<p>This advice only applies to those who will be paying; if you’re independently wealthy or are getting a free ride-go for it! It’s all indoor work with no heavy lifting…</p>
<p>Worst mistake: buying the canard that with a law degree “you can do anything”; baloney-with a law degree, you can practice law. Period. I went to law school 30 years ago when this whole business of the portability of a law degree got started. It simply isn’t true-it wasn’t then, and isn’t now, especially in light of the numerous master’s programs that didn’t exist then-e.g. MA in Hospital Administration.
So DO NOT GO TO LAW SCHOOL UNLESS YOU INTEND TO PRACTICE LAW. I can’t imagine getting into debt to the tune of $100,000 and being ambivalent about law as a career.</p>
<p>Second worst mistake: Going to law school because you want to practice “public interest law”. While this is a laudable goal, there just aren’t any jobs. As in practically zero, and the few that exist won’t pay the interest on your loans.</p>
<p>Third worst mistake: Making sure that if you do go, and decide to take on all that debt, you do so with your eyes wide open. I went to law school many years ago because I wasn’t sure what to do; it was relatively cheap, so if I didn’t like being a lawyer, no huge loss. That’s not true now: if you go, realize you’ll be in debt big-time, and unless you graduate at the top of your class and/or Law Review, finding a job will be tough. Don’t be one of those newspaper articles where you’re quoted “I’m 125K in debt and can’t find a job. I didn’t think it would be that tough.” It will be that expensive and will be that tough to find a job. Forewarned is forearmed.</p>