Should I Go To Law School? What To Consider Before Applying
Choosing to attend law school is a big decision, and not one to take lightly. There are many factors that you should think about before applying to law school.
All this is to say that there are risks and considerations that you should think about before pursuing the path of a lawyer.
Evaluate Your Motivations for Going to Law School
Many people encounter decision paralysis when making a life-changing decision, like whether to go to law school. Others may make decisions impulsively, or based on ill-considered reasons. For example, a lot of people only consider a single reason when making their decision. They see law as a way to advance a cause they believe in strongly, or to make money, for example.
There can be many different reasons—to increase your earning potential, gain professional recognition, help people who are wrongly accused, or facilitate international deals. What’s important is to understand how each motivation is unique to you and your goals.
Ultimately, there's no way to know for sure whether attending law school is or was the right decision. But, by thinking through your personal and professional aspirations and linking them to your present actions, you will likely be more confident in your choice.
Understand How Law School Will Help You Achieve Your Goals
Law school is a purpose-driven pursuit. Some people attend for specific purposes like wanting to become a criminal defense lawyer or international negotiator, or even run for office. Others have a more general-purpose, such as aspiring to help people or create more just institutions. While both specific and general purposes are valuable, it’s important to have a well-defined purpose related to your career goals.
Once you understand your career goals, take a step back and consider the best way to achieve those goals. Is law school a necessity? Or, is there another path that would be just as useful with other benefits (say, costing less)? While your specific goals may benefit from a law degree, attending law school may not be the best means to achieve them. It’s helpful to consider all paths to achieve your goals before deciding that law school is the right one.
Lastly, try to imagine your life 10 years after law school. What does your life look like? Do you have work-life balance? Have you achieved the goals you set out to achieve, or are you still in the process? How does your career fit with your other personal goals? Clearly visualizing answers to questions like these will help you better understand how law school can play a unique role in achieving your goals.
Explore Where You Want to Attend Law School (and Later Work)
Depending on the career niche you want to pursue, you may have to attend a certain type of law school. If you want to be a law professor, you may need to go to a top-rated law school. If you want to be a very well-paid lawyer in a major market, like in New York, or San Francisco, you may want to apply to law schools in those legal markets.
In order to practice in a certain state or jurisdiction in the United States, you have to pass the bar exam for that state. While the location of your law school doesn’t limit where you can take the bar exam, your career prospects may be heavily influenced by the school you attending. Namely, it may be easier to find a job in a given legal market if you attend a law school in your desired jurisdiction.
When you’re considering where to attend law school, it’s helpful to consider the competitiveness of the law market in the city or state where your school is located. There are certain legal markets like San Francisco, Boston, and Washington DC that are highly competitive. Other legal markets may have fewer competing graduates, and thus present more employment options. There are states that don't have any law schools, like Alaska, or states that only have a single school. Yet, despite the lack of law schools, there is still a need for lawyers.
[Next Read: Reading and Writing Skills That Will Help You Succeed in Law School]
Learn What Your Day-to-Day Life Will Look Like
Do you understand what the average day of a lawyer looks like? This is a great prompt to consider whether or not your own preferences, interests, and values will align with a career in the legal field.
If you’re unaware of what a lawyer’s day-to-day work looks like, do some research online and set up informational interviews. Tap into your personal connections or do some old-fashioned cold-calling. You could also take a more involved path, taking an internship or working as a paralegal assistant. Do anything you can to find out more about the actual life of a working lawyer, rather than relying on perceptions taken from news stories or television dramas.
Consider reaching out to a practicing lawyer who has achieved career milestones that mirror your own goals, and consider whether that daily work appeals to you. Make sure that it’s something that you find interesting and fulfilling.
The specific type of law you want to practice will also have a large influence on the type and style of work you’re doing on a daily basis. The skills required may also differ. Different legal tracks often lend themselves to different sensibilities. Above all, you should have a clear sense of the style of work you’ll be doing as a lawyer and whether it’s likely to match your interests.
Consider the Costs of Going to Law School
A law degree comes with a mountain of costs. There's the cost of applying to law school, which could well exceed $1,000. Once you’re admitted, you’re responsible for the cost of tuition. Following graduation, you’re often paying for bar exam preparation courses and materials.
Some of these costs can be offset. There are need-based and merit-based financial assistance, including scholarships to help you pay the cost of law school. Free or low-cost options are also available for the admissions and bar preparation processes.
Not all costs are monetary, however. Consider the mental cost of attending law school; while not as intense a time commitment as medical school, law school requires time and great attention to detail, which can be overwhelming for some students.
While law school may come with substantial pay-offs, it might not be worth the cost for everyone. Understand the cost, in all its manifestations, before you start down this path.
Acknowledge How Law School Will Challenge Your Perspective
Law school is an experience that deeply conditions who you are as a person. Many graduates report that attending law school changed the way they think and act.
While law school trains you to become a clearer, more analytically-oriented thinker, some complain that the style of legal thinking is narrow and limited. Law school encourages you to see all sides of an issue, even those with powerful emotional implications. This can have a powerful negative effect on anyone who has extremely strong ethical convictions or who is unwilling to consider an issue from a suspensive perspective.
You may enter law school with fixed beliefs and leave it with a sense of over-abundant complexity and infinite shades of grey. Some people find this infuriating, others love it. The ability to consider problems analytically, even when they have tremendous emotional power, is crucial to being an effective lawyer.
Consider the Opportunity Costs of Law School
There is, perhaps, one more framework to consider: opportunity cost. You will be in law school for three years, and it may take an additional year to practice for and take the bar exam, before you can finally become a practicing lawyer. Depending on your age, you may be studying during the years when most people build careers or expand their social networks.
What else could you have done with all that time? Four years is enough time to start a business, advance in your career, or travel the world. By pursuing a legal career, you may indirectly be closing the door to another career that’s more authentic and aligned with your true passions. Is there something else that you want to put your time into? Do you already have a job that you love, and want to return to? Think about whether the opportunity cost of a law degree detracts from other passions.
It’s hard to evaluate law school in a vacuum, especially given the time commitment and expenses. Rather, you need to carefully consider the choices that you set aside in order to pursue it. To have a clear picture of costs, you need to attempt to quantify these less direct costs.
It’s okay if you decide that now is not the best time to apply, for the reasons stated above. Many students apply to law school immediately after college. But a large share wait up to ten years before applying, returning to law school after advancing in another career. If you aren’t ready for law school now—if the price is too high or the opportunity cost is too steep—you can always wait.
[Next Read: What Classes Should I Take in College to Prepare for Law School?]
If you’re trying to work through the question of whether or not you should go to law school, it can be helpful to talk it through with someone who’s been there before. I’ve worked with dozens of students to help them decide whether they should go now—and to help them come up with a great application strategy if they decide it’s the right time. I’d love to share my experience with you.
