Should I Go to Law School? Honest Advice from a Law Grad
Thinking about law school? You’re not alone, and you’re also not crazy for hesitating! Law school is a big commitment in time and money. It really does deserve ample time to sit and reflect on why you want to go and what you want out of it. I have been through law school and know just the kind of commitment and effort it takes. When I first decided to go to law school, I searched and searched the internet for a breakdown of whether I should go to law school or not. And, honestly, I really struggled to find something that I resonated with. Here, I’m going to write just the discussion I was looking for when I was making my decision! I’ll walk through just about everything you need to think about to decide whether law school is right for you!
Why do you want to go in the first place?
There are a lot of reasons you might want to go to law school! To be honest, some are better than others.
Some reasons, although they’re shakier might be: “I like to argue” or “I don’t know what else to do” or “Everyone says I should.” While these are reasons to go to law school, they aren’t the strongest reasons. Law school requires a lot of effort and time and there will be points where you’ll wonder why you even did it in the first place. In these times, it’s important that you have a strong and reliable reason for wanting to go to law school in the first place. If you don’t, you might find yourself regretting your decision or wishing you had made a different one!
So, what could be some stronger motivation for law school that will pull you through those difficult times? I think an interest or passion in a specific area of law is a great reason to take into law school. You know what you do and don’t like about the subject and you know exactly what your goal is when you get out. This could look like so many different things. Maybe you’ve worked in the immigration field and are passionate about helping people navigate the system. Or maybe you’ve studied sustainability or the environment and have a passion for environmental justice or law. There are so many different things you could be passionate about before getting to law school that might lead you through law school!
Another good reason might be a strong desire to help protect people’s rights or help shape the system. This one is vague, which can be kind of hard to implement and difficult to plan for. But, if you have a strong passion for protecting people and want to help shape the system for future citizens, law school can help you do that! There are so many things you can do with a law degree other than practice law. It can help you be a better policy writer, can help you get into politics, or so many other things! Although, breaking into these fields can be more difficult than practicing law, there could be a good reason for getting a law degree outside of simply practicing law. You will want to make sure, though, that you are clear on your expectations, what it will take to get that job you want, and your path for getting there before you venture this way.
For me, I think I didn’t have the strongest reason for going to law school, if I’m being honest. My reason was I wanted to help people and it sounded interesting to me. I think not having a clear path definitely made law school more difficult in some aspects. At some points, I think it made decision making more difficult. What clubs do I join if I don’t know what I want to do with my degree? What classes do I take? What kind of jobs do I apply for? I figured it out as I went along, but I do think having a clear vision and strong reason for going to law school could have really benefited me while I was there.
Takeaway: If you’re unsure why you want to go to law school, take a pause. It’s important you have a strong why before you venture into law school.
2. Have you REALLY considered the cost?
Law school is expensive! There’s really no getting around that. If you want to go to law school, you’re going to have to figure out how to finance it, whether that’s loans or scholarships, or paying for it outright. And, you’ll also want to make sure you’re aware of any limits you may have when it comes to borrowing money. I don’t know all of the details because I no longer keep up with the news surrounding student loans, but I believe the government has limited the amount of federal student loans that graduate students can receive. That means the rest will need to be covered by private student loans or payments by you. This is just something to keep in mind as you think about law school!
So how much does law school really cost? Honestly, that’s going to depend on where you go to school. In state tuition at a public school will be cheaper than out of state tuition and private universities. You will want to look at the cost per year of each school to compare them. Average tuition is about $46,00 per year. That’s about an average total cost of a little more than $138,000. That’s a lot of money!
Now, that’s just the cost of tuition. It doesn’t take into consideration other things such as living expenses. While attending law school, you won’t be working full time, and most students are forced to take out loans to cover living expenses. Again, the amount of loans you will need for living expenses will vary depending on a lot of things (are you in a high cost of living area? low cost of living area? do you have a partner who is paying bills? etc.). You will want to make sure that you are factoring this cost into your decision as well. Living expenses cost an average of a little over $26,000 per year. That means if you have to finance your entire law school career, you’re looking at almost $200,000 in debt.
I don’t say this to scare you away from law school. but it is important that you go into it fully aware of the kind of debt you might be looking at. Things like choosing an in-state public school and a lower cost of living area can help lower these costs or make them more manageable! Before you make your final decision on whether the cost is worth it, you’ll want to look at the average salary of an attorney in your area in the field you would like to work in. The salary for a big law associate is going to look different from an attorney working for a nonprofit or for legal aid. You’ll want to be truthful with yourself on exactly what you want to do (that’s why having a good why is important!) and whether that is achievable (some areas of law are harder to break into than others). Again, you will want to make sure that you have a clear picture of how much debt you’ll be taking on and the potential salary you will need to pay that back!
Takeaway: Know the cost of law school, your potential debt, and your potential salary so that you can have a full financial picture before you commit to law school!
Photo of Radcliff Camera from my study abroad in Oxford during law school
3. Do you like the actual work of being a lawyer?
You will hear it over and over again that law school is not the same thing as legal practice. They’re completely different! Just like your undergrad experience was different than the actual job experience you received from that degree, law school is no different!
