil teacher skulks around Harry's school; the seemingly evil Socratic method lurks in my classes.

Alas, no magic wand can get me out of trouble when I haven't done the reading for Criminal Law, but Harry Potter's experience made me reevaluate my reaction to law school. Thinking of law school as an adventure, a road to travel to get to my goals rather than as a prison sentence, has lifted my fatigue and anxiety.

[substantianigra]

Thoughtful, yet funny, tamika! Your contribution to this thread is appreciated!