If you are interested in law or a legal career, deciding whether or not to go to law school is arguably the most important decision you will make in your career. It is an enormous commitment both financially and in regards to time: spending up to hundreds of thousands of dollars and three years of your life to achieve a degree you ultimately won’t want or utilize is not a good idea for anyone regardless of financial means.
However, with all of the different expert opinions floating around about who should go to law school, how do you know if it’s right for you? Some sources claim that pursuing a career in law right now will be a waste of time, while others claim that this is the best time to apply to law school because the job prospects are endless. In case you are struggling with these contradictory pieces of advice, hopefully these questions and considerations from The Muse will help you sort out your post-graduation plans.
1. Are you interested in a high-salary career?
If this is your only reason for considering law school, you might want to think again. Undoubtedly, there are recent law graduates with starting salaries upwards of $100K. However, this is certainly not the norm. These high salaries come from graduates hired at “big law” jobs at the nation’s top firms, recruited from the top 15-20 law schools. Even within these schools, recruiters will favor the top percentages of each class.
What does this all mean? Don’t go into law school with the expectation of immediately acquiring a 6-figure salary.
2. Are you attracted to the versatility of a law degree?
Sure, there are professionals with law degrees in any number of careers, including banking, finance, government, or non-profit organizations. However, this doesn’t mean that these individuals needed law school to end up where they are. If your desired field doesn’t involve practicing law, then chances are that there is a better graduate program for you. A more specific program can save you time, money, and open up more opportunities for employment and networking.
3. Are you getting close to graduating and don’t have other plans?
Consider working for a year or two instead! Gaining real-world experience can prove to be more valuable in the long run, and might help you figure out if you truly want to pursue a legal education. Even if, after working for a few years, you decide that law practice is for you, the skills and experience you acquire will be in demand by employers after graduation.
4. Do you “like the law?”
That’s a good start—but you might benefit from narrowing your interests to a more specific field before committing the time and money to a legal education. Looking at the types of jobs that interest you and then figuring out which area of law they stem from can be an effective way to solidify your legal interests.
5. Do you want to make a difference?
Not every lawyer is as bad as stereotypes would have you think! There are certainly practicing attorneys who work in pro-bono or public interest law for the sole reason that they want to help others. If this is your goal, keep in mind that you will most likely have a large amount of debt from law school, and public interest is not a high-paying area of law. However, some schools do offer loan assistance for graduates who end up in fields related to public interest law.
These questions are a good starting point to your decision about whether or not law school is for you. From here, conduct research about your fields of interest, their employment prospects, and which schools are strong in these areas.