<p>hell huh?</p>
<p>"I’m slightly below the median GPA-wise at UVA, which is a lower T14 school, and I’m still at a firm ranked in the top 50. I have friends with GPA’s lower than mine that are working at big NYC firms as well, and then there are people who went for smaller markets - like Seattle or St. Louis. They all have big law firm jobs however and the only person I can think of who graduated without a job, also never participated in on campus interviews or interviewed anywhere at all. It may not guarantee you a job IF you’re a total social ■■■■■■ who can’t form a sentence or you actively don’t make any effort at all to find a job - jobs don’t fall in your lap here unfortunately, you still have to interview for them - but if you’re a normal person who goes through the appropriate steps, you’re going to get a big law job at a T14 (* unless the market realllly tanks). </p>
<p>Knowing that you’ll have a job when you graduate, combined with the B+ curve that the top schools have (which allows you to pretend you’re doing well even though secretly a B+ is just average) - makes for a very stress free 3 years. I hear people talk about how hellish law school was and I can’t even slightly comprehend this - I’ve had a great time and for me, it’s been about as stressful as undergrad."</p>
<p>Any opinions on the above? That made me feel a looooooooooot better about things.</p>
<p>If only 50% at best are getting BigLaw out of the lower T-14 right now (which is the statistic if you read law student forums), does that mean over half the class is full of ■■■■■■■? No. That’s far too overly optimistic. If you go to a T-14, everyone is objectively as smart as you. Everyone has access to the same resources, and EVERYONE will be feeling the pressure of 150k debt and the job you NEED to not be screwed, save for the lucky FEW on full scholarships or that are spoiled rich.</p>
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<p>Are you sure he isn’t class of 2010? Try asking about the class of 2011, and now the class of 2012. Dramatically different outcomes.</p>
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<p>I cannot imagine that was written more recently than three years ago.</p>
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<p>That’s how I felt for most of law school. OCI was kind of stressful until I got a job offer. Still, your fate will depend in large part on the vagaries of the job market. Which is rather weak at the moment.</p>
<p>The bigger problem I see is debt load. Even if you get a 160k a year job, it will take a long time to pay off 150k in debt. Especially if you want to get married; buy a house; have a family; etc.</p>
<p>The fact is that most associates wash out of BIGLAW after a few years. Once you leave BIGLAW you will probably have to take a big pay cut.</p>
<p>That thread is a little over ten years old.</p>
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<p>…the original post, sure. But it’s still an active thread with people posting in it to this day. For accurate information, one should probably read the later posts, though.</p>
<p>Hopefully by 2014, things turn around to the state the market was in when that was said.</p>
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<p>I’m pretty confident the market will come back sooner or later. The problem I see is that associate salaries – even at BIGLAW – will probably continue to decrease relative to law school tuition. Especially if you take taxes into account. </p>
<p>When I went to law school in the mid-90s, starting salaries at BIGLAW were 85k; yearly tuition was about 20k; and smaller firms paid perhaps 50k. Today, starting salaries at BIGLAW are about 160k; yearly tuition is about 45k; and smaller firms still pay about 50k. So tuition has increased by 125% while BIGLAW salaries have increased by only 90%. When you take taxes into account, the situation is much worse, since the additional 75k you are making at BIGLAW will be taxed at some of the highest rates while there is no corresponding tax break for the extra tuition dollars you will pay.</p>
<p>But the real kicker is the fact that smaller law firm salaries have not increased at all. When I went to law school, if you didn’t get BIGLAW or if you washed out of BIGLAW, taking a 50k a year job was not a total disaster. Now, it’s a much bigger problem.</p>