Anyone else thinking of law school as a backup

[bannie22]

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Well, I speak of the trends of the overall profession - you speak of an individual within it.

However, just like you said, lady, it's "relative". ^^^

PS: I forgot to mention law school debt... For many fresh grads that 120k in loans doesn't look so nice with a 50k/yr job (yes, there is loan forgiveness with DA jobs in the 30k salary region - but even these [often last-resort] opportunities aren't super easy to find with the squeezed market).

😉

Okay, I am confused here. I thought mdeast was a guy by his mdapps and the way he wrote..... 😕

 

[mybubbles14]

Okay, I am confused here. I thought mdeast was a guy by his mdapps and the way he wrote..... 😕

touche bannie...perhaps frazier saw "my boyfriend" and made an inaccurate ASSUMPTION 🙄

 

[mdeast]

touche bannie...perhaps frazier saw "my boyfriend" and made an inaccurate ASSUMPTION 🙄

Oh my. No I am not female last time I checked. Just because I have boyfriend, doesn't necessarily mean I'm a girl 😉
Honest mistake though.

 

[kia ora]

Well, if you want to call out the details, I was actually accepted at Cornell and Georgetown...Last time I checked, both were T14 -- did they drop in ranks? Also, last time I checked my mom was not the dean [nor any other relative of mine].

...I'll look later at their rankings, yet it is doubtful - being that the T14 has always been the same T14. However, I could care less. I had a last minute revelation about the profession and happily declined my acceptance.

Now, I'm going back to do the med pre-reqs at my state school with a smile on my face 😀.

Cheers, sunshine.

PS: no URM

apologies...I didn't mean to rain on your accomplishments. it's actually quite impressive that you walked away from offers at two excellent law schools to do what you really want to do; lots of people wouldn't do that. to you with your prereqs!

 

[Slack3r]

1. How many people make partner?
2. How many partners make above 150k?
3. When you speak of the "right connection", do you mean connection like in med school where you worked for someone, impressed them by merit, and such, or connection like, your father is the firm's partner?

If you think this kind of old-boy attitude doesn't exist in medicine, you're deluding yourself.

I think the question implies a serious lack of devotion to medicine. Maybe you should just go for law as your first choice.

Lol?

awwww....poor residents, only make 50K+ for a few years before jumping to 130K+. Life must be sooooo tough.


Get real. Residents make more than your average American. And yeah, consider yourself lucky getting paid so much for on the job training. You had 4 years of school related to medicine....so basically your getting paid more than most other 4 year degrees.

Get real. Your average resident =/= your average American that doesn't know their own street address.

and why is everyone in this thread so obsessed with making fat $? yes, most of us will have loans to pay back but most everyone seems to be measuring their future success/happiness in terms of how much $ they will earn. I find that sad, actually

Cus $ makes the world go round.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

awwww....poor residents, only make 50K+ for a few years before jumping to 130K+. Life must be sooooo tough.


Get real. Residents make more than your average American. And yeah, consider yourself lucky getting paid so much for on the job training. You had 4 years of school related to medicine....so basically your getting paid more than most other 4 year degrees.


I think I hear the waaaaambulance. 🙄

Uh, wow, I'm assuming you directed this at me because you quoted me and I don't understand how you read my post as complaining about how much residents make. 😕 I was just trying to say that lawyers can have a pretty significant starting salary, and it's more than your starting salary would be as a doctor in residency. Chill out!

 

[Toadesque]

Two of my friends were trying for medicine but either they realized they hated science or they couldn't handle it and ended up switching to law. Honestly neither of them are very great academically and both are in law school right now. So yeah I guess you could use it as a backup but i would honestly consider something else unless you actually do love reading boring literature.

 

[Anita817]

I considered law when was in college, but when I realized that my two least favorite classes during undergrad were Communication Law and a political science course, I figured I might be headed in the wrong direction.

Also, maybe this is just a personal issue, but I feel like I've been disillusioned by the idea of law school b/c of knowing several people from HS and college that were complete idiots but yet managed to get in/graduate from law school. Kinda one of those "I must be too smart for this if he/she is doing it!" On the other hand, my friend is an L2 at Harvard now and we used to be competitive with grades in HS. I'd like to think that I could be there too if I tried, lol. (but again, no desire there)

 

[Slack3r]

I considered law when was in college, but when I realized that my two least favorite classes during undergrad were Communication Law and a political science course, I figured I might be headed in the wrong direction.

Also, maybe this is just a personal issue, but I feel like I've been disillusioned by the idea of law school b/c of knowing several people from HS and college that were complete idiots but yet managed to get in/graduate from law school. Kinda one of those "I must be too smart for this if he/she is doing it!" On the other hand, my friend is an L2 at Harvard now and we used to be competitive with grades in HS. I'd like to think that I could be there too if I tried, lol. (but again, no desire there)

Kinda high and mighty eh? And not all law schools are created equal.

 

[roseglass6370]

Wow, I think it's so weird when people consider law as a back-up for medicine. The two fields are so entirely different.

Figure out which one interests you and go with that. If you are interested in medicine keep trying. If you're interested in law, forget medicine and pursue law.

If you just like them both for the money and aren't interested in either, good luck with a miserable life of doing work you hate because it pays well. 🙄

But really, if both appeal to you, do some research, pick one, and devote yourself to that field.

