<p>I posted a similar question on the college search forum but decided that parent forum might also give me good results. I have a d who is finishing her junior year in high school. Since I am her guidance counselor, I am the one who has to help her find potential colleges to which she should apply. She wants to be a prosecutor. Considering this, I think I should find her colleges where most of the applicants to law school actually get admitted. Now individual schools brag about their rates, but I am trying to find if there is a site where rates are stated. Since she wants to be a prosecutor, I think that going to a well known regional law school is what she will need to do to get into this profession. My thinking is that since she is wanting to go into civil service, she shouldn't aim for the top private law schools since the price would be too high and also, since top job in the prosecutorial field is political, a more local law school could be an advantage there. I have looked over the lsat book with her and I don't think she will have any problems getting a good score on that since it tests her best natural abilities. ANy advice?</p>
<p>The salaries of public service lawyering isn’t limited to Prosecutors … my D is struggling with the same issue re: Environmental Law.</p>
<p>In our case we (repeatedly) ask “How are you going to repay your loans?”</p>
<p>Not a lawyer, and don’t play one on TV. But one of my colleagues on a board is a lawyer in management at our state’s public defender office, and she has told me that one of the toughest things she sees is that a significant percentage of students from law schools of all kinds end up with far more debt than they’re able to handle on the salaries paid public defenders and junior prosecutors, and that they’re often crushed when they learn that $200K in undergrad/law school debt is just incompatible with the career they’d hoped for.</p>
<p>You are getting the cart so ahead of the horse that the horse hasn’t even been born yet. Sorry to be a little harsh, but your daughter will probably change her mind 15 times between now and college graduation, much less between now and law school graduation.
Getting into law school is extremely numbers based and will depend on her college GPA and her LSAT score. Don’t be so sure about how great she will do on the LSAT. It is a very difficult test and requires a lot of preparation. Law school admissions are extremely competitive- more so right now since college grads are having trouble finding employment.
I agree that a regional or state law school would be fine for her aspirations AT THIS POINT. The government law jobs are tough to get, though (ANY law job is tough to get right now).<br>
For now, just guide her in her college choice and with the choice of a major that she will enjoy.</p>
<p>Students can get admitted to law school from ANY college – so law school admission rates are an irrelevant statistic. Law schools don’t require any particular undergraduate major or set requirements, so she doesn’t have to worry about a pre-law curriculum – in fact, she might be better off if she elects to major in something other than poli sci or history or other typical areas of interest of law school aspirants. </p>
<p>What WILL be important is undergraduate debt. There IS merit-based financial aid available for law school for students with strong grades and test scores, but of course you can’t count on it – so a student who thinks that she will want to attend professional school should look for relatively affordable options for undergrad. On the other hand, the better the undergraduate school, the better the preparation and the more opportunities down the line for law school – so the bottom line is to try to attend the best undergraduate college she can afford. The determination of which school that is might vary depending on your family’s financial situation and whether or not your d. is likely to qualify for substantial merit aid anywhere.</p>
<p>Other than that, I agree with MOWC… it is way, way too early to be thinking about your daughter’s specific career aspirations. The main point is not to plan for the intended career, but simply to avoid doing anything that would create an obstacle if your daughter is still thinking along the same lines 4 years from now – hence the advice to avoid an undue debt burden.</p>
<p>My D will be attending a public law school known for public interest law. It is not the most elite of the choices she had, but the tuition is less than a quarter of a prestigious private.</p>
<p>The admittees are from many, many law schools according to its admissions site.</p>
<p>She chose this route because she is completely uninterested in corporate law so she does not want to strap herself financially so that is her only option.</p>
<p>In the end she also got a large scholarship that made a T1 private law school just as affordable, but she reasoned that she make more connections in the public interest sector at a school that offers public interest law as its mission.</p>
<p>That said, a better GPA from a slightly less competitive school is probably more of an aid in admissions that the reverse. DD was shocked by how competitive the admissions season was. Schools that would have been shoe-ins several years ago resulted in wait list decisions.</p>
<p>Agree with everybody that this is way too early to worry about, and that the name of the college plays no role in law school admissions.</p>
<p>The very top law schools (as well as some others) have very good loan forgiveness programs for students going into public service.</p>
<p>Gates Foundation has scholarships for students going into the public sector.
Law among other fields.
