Should I attend law school?

[chickdos]

<p>Wow!<br>
My son is just now beginning HS and has expressed an interest in pursuing a law degree. This is not what I expected to see when I opened up this thread. Thanks for the “hard core” advice…I think! :-/</p>

[saye329]

<p>My opinion is that if you wanted to pursue a law degree, it would be best to major with something else or double the degree like a JD/MBA program, or something that can be useful for all aspects of the professional wold. It is becoming increasingly hard to rise with only a law degree…as more and more youth are turning to this field becuase they “think” they want to pursue it.</p>

[charlieschm]

<p>I asked a young lawyer about his experiences. He said in addition to all of the downsides of debt and job prospects, he added “law school also was incredibly boring.” Study a useful subject matter that you enjoy, but leave the law school glut alone.</p>

<p>Also, be very afraid of law schools that offer large amounts of merit aid to most of their entering students - knowing that most of them will not qualify for that merit aid after the first year. Not everyone can be in the top 10%, and everyone else ends up with much more debt than they ever envisioned.</p>

[NYULawyer]

<p>

The bottom line is, nowadays, you basically need a college degree, if nothing else, to survive the employer HR screening process. Many firms won’t even grant you an interview if you lack a degree. The choice of major is far less important than whether you have a degree at all. Those majors provide an easy pathway to get that degree.

</p>

<p>I don’t think it is a good idea to attend college, just to pass that HR screen at those legitimate corporate employers. Because, chances are, with a generic college degree, you won’t likely to pass those HR screens anyway, having wasted 4 years of your life, 4 years of opportunity costs, and ungodly amount of tuition money.</p>

<p>[Why</a> Did 17 Million Students Go to College? - Innovations - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/why-did-17-million-students-go-to-college/27634]Why”>http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/why-did-17-million-students-go-to-college/27634)</p>

<p>In the U.S., there are 17 million college grads that work in jobs that do not require a college degree. In our country, there is absolutely no control of supply of number of colleges or college graduates, unlike in France, Germany, Japan, or Taiwan. Anybody and his brother can get a college degree here in the U.S., if the means allow. Hence, there is a huge over-supply of college grads, relative to entry level jobs available. This means that a BA in poly sci or biology, in and out of itself, doesn’t mean jack in the job market.</p>

<p>That does not mean that everyone would be better served by attending a college. I would argue that learning plumbing skills, auto repair skills, or learning to become an electrician are way more marketable skills than going to a directional State U and majoring in poly sci or biology, because you are scared of math.</p>

<p>Granted, even if you are a humanities/biology/chemistry major, if you attend a highly prestigious college (top 10), and if you play your cards right (GPA > 3.5, finance/consulting internships) then you could land an entry level job in I-banking or consulting. However, even at Harvard, getting those gigs are very difficult nowadays.</p>

<p>

One ingenious strategy is to choose the easiest major you can find. Then devote some of the spare time that such a major frees up to accumulating marketable credentials such as pursuing information technology certifications, such as the Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE), Oracle Certified Master (OCM), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE). These certifications are not that hard to attain - perhaps the most difficult being the CCIE which would likely take a motivated person perhaps 6-12 months to complete. You do not need an engineering background to complete those certs. They’re certainly far easier than a college engineering/CS degree, not least because you can attempt the certification exam over and over again until you ultimately pass (in contrast, if you keep flunking the same engineering course over and over again, you’re eventually going to be expelled). Indeed, there are high school students who have completed these certs. Most importantly, they lead to high-paying jobs, in many cases, better than a engineering/CS major. Somebody with a degree in Leisure Studies but also a CCIE or OCM cert will likely make a higher starting salary than somebody with a CS/engineering degree.