 

[Handy388]

If you think this kind of old-boy attitude doesn't exist in medicine, you're deluding yourself.

say you are son of the department chair of Johns Hokpins dermatology, but have gone to the carribean and barely passed, hell, I assure you that you won't match derm, you probably won't even match FM.

now, if you are the son of managing partner at big law firm and gone to a tier 4 school, see if they hires you.

medicine is still one of the field where intelligence gets you further than lack of intelligence but good connection. if you get a **** board score no amount of connect will help you match at the best programs.

 

[Anita817]

Kinda high and mighty eh? And not all law schools are created equal.

Totally high and mighty, and completely unashamed since it's not an avenue I will ever pursue. In my fantasies, I'm super smart and better than everyone else.

 

[chman]

I am sure this has already been said, but I am going to say it anyways.

The law market is over-saturated. There are too many lawyers with not enough work, and the economy got rid of a lot of the excess. Further, unless one goes to a top 20 law school, job prospects are hit an miss at best, for a high paying job that is. Law school is different than med school in the sense that where you go is very important. Also, there are a ton of law schools (refer to my first point).

Not to mention the fact that unless you really want to do something as a career you will be unhappy.

To some up; don't do it unless you can get into a high ranked school and make the law review.

 

[Handinhand]

If you're lucky enough to land to land a job at a top firm, and don't mind the fact you're going to be a grimy ******* the rest of your life, go for it. My cousin is graduating from law school this spring and landed a spot at a top law firm in NY. This is the first time this firm has taken anybody from this school. Basically, this next summer they're sending him to South America pretty much just for the hell of it (learning experience he says it is), and they're giving him 60k for it. His first 5 years at the firm he'll be making 5-800k, and IF he makes partner his salary will shoot up to a couple mil. I could never do it though. This guy is a grade A dick wad, all the people he will work with are the same way, and they will probably boot him after the 5 years and not give him partnership so they can keep more money for themselves.

I've never met a lawyer I had respect for. The whole profession now is motivated by greed at least some point in the process. Everybody going to law school thinks they're going to get that big job, then they realize that they're not too bright (hence the law school) and have to take a job as a public attorney for the scum of the world. No thanks.

 

[Alwaysbehopeful]

I've never met a lawyer I had respect for. The whole profession now is motivated by greed at least some point in the process. Everybody going to law school thinks they're going to get that big job, then they realize that they're not too bright (hence the law school) and have to take a job as a public attorney for the scum of the world. No thanks.

I completely agree! I have had nothing but negative experiences with Law students.

Case A: A volunteer at the ED graduated from Law School and is now going into nursing at the age of 35 with 2 kids. She absolutely couldn't stand working with lawyers. She went in wanting to help people but later learned the field is superficial and money driven.

Case B: Ex-neighbor applying to law school ONLY talks about money and how much money people at his firm make. He ALWAYS begins his conversations like this: "I just got back Switzerland as a company retreat. We spend 5000 dollars eating one dinner. I got to ski at one of the best resorts. We had a limo the whole time...blah blah.." He BUYS all his friends it's truly sad.

Case C: Got to hang out with a Pharm friend who is doing residency now and her pre-law friends in SF. They were so lame and STUCK UP. One of them tried to explain to me what protons were.....I was like are you serious???????? He even knew I was pre-med and was like " see radioactive decay is when...a proton is..." I was like dude...STFU..what next a lecture on cells???

I know my experiences are not a wide representation of laywers and I'm sure some are awesome. But everyone I have met has been just super sucky people.

Medicine and Law involve 2 completely different crowds!!! I just don't know how you can go into the other. I think if the other one entices you then you shouldn't be a doctor. Becuase why else are you going into law besides the prestige and money (by the way most lawyers make 50K, only top few percentage make a lot of money).

If you are truely altruistic and want to help people and have a passion for medicine, than you should be considering: PA, NP, RN, Optometry, Podiatry, Pharm, and dental. Although Dental is debatable because everyone I know that failed as a pre-med is doing dental now...

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I think it's worth mentioning that there are definitely people who go into law because they want to help others. Not all lawyers work for large money-making law firms. No one becomes a public defender because they want to make a lot of money. There are a lot of different reasons for going into law, just as there are a lot of different reasons for going into medicine.

 

[Knitress]

Sticking up for (some) lawyers here...

My husband's pre-law. He wants to go into public service. He'd prefer DA, but he'll do PD, too. He wants to make society a better place, and he's absolutely fascinated by law. Yeah, he knows it won't pay well, but to him, that's not the point.

So no, not everyone going into the field is motivated by greed.

 

[kia ora]

Sticking up for (some) lawyers here...

My husband's pre-law. He wants to go into public service. He'd prefer DA, but he'll do PD, too. He wants to make society a better place, and he's absolutely fascinated by law. Yeah, he knows it won't pay well, but to him, that's not the point.

So no, not everyone going into the field is motivated by greed.

yes. we're not all $-grubbing scumbags.

and it's rather amusing that there are so many ppl in this post accusing lawyers of being greedy and at the same time there are many, many posts wherein ppl mention $ as a reason for going into medicine...

and to those of you who are making derogatory remarks about lawyers based on the fact that your roommate's cousin's girlfriend's neighbor is a lawyer and is an *****, maybe keep in mind that drawing conclusions based on little information and on a very small sample size doesn't cast you in the most flattering light

 

[halekulani]

if your backup plan to medicine is law, don't tell them. the people you meet are going to be quick to judge as to why you would do either.

 

[Slack3r]

Totally high and mighty, and completely unashamed since it's not an avenue I will ever pursue. In my fantasies, I'm super smart and better than everyone else.

I think that's the optimum word in that statement.

 

[Anita817]

I think that's the optimum word in that statement.

haha you got it!