<p>this is a law school forum. shouldn’t be surprising that articles regarding employment prospects for lawyers are posted and discussed here. there are a lot of hs and college students who read here to get information about the law school application process. i think it also is extremely helpful for them to be able to read information about what life is like once you get to the other end of law school. </p>
<p>i find it much more presumptuous for someone to say that prospective law students should just KNOW that life as a lawyer can be rough, than for a prospective law student to look forward to their intended career with optimism – that type of optimism isn’t wrong, or presumptuous, or reflective of a sense of entitlement. it is normal for young people, no matter what career they may be entering. </p>
<p>for someone with perhaps a more “informed” or “mature” view of life to scorn the optimism of youth, rather than recognize that optimism can be educated without being demonized, is, in my opinion really counterproductive – making it only more likely that the message won’t be heard. and i think pretty out of place on a forum for prospective law students.</p>
<p>on the forums for undergrads we often see wildly optimistic hs students who assume they’ll get the coveted spots at the top schools. posters who tell them to wake up they’re delusional, rarely get thru to them. posters who gently explain the realities of the harsh admission scene, encouraging the dreams, but counselling the importance of safeties seem to me to be much more frequently able to get thru to the students. so i guess an issue for those responding on a forum like this is always whether you really want to be helping students, or just showing that you know more than them.</p>