Now that I'm a practicing attorney, I can admit that I went to law school because it was an easy alternative to achieve a particular goal: have a professional degree.
As an undergraduate, I majored in Organizational Communication. After graduating, I discovered that there aren't too many jobs available in my particular degree field for someone with a bachelor's degree. Most of the professionals in the field have master's or doctorate degrees. Law school became a good fall back option to achieve the doctorate degree without having to go through a Ph.D. program.
So, like all aspiring law students, I took the LSAT, applied to schools, and waited. The rejections came well before the admission letters. I entered law school in 2005 and worked diligently. I achieved mediocre grades and status, but gratefully, I passed the bar exam.
Overall, I'm happy with my decision, and enjoy my work. However, in all honesty, there might have been something better for me, had I not been so focused on my plan.
There's a great post by Ashby Jones on the Wall Street Journal Law Blog that discusses this very issue. The author encourages aspiring law students to seriously think about law school. It's costly, it's grueling, and despite what your law school career services department says, there simply aren't many jobs available where you're making lots of money. The truth is, most graduates make less than $50,000 per year, and except for the small percentage of students with scholarships, will pay $100,000-plus in student loans. In this economy, this isn't a smart business decision.
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