[UW</a> law school gets $33.3 million gift from Gates Foundation](<a href=“http://www.seattlepi.com/local/250382_lawscholarship01.html]UW”>http://www.seattlepi.com/local/250382_lawscholarship01.html)</p>
<p>Don’t count on loan forgiveness programs to make this work. The starting salaries of many Deputy District Attorneys or Deputy Attorney Generals are just above many typical income limits for forgiveness.
I’m a former criminal prosecutor and I will say that lawyers in my office came from every kind of undergraduate school, from all over the country. It would be great if your daughter could get an internship as an undergrad to see the reality of trial practice. It is a very rewarding career, but not as interesting or glamorous as it looks on TV.</p>
<p>I know many graduates of top law schools who have worked in a prosecuters office. I guess it depends on where she has her eye on working. Here in NY, there is a star studded cast of top law school grads working in the district attorney’s office. In some areas, that may not be the case. If she is adamant about working in a certain city, try to find out where those working there who are fresh out of law school went to college.</p>
<p>A young lady I have known since she was a small child has had a number of prestigious clerkships and is now a partner in a major law firm after graduating from a law school that is not considered top flight in its home city. But she was a top student at that law school. She won a number of awards, and had offers coming from everywhere. Her class ranking certainly trumped reputation of her school.</p>
<p>I’m with MOWC. Step back, relax, release your dreams and your interest in your daughter’s career goals. :eek: She needs to have the freedom to change her plans and goals as she becomes whoever she becomes. Chill out and help your daughter find the best fit undergraduate college and leave the future to unfold. :)</p>
<p>I’m not a lawyer either, but my sister is a prosecutor. I agree that the most imortant thing is for your daughter to go to both an undergrad and law school that she can afford. My sister graduated from undergrad with a degree in marketing. Then went to a local law school. </p>
<p>Right now your daughter should choose a school she will like being at, major in something she enjoys and graduate debt free.</p>
<p>I agree with all the previous posts… everyone is spot on. From someone who has worked in criminal law for the last 20 years on the defense side… I would remind your daughter that lawyering is among the top ten most dissatified with their work professions. It is a great education but very expensive these days. I see the young lawyers in our office struggling to pay off their debt. Teachers make as much or more with summers off and a better pension… in my state, that is.</p>
<p>It’s nice to see someone thinking so far ahead. But it’s irrelevant at this stage:</p>
<p>Speihei (backwards)= defense attorney for 20 years, prosecutor for the previous five, graduated from law school thinking prosecution would be a good place to start, mid-law school was sure commercial litigation was where it’s at, entered law school thinking tort litigation would be interesting, graduated college with a BA, entered college intending to get an accounting degree and then study tax law, finished high school intending to be an accountant, entered high school wanting to be a nuclear engineer, prior to that wanted to be a shortstop or an astronaut.</p>
<p>If you really want to be a prosecutor, figure out where (what state) and go to the state flagship for undergrad and move on to the state flagship law school. It will keep costs in check for a low paying first few years of a career and because loans won’t get crazy, you can stay in prosecution if that’s where your heart is. You don’t need a top private law school to become a prosecutor, even for the best state prosecutors in the country. And if you succeed there and you want a US Attorney’s Office gig (an option I had), there will be opportunities, especially if you get good grades in law school.</p>
<p>D is very certain now that she wants to be a prosecutor- and it isn’t because of tv shows or glamor at all. Her reasoning is that she wants to be on the side of justice, and she has had this dream for years now. Originally, she wanted to become a military officer but because of medical issues for the last few years, she has had to give that dream up. So she joined debate and found that she loves doing research. Then for her government class report, she decided she would write about a major case. She did legal research for that and loved doing that. She loves writing briefs for debate. Finally, she loves debating. She is a very hard worker and simply has the right personality and tenaciousness to be a lawyer. But her first and main goal of law is to do justice and prosecute the criminals. Yes, she knows it isn’t as clear cut as that in that the victims are often not much morally better than the so -called criminal but just as in war there are complicated situations at times, she recognizes that there are ones in law too. She has never seen an tv lawyer shows like LA Law or whatever the current ones are so her view of the law is based on some real snippets of court cases she has seen which were far from glamorous. </p>
<p>She will not be incurring debt in undergrad school but thanks for the info about law schools It seems that my idea that her goal is to get into a good state school that is less expensive is probably the proper idea. I have warned her that she doesn’t want to go to a very strict grading school since GPA will be so important in getting into law school.</p>