</p>

<p>The IT industry is unique, in that, the industry cares very little about someone’s academic credentials. Actually, the very top dogs in software space are either college or high school drop-outs. </p>

<p>I have a better idea. Just skip out the college, and save yourself 4 years of tuition and opportunity and financial costs, and gain those IT certifications. Then get an entry level job. My uncle is a college drop-out, yet he did exactly what you highlighted above (in addition, he learned programming skills, such as Java, C++, etc) and took a job as a developer at a start-up company. After 3 years of experience, he leveraged that to move to a bigger company. Now, he’s a senior manager at his firm, making 300k a year. </p>

<p>If you are set on a career in IT, it seems that a college education, especially if one is majoring in an ‘easy’ humanities major, is a gigantic waste of time and money.</p>

<p>

Firstly, as already mentioned by nwcrazy, many biology majors are actually pre-health students (premed, predental, prepharmacy), and while many won’t win admission, those that do are (eventually) guaranteed a job. I’ve never heard of an doctor, dentist, or pharmacist who was willing to move to an underserved area yet remained unemployed. {Such unemployment may exist in popular metro areas, but members of those health professions who are willing to move to underserved rural locations can practically always find a job - and a decent paying one at that.}

</p>

<p>Two things. 1) Most of biology majors don’t end up at a medical school, 2) You don’t need to be a biology major to get into a med school.</p>

<p>Heck, I know of 2 guys from my college, who were engineering majors, that are now at med schools. Med schools don’t care what major you pursue, as long as you fulfill the pre-med course requirements.</p>

<p>Considering the fact that 1) BA in biology carries 0 weight in job market, and 2) you don’t need to be a biology major to get into a med school, I would say that pursuing a BA in biology is a very risky choice, even if one is aspiring to be a doctor.</p>

<p>If I were a pre-med student, I would think about a fall-back option in case I strike out at a med school, and make sure I choose a marketable major (such as finance/ accounting) that isn’t too grade-deflated, and just take the required set of pre-med courses.</p>

[herrytaillor]

<p>Then the fact that it just seems to talk about how awful law school is goes to far and it does not shock me that nobody wants to hire these people. If someone says I hate law school and everything about it I don’t think an employer is really going to want to hire them.</p>

[EMM1]

<p>"The IT industry is unique, in that, the industry cares very little about someone’s academic credentials. Actually, the very top dogs in software space are either college or high school drop-outs.</p>

<p>I have a better idea. Just skip out the college, and save yourself 4 years of tuition and opportunity and financial costs, and gain those IT certifications. Then get an entry level job. My uncle is a college drop-out, yet he did exactly what you highlighted above (in addition, he learned programming skills, such as Java, C++, etc) and took a job as a developer at a start-up company. After 3 years of experience, he leveraged that to move to a bigger company. Now, he’s a senior manager at his firm, making 300k a year."</p>

<p>Anyone reading this post should be aware that you have no idea about the current state of the IT industry. The situation is entirely different from that which your uncle faced when he entered the industry 20-30 years ago. You generally can’t get even an entry level position at an established company without a degree, and the positions at Google, Microsoft, etc. or the more desirable startups go to top students. Moreover, experienced IT people who lose their jobs for whatever reason often have difficulty in finding new positions unless they have college degrees.</p>

[bluebayou]

<p>

If I were a pre-med student, I would think about a fall-back option in case I strike out at a med school, and make sure I choose a marketable major (such as finance/ accounting)…

</p>

<p>Except that med schools much prefer a liberal arts degree, over what they consider a ‘vocational’ degree, such as biz. Thus, the best (and safest) choice for a premed’s backup plans is an Econ degree.</p>

<p>

Considering the fact that 1) BA in biology carries 0 weight in job market, and 2) you don’t need to be a biology major to get into a med school…

</p>

<p>Correct. But nevertheless, I would guess that the vast majority of bio majors are pre-health. (And those bio that end up applying to LS is because they bombed organic chem.) </p>

<p>IMO, a pre-law student would be foolish to major in a science field; the labs are extremely unpredictable and grading is as random as the TA. And unlike law school, which is ~95% about two hard numbers, the numbers only count as a floor for med applicants.</p>

[NYULawyer]

<p>

Actually, every Harvard graduate essentially has a guaranteed career for life, and likely a high-paying one at that - by working for an admissions consulting firms that advise applicants on how to get into Harvard (or by starting their own such firm if they’re entrepreneurial). You could easily and blatantly market yourself as somebody who got into Harvard and therefore knows how to help others do the same, for a ‘nominal’ fee. You have no idea how many parents, particularly the nouveau-riche in China, India, Russia, and other burgeoning nations would pay handsomely for ‘insider advice’ about how to slip their children into Harvard. </p>

<p>I therefore wouldn’t be too concerned about the Harvard grads. They have access to a world-renowned luxury college brand that is second to none.

