Here’s my situation. I’m interested in law. I do not need law school in any way. I will be graduating from a top undergrad business program in a few months. I have a good job lined up and I’m sure I will enjoy it well enough. I am considering law school because I think I would enjoy a legal career just as much or more as my finance career. I have a interest in entering politics at some point, so I think law would help there. I only want to go to law school if I get into Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. Would going to one of those law schools or similar be a bad idea for me? Thanks!
You don’t need a law degree to go into politics. Getting a law degree because you want to go into politics would be a complete waste of time.
I’m a lawyer and I find it strange that people are “interested in law”; I don’t find the law inherently interesting. There is sometimes a rationale for how the law is, but so often it’s just the product of lobbyists and Congresspeople that there’s no interest in that. Back on point: if you want to be a lawyer, go to law school. If you want to be something else, do not go to law school. Period. I went to Harvard and many of my classmates are no longer practicing law, but to get to the stage of not practicing, usually you have to go through years of practicing, and junior levels of law practice are often torture. Hope this answers your questions.
I agree with @HappyAlumnus. Give it some time in your new job. If you hate your job and you really want to be a lawyer then apply. If you like it but want to do more in finance or business, then you could consider an MBA.
Take one step at a time. These days many applicants to top law schools work a couple of years first. I’d start the job and study for and take the LSATs sometime in the next year or so. Once you are working for a while you will have more information about the business/finance world and can make a more informed decision as to if you want to spend your career in that field.
I’m sure you know that admissions to the very top law schools is quite competitive so you’d have to apply and see how things play out. But many people do have a business and a law degree and it can be a very strong combination.
Attending a top 3 law school is NEVER a bad idea for aspiring lawyers. But, it may or may not help in politics. Remember, “all politics is local”. A highfalutin Ivy degree won’t carry much weight in a small, rural Congressional district, where the public flagship is held in high esteem.
btw: the two smaller schools, Stanford and Yale, require both high GPA’s and high LSAT scores, so unless your GPA is above their medians, you have little chance at either. OTOH, Harvard Law has a very large class, so it takes a lot of splitters (high LSAT, not-so-high GPA).
If you’re not interested in practicing law, don’t go to law school. That’s a debt you don’t need.
Back in the day, firms like Goldman Sachs used to pay for law school. I had a kid who worked for me as a law clerk who was being funded by GS. After he graduated, he did his time at GS and then came back to the insurance company I worked at. I don’t know if the companies still fund law school like they used to.