<p>^^^^</p>
<p>There have been quite a few of those recently. It gets worse for those who took out UG loans + loans for an MA/MS on top of the JD. Easily 400k in that case.</p>
<p>The guy in the article seems like kind of a strange case. He had over $16K in credit card debt in addition to the student loan debt. He probably borrowed more than necessary for OSU, even for an out-of-state student, and it seems like the only plan he ever had was to be a public defender. Also, the timelines don’t work; he graduated college in '04, then worked as a stockbroker for more than five years before attending law school, but he graduated from law school in '08? And why would an '08 grad not apply to take the bar until November of '09? I don’t know how bar admission works in Ohio, but that strikes me as really odd.</p>
<p>I said it before on CC and I will say it again: LEGAL MARKET IS TOO SATURATED! Follow this equations:</p>
<p>law grads > jobs available</p>
<p>easy.</p>
<p>^That is true. </p>
<p>I believe a top MBA opens more doors than a top JD.</p>
<p>Man it’s been years since I last posted here. I’m a senior in college now. I’ll be heading to law school next year most likely. I’ll say this, if you do not have the numbers for a top program than going to law school probably isn’t worth it. That is to get into a top program. However, I-banking, etc. are not easy fields to get into either. So honestly either way you have to make a decision. However, there are other avenues. I have friends with great connections in Florida that have worked before taking the LSAT this year that are going to U of F and are fairly confident that they can get a job. Just understand that unlike medical school there are too many law schools and I’m wondering when the ABA will do something about it. Thus there is indeed a surplus of lawyers, but the legal field outside of the T14 and to certain extent even within it is highly regionalized. Going to Oregon can get you a good job in Seattle and Portland, but it’s not really a mobile degree. As far as people striking out at OCI, of course they are. The legal market was hit arguably the hardest by the recent economic downturn. The prospects hopefully and appear to be better for later classes. The classes of 09 to 12 had severe misfortune. </p>
<p>Basically, as someone said before there is an argument about going into any field and many people do come out of law school with enormous debt but if you’re planning on going into public interest of government work and accepting the lower salary, law schools are a lot more forgiving with the debt and it is much easier to pay off. But hopefully this article does scare away all those people who were going to go to law school just because it seemed like a logical choice and maybe the field will consolidate.</p>
<p>Correction: Don’t go to a third tier law school.</p>
<p>*4th tier.</p>
<p>How are the tiers ordered? Is 4th tier the lowest?</p>
<p>Yes. Tier 1= 1-50. Tier 2 = 50-100. Tier 3=100-300. Tier 4 <300</p>
<p>There are only about 200 accredited law schools. So each tier would be about 50 schools, though I think US News calls the top 100 “tier 1”.</p>
<p>USNews seems to refer to them as “Top Law Schools,” “Tier 3,” and “Tier 4.”</p>