Going to law school???

Demosthenes49
Sat, 18 Oct 2014 05:40:21 +0000

helenaimee:

I met with my therapist yesterday and he told me that based on my personality, law would be an excellent career choice.



Tell your therapist to stop giving you stupid career advice. If s/he wants to learn about law school s/he should come here, like you did. Advising a law career based on “personality” is absurd.



As far as law school, I sill want to visit a few classes just to get an idea of what the environment is like. I have heard that law school classes are astronomically different from other kinds of college courses in a variety of ways.



They’re fairly different, but that shouldn’t enter your decision. Law school is 3 years of your life. Your career is closer to 40. Make your decision about the 40 part, not the 3 part.



I have also heard that it’s a good idea to take a gap year or two between UG and law school to work in a law firm or office. Is this true with all schools or would some rather have students straight out of college? I want to have the highest chance possible to get into a top 50 school or maybe even a top 20.



If you’re not looking for a top 14 school, don’t bother with law. Of the T14 only one, Northwestern, cares about job experience. That said, employers care about job experience. Those with good, relevant work experience tend to perform better in terms of employment. Contrary to what most 0Ls think, good work experience is generally not being a paralegal. That’s better than K-JD, but nowhere near as good as experience in a relevant business area.



My schedule is booked for the current semester but I will talk to my attorney generals office regarding opportunities during the winter and next semester. I am assuming that law firms generally operate 9-5 M-F



My typical hours are 9-7 if I’m not busy. They’re whenever I need to start to whenever I’m done if I am busy. If that means I’m working 100 hours that week, so be it. Government offices are more usually close to 9-5 though because of certain government compensation rules. Luckily, the hours is something an internship will help you see for yourself.