Pursuing a law degree requires both time and money investments as well as being potentially stressful and inconvenient.
Law degrees carry significant debt that must be repaid over time, so prospective students must carefully weigh all the pros and cons before making their decision.
Financial Expenses
Law school requires both time and money. Tuition fees can be expensive, while living costs such as rent and food add up quickly; thus it is essential that law students fully comprehend their Cost of Attendance (COA) prior to making any decisions about attending law school.
Law students typically incur considerable student loan debt upon graduating, with graduates incurring an average of $145,000 in student loan debt. Public interest lawyers and other low-income professionals may qualify for income-based repayment plans or loan forgiveness; however, this cannot be guaranteed so it’s crucial that prospective law school applicants carefully weigh all financial implications prior to making their decision.
Financial considerations aside, students should also carefully consider why they want to become lawyers. Exploring more intrinsic motivations rather than prestige or high wages may provide more lasting motivations that allow for persistence during law school and practice years.
Time Commitment
Law school requires a three-year commitment and it should consume much of your life. You should be willing to sacrifice other aspects for the sake of reaching your goals.
As opposed to most undergraduate programs where reading materials are short and concise, law school reading materials include lengthy legal texts and cases filled with legalese. Delaying your study can make catching up difficult – thus impacting your academic performance come exam time.
Understanding why you want to go to law school is of the utmost importance, whether for financial gains, prestige or career-changing public service reasons. Careful consideration of all of your motivations will allow you to determine if anticipated career outcomes outweigh risks and drawbacks associated with pursuing this degree. A self-evaluation will help determine if pursuing legal studies warrants debt and lifestyle changes associated with earning one.
Academic Challenges
Law school requires both an intense time commitment and significant financial investment, so before making their decision to enroll, students should carefully consider their current financial status, career goals, lifestyle needs, potential debt implications of law school debt repayment plans and shifting job market trends before making any definitive decisions about whether to pursue one or not.
Academic environments can cause undue strain for students and put their coping mechanisms to the test, with many often dealing with mental health issues like depression and suicidal thoughts.
These factors can hinder a student’s performance in law school and throughout their careers, yet many still find enjoyment using their law degrees to make a positive contribution to society. If social change and policy development is what interests you most, pursuing a law degree could be worth your while; otherwise it might be wiser to explore alternative paths into public service such as political activism or nonprofit work as alternative career options.
Networking Opportunities
Making connections in law school can be one of the greatest rewards, and law school networking can play a vital role in landing you an employment offer upon graduation. But you must remember to put forth effort into building these relationships – attending networking events, reaching out to alumni, participating in volunteer opportunities and getting acquainted with professors are just some ways that this can happen.
Students should also recognize that people in their networks may have goals and priorities which conflict with their own. For instance, effective-altruism-minded students might find it challenging to be around peers who prioritize landing jobs at large firms over taking on policymaking roles in animal welfare or transformative technologies.
Overall, making a decision to attend law school should be informed by a thorough self-evaluation, realistic projections of an ever-evolving legal marketplace and careful consideration of opportunity costs. Only then can students judge whether it is worthwhile investing their time and money in attending.
