Let's accumulate knowledge a bit.

[Megas Methuselah]

Thanks a lot for the info. I'd like to add that I live in the very heart of the Canadian prairies, and this so-called depression has sort of... been not much big of a deal as it has been elsewhere. Moreover, I've got some good scholarships lined up, provided I get some work experience after my BA before going to any grad school. Further, as you may very well know, I'm a young, intelligent, hard-working Aboriginal out to get payed; my resume, at this point in my life, speaks for itself. Where I am, there's a lot of opportunities for me.

Of course, I'm still weighing out my possibilities.

...but you'll still need to prove that you're qualified for the non-legal position in some manner.

And what would this depend on? Previous work experience? Undergraduate studies? As it is right now, I still have the choice of my major between history and political science... I feel very strongly about majoring in history and leaving a minor for the poli sci classes that I have already taken so far, but the limited usefulness of a history major is the only thing that is turning me off on this choice. As I already have many economic classes under my belt that will eventually add up into a Certificate of Economics once I graduate, I don't have any room in my academic schedule for a double major.

Any feedback on this would be great. And Tin Cow, your input thus far is very helpful and appreciated, thanks a lot, bro. Yours too, Strike.

[TinCow]

Thanks a lot for the info. I'd like to add that I live in the very heart of the Canadian prairies, and this so-called depression has sort of... been not much big of a deal as it has been elsewhere. Moreover, I've got some good scholarships lined up, provided I get some work experience after my BA before going to any grad school. Further, as you may very well know, I'm a young, intelligent, hard-working Aboriginal out to get payed; my resume, at this point in my life, speaks for itself. Where I am, there's a lot of opportunities for me.

Of course, I'm still weighing out my possibilities.

Well, everything I said applies only to the US employment market. I know nothing about what the legal industry is like up north.

And what would this depend on? Previous work experience? Undergraduate studies? As it is right now, I still have the choice of my major between history and political science... I feel very strongly about majoring in history and leaving a minor for the poli sci classes that I have already taken so far, but the limited usefulness of a history major is the only thing that is turning me off on this choice. As I already have many economic classes under my belt that will eventually add up into a Certificate of Economics once I graduate, I don't have any room in my academic schedule for a double major.

Any feedback on this would be great. And Tin Cow, your input thus far is very helpful and appreciated, thanks a lot, bro. Yours too, Strike.

Generally the same stuff any job right out of school depends on, work experience, GPA, interesting personal background information, etc. Graduates from any level of school pretty much have no real experience to base their job application on, so the key is to show that you are very interested in that job, a hard worker, and that you can learn quickly. Those things are attractive to all employers. Interest in the job can be demonstrated by summer work experience in that industry, studies focused in that area, or any extracurricular activity that focuses on that area.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Here's some knowledge you definitely need to accumulate. Is Law School a Losing Game?

Ya don't need a law degree to bus tables.

[TinCow]

Here's some knowledge you definitely need to accumulate. Is Law School a Losing Game?

Ya don't need a law degree to bus tables.

That's a good article, and completely accurate.

That said, I do feel like I have perhaps put a bit too much of a damper on the situation. It is possible to do well even today. I graduated in 2003 and am currently practicing law and doing very well financially. My situation is typical in some ways and non-typical in other ways. Most significantly, my wife and I are both lawyers (met first year of law school) and both of us graduated without any debt. We are both only children and our parents were able to pay our way. Our school was a decently ranked public school (William & Mary) and my wife got in-state tuition and her parents were able to pay it comfortably without being exorbitantly wealthy (her father was career military). My parents are pretty well off and would have paid my way no matter where I went. Both of us graduating without any debt made a massive difference in our financial well-being.

My wife was a very good student, graduating in the top 15% of our class. I was an average student, at about the 50% level, but I did have decent summer internships through family connection. After we graduated, neither of us got stellar jobs. On graduation, my wife got a full-time government job, but not as an attorney. Her starting salary was only a little over $40k. I could not find permanent employment. The article Hosakawa Tito linked to briefly discussed a temp position reviewing documents (described as a "veal pen"). That's what I did for two and a half years. It payed decently, between $35 and $50 per hour, but due to the temp nature of the work I was only employed about 9 months a year on average. I averaged about $60k per year while doing it. So, if both my wife and I had been encumbered with the normal amount of student loan debt, we would not have been able to keep up with the payments, just like everyone else in that article. However, without the debt we actually did ok. We lived within our means, saved money regularly, and did not buy anything if we didn't already have the money for it in the bank. Eventually my wife moved into a full legal position with the government, and I applied and was accepted at the same agency. My first year, I actually earned less working for the government than I did with the legal temping. We've both been at this agency for about 5 years now, and our salaries have increased significantly from when we were first hired. We have boatloads of solid legal experience on our resumes and are now locked in with very good career experience in an area of law that is bankable (medicine).

So, it's all worked out well in the end. However, the key was not having any debt. Our experience was pretty much identical to that reported in those articles... no employment on graduation as a lawyer for either of us, and no full-time employment at all for me. It took my wife two years to land a full-time legal job, and it took me two and a half years. However, without the debt we were able to get through it without any financial problems. If you can get yourself into a similar situation, law school might work out well for you. The key is the debt, and you need to take a careful look at how much it is going to cost you before you make that decision.

[Hosakawa Tito]

What I find very disconcerting is the unethical behavior by universities in that article. Nothing in life worth having is free & easy, but that kind of deceit should be criminal.

[TinCow]

What I find very disconcerting is the unethical behavior by universities in that article. Nothing in life worth having is free & easy, but that kind of deceit should be criminal.

Undergraduate institutions do the same thing. US News rankings have been incredibly detrimental to the higher education system. Rankings are extremely important for the profitability of the institutions, and thus the institutions do everything they can to make them work in their favor. Some schools have tried to overcome this by refusing to give US News information, but it's a prisoner's dilemma situation. It won't work unless everyone does it, and no one wants to take the risk.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Hehehe, don't I know it. I've put my eldest through college, have a step child attending now with another due to start in 2 years. Hopefully, someday this particular con game will be fixed. It would be richly ironic if it was by a group of former JD victims of the abuse.

Thanks for relating the first hand experience. Pay heed gentlemen.