</p>

<p>Anything is easier said than done:</p>

<p>[Harvard</a> Graduate from Fresno earns 4.0 GPA (the followup) - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NLI1XDZZPs]Harvard”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NLI1XDZZPs)</p>

<p>

Like I said before, however poor the job market is for those with degrees in - to conform to your example - polisci or bio, the job market for those without degrees at all is even worse.

</p>

<p>The question you need to ask yourself is this: how much of net value does a BA in biology or humanities bring to the table, and is it worth the investment.</p>

<p>I would argue that, a BA in humanities from a non-ranked State U does not give anyone any significant employment opportunities, even compared to high school drop outs. Only thing that changed was that those with a BA in a non-marketable major just wasted 4 years of their lives, and 4 years behind in labor force. I know too far many working as bartenders, waiters, bouncers, and the like, despite having a college diploma. (17 million people like that in the U.S.)</p>

<p>

If you continue to disagree and continue to assert that the BA in poli-sci and biology ‘doesn’t mean jack’, then ask yourself, why exactly do so many companies continue to enforce a degree requirement from their applicants? However worthless you think a degree may be, the fact remains that companies are nowhere close to abandoning it as a screening tool, and likely never will in our lifetimes. Far from not ‘being worth jack’, that indicates that the BA is extraordinarily valuable if, for nothing else, at least not relegating you to the the ‘degree-less’ applicant file (which is probably a circular file).

</p>

<p>Companies enforce that barrier to filter out applicants. It is a mechanism for filtering. However, as specified before, there is a huge over-supply of college graduates and college students relative to jobs, so on individual basis, attending a college “just to survive the HR screening at corporation X,Y,Z” is a horrible idea.</p>

<p>

Look, NYULawyer, I actually agree with you that we have an overarching oversupply of college graduates in the country. We indeed have many college graduates being forced to take jobs that do not require a college education. The country probably would benefit by regulating the number of colleges that can confer degrees (and therefore the total number of college graduates produced).</p>

<p>But from the viewpoint of the individual person, all of that is neither here nor there because that’s not something that he can change. The only relevant question to him is whether he should obtain a degree or not. All of the evidence suggests that having a degree - for all of its problems -is still better than not having a degree. As you said yourself, given the oversupply of college graduates, HR departments have the power do demand college degrees from their applicants. You will inevitably lose out on job opportunities if you lack a degree regardless of how IT-savvy and credentialed you may be. The degree can be in Underwater Basket Weaving, but if you don’t have a degree, many companies are simply not going to grant you the interview. Sad but true. Those HR screens may be silly and inefficient, but they’re not going away.

</p>

<p>Look. There is no downside of skipping out on college, provided that the best option you have is to attend a directional State U and majoring in poly sci or bio. </p>

<p>You save a ton of money and time. In the meanwhile, you can focus on developing actual skills that are of value to employers. (such as IT skills)</p>

<p>Like mentioned before, many of IT related jobs are rather indifferent to someone’s academic credentials. After all, the very top dogs in IT industry all happen to be college or high school drop outs. </p>

<p>In case you find that you indeed need a BA in poli sci or psychology to gain an entry level job at corporation X,Y,Z (which I doubt), then you can always go back to school. In the U.S., getting into a college is so easy anyone can do it at any time. </p>

<p>Education, here in U.S., is ridiculously expensive. The cost of tuition here is like 10 times more expensive compared to Western Europe or even Canada. Hence, be very cautious about the rate of return on your investment, is my point.</p>

<p>

But more importantly, majoring in bio is relatively easy for somebody who will complete the premed requirements anyway. Majoring in finance, accounting, or most subdisciplines of engineering (with the exception of bioengineering and maybe chemical engineering) requires that the student complete the long sequence of premed courses which are extraneous to his major.

</p>

<p>Life is all about trade offs. You need to incur certain level of sacrifices to achieve something decent. No one is going to hand you out a job, just because you have a college diploma. Like I said, there are millions of college grads, in excess supply, relative to jobs available. Go into an easy path where everyone else goes into, then you end up hitting the barrier named “rule of supply vs demand”. The point being, you should strive to develop your skill sets that are in demand from the labor force. Good luck getting a decent job with a BA in biology, in case you strike out at med school admissions.</p>

<p>

Finance, accounting, and engineering - if they’re even offered at your school at all - are difficult majors.

