<p>Thinkingoutloud, I think you misinterpreted my statement.</p>
<p>I never said that everybody should go into college trying to figure out a way to get into law school. Obviously if there is some other talent that will take you to another career path that you will be highly successful in, then you should go down that road. Law school is definitely not something that will cure all your problems.</p>
<p>However, look at the situation this way. You must agree that there are lots of people right now in dead-end jobs, doing something that they absolutely hate, stuck in careers that they loathe. Just look around you and you will see a lot of people who don’t like what they do for a living. They don’t like it, and they’re stuck. I think you must agree that these people would love to get admitted to, say, Yale Law, even if they were to graduate last. It’s not great to graduate last - but hey, at least that’s better than what they’re doing now. </p>
<p>Hence, I disagree that a guy who graduates last from law-school hasn’t done himself any favors. You have to compare that situation to the situation he would have had if he hadn’t gone to law school. Is it better? Is it worse? That depends on the person. It also fundamentally depends on the law school that you’re talking about. Again, I would reckon that 99% of all working adults would like to have graduated last from Yale Law. It’s not great to graduate last from Yale, but it’s a whole lot better than what they have right now. </p>
<p>Finally, I disagree about the assertion that law schools primary purpose is to foster incredible competition or all that stuff about class rank. Again, that depends on what law school you’re talking about. Some law schools are indeed shark-tanks. Others are not. Again, let’s use the example of Yale Law. Yale does not track class rank. Editor positions for the Yale Law Journal are not based on class rank. Yale Law takes pains to reduce the level of competition and foster a highly collegial atmosphere.</p>
<p>I have to say that if Yale Law were to (magically) give me an offer of admission, I certainly wouldn’t think twice about it, even if thought that I was going to graduate last. Hey, that’s still a lot better than what I have now. And I know plenty of people who would do the same. After all, we’re not talking about some scrub law school here. We’re talking about Yale Law. Who cares if you never work as a lawyer after you graduate? The contacts alone would be worth it. (It’s the same reason why a lot of people go to top-flight business schools like Stanford - in many cases, it’s not to actually learn anything, it’s just to make contacts). By going to a school like that, you’d be connecting yourself with what is arguably the most elite law-school class in the country - people who will be major lawyers, corporate officers, or potentially major political figures in the future. But none of that is going to happen if you don’t get in. </p>
<p>I think perhaps the real problem is something that you hit upon, thinkingoutloud, is the expectations that a law education can create. A guy who goes to a law school, even if he graduates last, may have developed high expectations over what kind of job he will take. That person may simply think that certain jobs are simply “too good” for him, or “beneath” him. For example, a guy who graduates from Yale Law, even if he graduates last, may think that because he’s from Yale, only high-prestige positions like a major corporate firm or bigtime judicial clerkships are good enough. Hence, the guy’s pride and ego has been raised too high. If that guy is humble enough to take some low-end position at some no-name firm, then he will be fine - and in fact, will almost certainly be better off than if he had never gone to Yale at all. But a lot of those Yale guys aren’t willing to do that, because they would feel ashamed. Yet that’s really an internal psychological problem of those guys. They’re simply too proud to take what they can get. So the real problem is not really graduating last, it’s the level of expectations that a person has about the kind of jobs he ‘deserves’ upon graduation.</p>