I’ve been studying for the LSAT but I took the GRE with no prep because my mom was worried I’d change my mind about law school (she’s a lawyer and thinks it’s a terrible market, which it is.)
I got a 168 on reading and a 163 on math (or whatever the fancy names for the sections are) this morning. I’m wondering if this is a sign I should go to grad school. Policy is kinda like law, maybe I could do that? I’m just interested in your thoughts. What would you do if you were me? Thank you!!
I would not let a standardized test determine my future.
^^^^^
Deciding on such a big course of action based off a test score, when you didn’t intend to follow through is, to me, a VERY bad idea.
The real question is what YOU want to do. If it is Law School then remember that the market you care about is not now but 4 years from now and it might be better then. If you really want a graduate program then you certainly should pursue that. My guess is that you are entering your Senior year so apply to both and let the decision ride until next spring. Hopefully you will have more clarity then.
If you want to be a lawyer, and you get into a good law school that has good job placement, then go for it. The law school market is terrible - but Harvard and Yale Law grads have pretty much always done well. If you have grades and LSAT scores good enough to get into those or the equivalents…then go ahead.
And no, a good score on the GRE is not a sign that you should go to graduate school. Graduate school is nothing like the GRE. Policy might be a good alternative to law school if that’s what you want, but you should go after what you really want to do.
Well in one case, yes it is: both have terrible job markets. (There are thousands of students just like you who graduate every year with an undergrad and/or Masters in “Policy” but think about it: who hires them?)
Juillet is correct: if you can score a 17x on the LSAT and have a good GPA, you can get into a top law school, which has pretty good employment numbers in top-paying firms. But the question is: 1) do you want to live in NYC, where most of the jobs are; 2) is that the kinda life that you want (working 60-80 weeks)?
Although a large percentage of the jobs are in NYC - and maybe even most - a high-flying lawyer from a top 15 law school doesn’t have to live in NYC after college. First of all, some of the top law firms are not headquartered in New York - Baker & McKenzie, the top-ranked law firm by revenue in the country, is headquartered in Chicago. Secondly, most of these huge law firms have offices all over the world. Skadden Arps (the #2 law firm by revenue, and arguably more famous than Baker & McKenzie) has 23 offices, including U.S offices in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, and D.C.
I would think that an aspiring lawyer who wants to go to BigLaw would have to be prepared to live in a large metropolitan area, but that doesn’t have to be New York.