</p>

<p>Ugh, no. Finance and accounting are easy majors. Both are significantly easier than most of science premed courses, both in terms of conceptual rigor and grading.</p>

<p>Heck, finance/ accounting are even easier than Econ.</p>

<p>

The pervasive lament of practically every engineer that I know is that they never were able to enjoy their college years while they were still young, and those are precious days of youth that they will never get back. The poli-sci major in contrast probably had a pleasant college experience of which he can forever reminisce.

</p>

<p>Like I said, life is all about trade offs. The downside of going through engineering is, as you mention, you need to work harder than others. The upside, is, you actually can get a career-track job after graduation, which can’t be said for thousands of others in humanities/biology/chemistry degrees.</p>

<p>

But again, to repeat the question that I stated above, if you continue to assert that many people are better off not attending college at all, then, pray tell, how exactly are they supposed to traverse the HR degree screens that so many companies nowadays erect? Try as I might, I simply can’t see how your strategy solves this problem. Seems to me that the only answer your strategy offers is: “Too bad, you don’t traverse those screens.” At least the guy with the degree, even in Leisure Studies, can traverse those screens.

</p>

<p>My point, all along, has been that it is a TERRIBLE idea to attend a college just to have a small % shot at clearing those HR screens at corporations X,Y,Z for the reasons mentioned above.</p>

<p>In U.S., attending a college (and worse, grad school) is just too damn expensive to do it mindlessly. It incurs significant opportunity and financial costs to do so.</p>

<p>I would argue that going to a college makes sense if: 1) You get into a top college (and hence have a shot at a lucrative corporate job after graduation regardless of major), OR 2) You are talented enough in math related subjects and hence can handle the rigors of math/ stats/ engineering courses, 3) You plan to major in finance/ accounting, OR 4) You are talented in networking and can build strong professional network and internships while in college.</p>

<p>If you don’t meet any of the above criteria, I think you are better served skipping out college. Learn some skills that are of value to employers. Worst comes worst, you can always go back to school, if things don’t work out. Mindlessly going to a college (or worse yet, grad school) does not solve any problem for anyone. There are millions, MILLIONS in this country who are stuck in dead-end retail jobs, despite having college diplomas. Those millions, I suspect, might have been better off not going to a college in the first place.</p>

[turtlerock]

<p>

@NYULawyer

There are millions, MILLIONS in this country who are stuck in dead-end retail jobs, despite having college diplomas. Those millions, I suspect, might have been better off not going to a college in the first place.

Truth.</p>

<p>A recent TIME article pointed out that there is, and will continue to be, a shortage in the skilled labor force. Not the educated labor force, but a lack in the labor that requires the necessary and specific skills to perform skilled jobs - welding and metal work is an example of a skilled labor industry that is having a rough time finding enough adequately skilled laborers to perform the job.</p>

[alexiswong]

<p>I’m having the same problem!</p>

[NYULawyer]

<p>

Uh, what about her? I believe that she is in law school now…and given that she has a 4.0 from Harvard, likely a top law school.

</p>

<p>Watch the video again. The woman from the video is a Harvard grad, with a psychology degree, who graduated with 4.0 GPA. She couldn’t find a job, so she ended up working a retail job, while studying for LSAT. I suspect the very reason she considered going to law school in the first place was due to lack of job options after college. (just like 90% of other law students)</p>

<p>And, no, she ended up at Pepperdine Law School, which is a tier 2-3 law school, and quite frankly, anyone would be very lucky to just get a 60k/yr legal job coming out of a school like that nowadays.</p>

<p>You see, many, MANY people in good ole’ USA end up getting completely screwed because they chose a silly major in college. Even some of the smarted people of the generation end up getting screwed.</p>

<p>Just within my social circle, I know hundreds who are un(der)employed, and I am only talking grads of top schools. (I went to top 15 undergrad, and I attend a top 6 law school) One guy I know from my frat, who graduated with a biology degree, couldn’t get a job for a year after graduation. He ended up taking a job driving trucks. One girl I knew - who graduated with a government degree - couldn’t get any jobs other than being a secretary or a PR assistant at complete chop shops that pay like 36k a year, no benefits, no health, etc. She ended up going to a law school. The scary thing is, I know hundreds of others like these two individuals.</p>

[NYULawyer]

<p>

The earnings for a college graduate still vastly exceed that for somebody without a college degree, and certainly somebody without even a high school diploma.

