Law school?

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Long story short, I finished my undergrad degree. Hated school, wished I was dead, gave up hope etc. Now I'm going to do a trade (I may get a job as soon as next week). But when I tell people that, they say "You're too smart for that" and "Don't sell yourself short, you're smart" etc. Telling me that it's hell spending your life working on a construction site with redneck alcoholics who don't give a damn if you have a brain or not.

I wanted to go into law a long time ago, but gave up on it for various reasons. Someone was pressuring me to think it over really hard, lest I look back 20 years from now and regret the life I chose like he did. I just feel like I'm screwed no matter what path I take, but people tell me I've "got the world by the balls."

I don't have a really high average (mine is 72.something % for the whole 4 years). Haven't done the LSAT.

I've heard so many bad things about law... I don't know if I'd ever follow through with it.

I just don't know what I should be doing with my life I guess. Time to go to a career counselor maybe.

Well I never looked into law programs, since I'm in public health, but on the plus side, a JD is a terminal degree that can expand your career options the same way that a PhD or MD can, and on top of that it's typically only 3 years. On the minus side, all the law students I know tell me that it's really boring. But I guess it's the end result that matters.. you're not going to be a law student forever.

Law school is where many intelligent people go who don't know what to do with their lives. It's a tradition.

The legal industry is in disarray due to a temporary disequilibrium, a large number of people willing to practice law at a fairly high price and the number of law firm spots available at that price. So there have been many lay-offs and pay cuts. It's not a solution for a better career.

The majority of lawyers don't make that much money. You are probably better off learning a trade if you live in an area that has a high demand for that kind of work. Most lawyers I have know really hate being a lawyer because it is so tedious and boring. Plus you have to interact with a lot of people which is never a good thing for an aspie. At least with a trade you are judge by the work you do and not your social skills.

I can tell you about law because I was a lawyer for 15 years. I went to law school after I got out of grad school with an advanced degree in English. I knew nothing about the law except that a coule of friends thought it was the cool thing to do. It was a way to "save the world." I took the LSAT, went to law school and hated it. The classes were so boring. They were nothing like the graduate literature classes that I loved. I stuck with it though and got mediocre grades for the first time in my life. I got a part time clerking job whcih helped me feel better, but my grades sucked.

I got a job as a lawyer with the same firm but it was retty low ay because the firm helped low income people who had lost their jobs. It was rewarding work but incredibly draining. Clients came to depend on me and I was emotionally exhausted all the time. There were people who were making lots of money in the samw firm, but I didn't see any of it. I could barely pay off my student` loans.

Law school graduate.

DON'T DO IT!

IGNORE WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT YOU BEING "TOO SMART!"

There simply isn't the career options that people think, and the JD degree is the kiss of death on your resume. If you don't become a lawyer, you won't find people eager to hire you because they presume you want to be a lawyer and don't want to bother.

Education must be seen as a financial investment. Unless you can pay for your education in full as you get it, you will graduate with debt, and you need to be able to get a good job to repay that debt.

I'm working as a glorified secretary in a law office (my mom retired, and the lawyer was desperate for a replacement). I finished law school in 2001. I've been in this position since the end of 2005. I've been trying for a better job, but I rarely get an interview.

Even if you are "too smart" to do "common" work, you'll find that you make better money because you don't have a huge student loan to pay off, and a lot of "common" work pays better than the job requiring a college degree in the end analysis.

NEVER go for a degree just to get a degree. It should be part of a larger strategy you intend to stick with. I went to law school because I was encouraged to, and it was a logical extension of my failed attempt to get into law enforcement. By the time I finished law school, I knew I didn't want to practice, but they were encouraging me to finish my degree because I could "use it for anything."

I think you should get a job "busting your ass" for awhile. It seems like you really crave that environment. My dad REALLY wanted a physical labor job out of high school (construction, mining, etc). He did it for a few years and got it out of his system. He then went back to school and then became an engineer. He loves his job.

The key is to do what you enjoy and forget what other people tell you.
Do what works for you.

An average of 72.xx puts your GPA at 2.2 +/-. This site will give you an idea of where your GPA needs to be to have a fighting chance at law school.

http://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/index. ... GPALow/avg

Typical average GPAs run from low 3s to 3.5-3.75+.

The LSAT score is on a 180 point scale. The best schools will all but require a 170 (top 1%, but that's only out of the top 10% of all students who pursue law school so really top 1/10th of a percent). To make up for that GPA you will need damn near a 180. Check LSAT percentiles.

Also for either law or med school you need an insane amount of extracurriculars, community involvement, volunteering, leadership, et cetera.

I don't want to go into law... I have mixed opinions on university education. One degree is more than enough for now. I'm going to get a job this week. I can't handle the idea of going back to university for anything right now... Having just finished four mostly miserable years getting a degree I *thought* I wanted, I have no desire to just jump into law. With that experience in mind, I will never go back to university unless I am very sure about it. Too much risk to too little reward.

Wish me luck in my job search

Good luck on the job search!!

I agree with the previous posters, don't listen to anybody who tells you that "you're too smart for xyz". Do what you feel is interesting and worthwhile to you, not to other people. In the end you are the one who has to live with the decision, not any of these other people.

Also, don't feel rushed to commit to anything. If you feel like getting a job first for a while, that's great and there isn't anything wrong with that. In fact it may help give you the incentive later on to pursue a particular field that you didn't really consider before. Plus, working in the lower rungs of the workforce ladder is great for getting first-hand knowledge of what it's like to do a lot of the gruntwork. It gets really tiring when you have PhD or other advanced degree people working above you who never worked the lower rungs, yet feel entitled to push technician-level folks around like sh!t because they have no clue how difficult doing the gruntwork can be. They end up being crappy bosses with unrealistic expectations of their subordinates. Having the well-rounded experience can only be beneficial in the long run.