<p>I don’t think biglaw jobs are the only jobs out there, but if the student doesn’t have scholarship money or isn’t paying out of pocket, not getting a job that pays six figures will severely hinder his or her ability to pay back loans. What’s worse is that many people graduating from college don’t really understand the full implications of this lifestyle choice.</p>
<p>And even for those for whom biglaw is a realistic possibility, the situation is worse. Many law students don’t know whether they would actually want to work in an environment, and the majority of those who earn biglaw jobs end up realizing that it’s miserable. If that’s the case, and all they went to law school for was biglaw, they will have made a bad financial decision.</p>
<p>I know far too many graduates, both from the T14 and outside it, who are no longer in legal positions. To me, the notion that they spent 200,000$ on a degree strikes me as a gigantic waste (assuming a legal job wasn’t a prerequisite to earning their non-legal one).</p>