</p>

<p>Ugh.</p>

<p>Not sure about that. That’s where we fundamentally disagree.</p>

<p>There are millions in the U.S. who graduate from college, and end up at the same place job-wise, compared to those without college diploma.</p>

<p>That’s my point. Education carries a tremendous amount of risk, in the U.S., due to the fact that getting an entry level job is increasingly becoming more difficult (due to outsourcing, increased supply of college grads, etc) and the rising tuition prices that FAR exceed the rate of inflation.</p>

<p>Truthfully, what’s worse? Ending up waiting tables with a high school degree. Or, ending up doing the same job after 4 years of college?</p>

<p>I would argue that, many people who are bound to attend colleges by default, may be better served just skipping out on college and learning some useful skills, such as IT skills, auto repair skills, plumbing skills, or training to become an electrician.</p>

[NYULawyer]

<p>

Life in indeed all about tradeoffs: and I would argue that those people who don’t actually enjoy engineering/CS should probably not choose to major in those subjects, despite its higher pay. We’re not just talking about enduring the crucible of the college engineering experience for which numerous engineers I know still harbor painful memories. We’re also talking about working as an engineer for the rest of your life…or at least until you switch careers out of frustration, as many former engineers do. Engineering is not like a career in consulting or Ibanking which most people undergo for only a few years before switching to a high position of a different industry. Other than management, engineering experience doesn’t provide you with the mobility to easily switch to a high position of another career, and so any profession that you do switch to will likely entail that you start at the bottom. </p>

<p>If you don’t actually enjoy engineering, then you likely won’t even obtain an engineering job at all - as not only will your grades likely be poor, even if they’re strong, engineering employers can nevertheless can often times detect if an applicant isn’t particularly enthusiastic about the position anyway. And even if you are able to obtain the engineering job, you likely won’t be able to keep it for long anyway due to your lack of interest in the job, and will likely look to switch careers. The investment in pain and sacrifice you made in obtaining the engineering degree will be wasted as you pursue a non-engineering career, as I’ve seen many former engineering students do. Heck, I know one former engineer who became a nightclub DJ, his rationale being that at least now he’s doing something that he actually enjoys. </p>

<p>On the other hand, obtaining a degree in poli-sci is relatively easy, allowing you to actually enjoy the college experience. Furthermore, even if you dislike the subject, you likely won’t pursue the poli-sci major as a career anyway.

</p>

<p>I wil tell you what - most people don’t exactly love their jobs.</p>

<p>Case in point, there are 17 million college grads who work in retail jobs. Do you think these people work their jobs because they enjoy it? I don’t think so. It’s called “having a roof over your head”.</p>

<p>Sure, some may not enjoy engineering career, but so what? At least you are on a career track that has decent upside, one that can actually use your education. </p>

<p>Talk to some of the working professionals in different industries. Some of the I-bankers, consultants, accountants, corporate lawyers, and even doctors that I’ve talked to absolutely despise their jobs. The truth of matter is, every job has its downside.</p>

<p>In this challenging economic times, no one in right mind would go about employers and demand that he’d only work for a,b,c level of salary, doing x,y,z type of role/job, when there are thousands of other equally qualified candidates lined up for the same job.</p>

[NYULawyer]

<p>

I was talking about the ease of finance/accounting relative to poli-sci (or even better, to a true gut major such as Leisure Studies. However easy you may think a finance/accounting major is - if your school even offers it at all (which many don’t), I think there is little dispute that poli-sci is even easier.

</p>

<p>I would argue that, if you are not smart enough to endure an easy major such as finance or accounting and thus have to resort to something easier like “art history” or something, you are better off not going to college.</p>

[NYULawyer]

<p>

And what about the oversupply of non-graduates relative to jobs? What about the MILLIONS of non-graduates stuck in dead-end retail jobs? </p>

<p>That’s the fundamental flaw in your analysis - your persistent lack of a ‘control group’. You can’t simply assert that a particular choice, such as obtaining a college degree, is ‘horrible’ - you have to compare it to the alternative. However poor your job prospects may be with a college degree, those without degrees have even worse prospects. The unemployment rate for college graduates is actually roughly better or perhaps slightly better than the national average - conversely, unemployment is strongly concentrated amongst the non-graduates.

