| Topic Name: |
Some practical advice please |
| Message Name: |
thank you for the advice |
| Date Posted: |
01/07/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
I never see law as a money play. I see it as something one does because one wants to practice law. There's no reason why you can't take a 3.0 and a decent LSAT and go to a solid, not too expensive law school, and achieve your goals. My practical advice is this:
a. it's pointless to talk about where you want to go until you have your LSAT. don't think about your practice scores or what you did on the SAT--that's meaningless and just setting yourself up for disappointment. Take the LSAT and then see what your admission chances are.
b. If you can go to a top 20 law school, then do so.
Otherwise, go to the best inexpensive law school with good placement in or near the state in which you wish to ultimately practice. Below the top 20, most (not all) law schools have largely regional placement;
c. Below the top 20 or so, and above the bottom schools in the 4th tier the usnews.com rankings are useless. Use the tables and info they post (the comparison tables can be useful), but the rankings are largely meaningless below the top few schools.
You can achieve your goals from where you are starting.
You can make your ultimate job search a bit better if you "ace" the LSAT and improve your admissions chances. But tons, though a distinct minority at the top of the class, of people go to the local State U, do well, and get top jobs, and
tons more people get out of law school, get a decent job, work their way up, and end up earning a decent but not "get rich" living from law.
Law offers no guarantees.
If you graduate in a recession with poor grades from a lesser law school with large student debt, you run the risk of having a hard time finding a job and facing some challenges in establishing a practice.
OTOH, if you go to law school at a school which has good placement, keep your student debt low, and work hard in law school, you can get from where you are to where you wish to be. |
| Message: |
Gurdonark,
Thank you. I am just now considering my options, but it can be a bit discouraging at times. I will have to pay for school myself and the thought of huge long-term debt can be scary.
I appreciate the honest advice.
I assume that you enjoy the law and your career? For once, I would like to hear from a cheerleader. This place seems to be lots of gloom and doom.
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