Law school focuses on the academics of the legal field. You’ll also hear people say that law school teaches you how to think like a lawyer, not how to be a lawyer. And there’s some truth to this! As I said, law school focuses on theory-heavy coursework. You will mostly be in a class room learning, reading cases, and discussing theories for most of your legal education. Of course, there are practical classes you can take like clinics or trial practice, but those tend to be the minority of cases you will take in law school.
Legal work, on the other hand, often involves a lot of administrative, client-facing, or procedural work. This, of course can vary depending on the kind of job you get, but it’ll be different from your law school experience! You will want to consider whether you will enjoy being a practicing attorney once you finish law school and pass the bar. There’s no sense in going to law school and racking up school debt if you’re just going to hate your job afterwards!
I would recommend that you work in the legal field for a year or two before you go to law school in whatever field of law you think you might want to practice. This is the best way to get your toes wet, as they say. You will be able to see how the legal world works and see what kind of work actually goes on. You can start as a paralegal (although this also requires education so might not be the best choice) or a legal secretary or assistant. From these positions, you can make connections in the legal field, talk to attorneys about what they do and don’t like about their jobs, and get a better idea of what the work will look like. If this isn’t an option or you want to go to law school right out of undergrad, at least take the time to reach out to a few attorneys in the area you want to practice in and see if they would be willing to chat! You can also see if they would be willing to let you shadow them for a few days so you can see what they actually do!
Takeaway: Understand what legal work actually looks like and whether you’ll enjoy the work before you commit to law school!
4. What kind of life do you want?
Before going to law school, you will want to consider what you want out of life and what you prioritize. Law school can be very time consuming and so can practice after law school. It can take up just about every hour of the day and every thought if you let it! You will want to consider your lifestyle and values. What kind of work life balance do you like? Do you want to have freedom and flexibility over your schedule? Those kinds of things.
This can also influence the kind of job you may want to look into as well, which is why it’s so important to think about law school. Big law jobs tend to offer higher pay but much less work life balance. Whereas public interest jobs (think nonprofits and government work) tend to offer lower pay but usually have better work life balance.
It is important that you understand your boundaries and what you’re looking for out of life and your career before starting law school. This will help shape your goals and outcomes regarding law school and help set expectations for your experience!
Finally, does law school bring you closer to where you want to be? If you’re not sure where you want to take your life, you might want to take a step back and figure that out before you go to law school. Once you have your idea of what you want out of life, ask yourself whether law school helps you achieve that. If the answer is yes, then law school might be for you! If the answer is no, you might want to take a step back and reevaluate why you want to go to law school and whether you should.
Takeaway: Picture your ideal life 10 years from now. Does law school bring you closer to that?
A photo of the building I took classes in during my study abroad in Oxford
5. Have you explored alternatives?
Once you know your why for law school, what you want to do with your degree, and what you want your life to look like, you can take a look at whether law school really is the right path. If your goal and what you want out of life is to work directly in the legal field (like at a firm, the public defender’s office, the prosecutor’s office, etc), then you’ll want to look at alternatives before you settle on law school. Can your objectives be achieved by another position (such as a paralegal)? Would you be happy doing that? If the answer is no, then law school might be a good choice. But if the answer is yes, then you might want to reconsider and potentially try one of those options before committing to law school.
If you don’t want to work directly in the legal field, but think a law degree could be helpful, you’ll want to consider whether those goals can be achievable without a legal degree. For example, do you want to work in policy? Advocacy? Business or compliance? All of these things can be achieved through a legal degree, but there are also ways to achieve them without a legal degree. If this is the path you wish to go, you will want to make sure that law school really is the only way to achieve your goal before you embark on the journey.
Takeaway: Law is a tool to get you where you want to go, not a destination, make sure it’s the right choice and fit for your objectives.
6. Signs law school might be the right fit!
You have researched the realities and still feel motivated.
You have experienced or witnessed what the actual practice of law might look like and know that’s what you want out of your life.
You are ready for the mental challenge and grind of law school and the legal field and have a strategy to manage them.
You understand the financial burden of law school and have a plan for how to handle it.
You see law school as a means to a professional or personal end and not the destination.
I don’t say all of this to scare you out of law school or sway you one way or the other. I just wish someone had told me this stuff before I went to law school so that I could have a full picture of exactly what I was getting myself into.
Going to law school (or not!) is a deeply personal choice and only you can make that decision for yourself. It also doesn’t define success. You aren’t successful just because you went to law school. The opposite is true too! You can have a successful career in the legal field without going to law school. Before you choose, make sure you have really thought about it and have a clear picture of the journey you’re going to embark on.
I said it earlier, but I think it’s worth repeating. Talk to someone who has been through it! You can reach out to someone you know. Or, if like me, you know no one in the legal field, you can always message me on our social media, leave a comment here, or send us an email! I really do think the best thing you can do for yourself before choosing to go to law school is experience working in the legal field yourself, whether that’s through a job or shadowing!
Law school isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer! It might work for some people but not for others! Going to law school can be a very rewarding decision that can lead to wonderful experiences, just make sure it’s the right one for you!!