</p>

<p>You are reading it all wrong.</p>

<p>My point is that education, in and out of itself, doesn’t do much for anyone’s career. Education that gives someone MARKETABLE skills or credentials, is worth the investment.</p>

[NYULawyer]

<p>

NYUlawyer, let me give you an example of what I mean by a ‘control group’. Right now, millions of people who know how to read and write nevertheless can’t find jobs and are stuck in poverty. So does that mean that developing basic literacy skills is a terrible idea, and people shouldn’t even bother to learn how to read and write? Think about all the time you would save in your youth by not having to spend the time to learn how to read and thereby could devote towards other tasks!</p>

<p>I think we can all agree that even if there are millions of people who can read and write yet are stuck in poverty, the control group comparison comprised of people who don’t even know how to read at all are even worse off. I doubt that anybody prefers to be illiterate. </p>

<p>And that’s the fundamental objection I have to your entire logic stream. However dire the economic problems college graduates may be, the non-graduates suffer from an even more dire fate. </p>

<p>You even indicated yourself that it is relatively easy - indeed, probably too easy - for nearly anybody to obtain a college. I completely agree. But that only means that if you don’t have a degree, you’ve signaled to the labor market that you can’t even complete a task that is, by your own admission, relatively easy.

</p>

<p>Truth is inconvenient. Yes, I believe that some people are indeed better off not bothering with college at all.</p>

<p>Central to my point, again, is this analogy: what’s worse: being stuck in a retail job with a high school diploma, or with a college diploma? I would argue latter, due to heavy financial & opportunity costs incurred.</p>

<p>Re your example about poor people pursuing education to improve their economic status - what’s worse: being poor only with basic education, or being POORER after unnecessary, non-marketable education, after 4 years of tuition money and opportunity costs incurred?</p>

<p>Let me give you another example. Nowadays, due to severe lack of jobs in legal sector, many students are given advice not to bother with law school unless they can get into a top 14 law school. However, many students object this proposal, citing the usual: “but I can’t get a job with my useless BA in political science/ biology/ history, so if not law school, what should I do instead?”</p>

<p>To answer that question, one needs to know the obvious: what’s worse? Having no job with a BA in poli sci, or having no job with a BA in poli sci + a useless JD + 150-200k law school debt? </p>

<p>The answer should be crystal clear.</p>

[muckdogs07]

<p>Here’s an article from today’s NYT re the dean of Case Western making the case for law school remaining a good investment.</p>

<p>[Law</a> School Is Worth the Money - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Opinion | Law School Is Worth the Money - The New York Times”>Opinion | Law School Is Worth the Money - The New York Times)</p>

[LakeClouds]

<p>

I’M a law dean, and I’m proud. And I think it’s time to stop the nonsense. After two years of almost relentless attacks on law schools, a bit of perspective would be nice

</p>

<p>Not much meat on the bones of this self-serving op-ed. The argument seems to be - sure law grads are doing poorly but over the next 40-50 years they will do great. Based on what analysis or evidence?</p>

<p>I’ll make a deal with Mr. Dean - I pay nothing now and if I can in fact get a job in law over the next 40-50 years I’ll pay you back with interest. How interested will Mr. Dean be in that offer? Not very. His view is: I’ll take my 160 percent increase now thanks!</p>

[Greybeard]

<p>Paul Campos published a devastating response in Salon to the NY Times op-ed piece:</p>

<p>[Too</a> many lawyers? Says who? - Salon.com](<a href=“http://www.salon.com/2012/11/29/too_many_lawyers_says_who/]Too”>http://www.salon.com/2012/11/29/too_many_lawyers_says_who/)</p>

<p>While it’s true that law school is a long-term investment, and that it may pay off long-term for people who are in a bad position the year after they graduate. Having graduated from law school during a recession during Reagan’s first term that had a higher peak unemployment rate (it reached double digits) than the current one, I understand what it’s like to have a hard time getting started in the profession. (I received no call-backs from 20+ on-campus interviews as a second-year student, and didn’t bother interviewing my third year.) But my student loan debt was the equivalent of a car loan, not a mortgage on a house.</p>

[Axelrod]

<p>Waiting for a law school to offer the option of paying tuition in the form of 3% of total gross earned income for life.</p>