Going To Law School: Why You Shouldn't Do It

When I was in fifth grade I wanted to be a lawyer. Yes, part of this can be attributed to “Legally Blonde,” and another part of it can be attributed to my always wanting to help people. Specifically, I wanted to go to NYU Law, because Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were both going to NYU, but alas a different story for a different time. I’m sure there are many children who were like me who dreamed of the prestige of being a lawyer, and I’m sure there are some undergraduates right now also contemplating this as their next path. To go to law school or not to go to law school, that is the question. (You didn’t know Shakespeare pondered going to law school as well?)

Well, I’m here to help you by making the case against law school. My college roommate decided to go the law school path, and as she embarks on her third year, she shared some reasons with me as to why going to law school is a bad idea. Let me tell you, going to law school isn’t for the faint-hearted!

Here are the reasons why going to law school isn’t the best idea:

Don’t use it as a default.
Do not go to law school simply because you have no other post-college plans. It may seem like an easy, smart plan but I assure you, it’s not a good idea. The job search in any field is not fun; searching for employment with three years of passion-less law school under your belt is even less so.

You have to love the law.
The law will consume your life. You will actually eat, sleep, and breathe the law. If you are not madly head-over-heels in love with the law and you can’t handle this all-consuming affair, law school isn’t for you. If you thought you had long readings in undergrad, they’re significantly longer in law school. Additionally, whereas in undergrad you had a plethora of topics for papers and readings, in law school, it’s all about the law (common sense, I know, but still needed to be mentioned!).

It’s not just an extension of undergrad.
You will be pulling all-nighters and have hundreds of pages of readings. You will not be going to frat parties or partaking in any Beer Olympics. Do not go to law school if you think it’ll be another three years of undergrad. It’s all the work, and none of the fun. Not only are you taking law classes, but you are also proving yourself through your internships and making connections with your professors in order to get a job post-graduation. The pressure is on.

You have to be prepared to work 9-5 and overtime and not get paid for it.
You’ll probably be poor for the majority of law-school. Unpaid internships don’t end in undergrad – they continue into law school! Interning in law school is a time to prove yourself, to prove that you love the law and this profession so much that simply interning for a firm is pay enough. Who needs money right?!

It’s expensive.
Higher education itself has become expensive, and law school is no different. According to the American Bar Association, in 2012 (yes, three years ago), the average tuition and fees for a public school was $23,214 for in-state students and $36,202 for out-of state students. Pretty high, huh? Well naturally, it becomes much higher if you want to attend a private school; the average was $40,634. Please keep in mind that these numbers are only for one year, and to multiply it by three if you want the total tuition of law school. Yes, it’s a lot of money, and yes a lot of law students go into law school with the hopes that it’ll pay off eventually. However, you never truly know for sure.