Should You Go to Law School?

When you think of becoming a lawyer you might think of something like the show “Suits” or the show “Forensic Files” but do you really know what it is like to be a lawyer? Let’s first start off by talking about how to even become one in the first place. It is a grueling process. It all starts by getting good grades in high school and trying to get a good GPA and SAT/ACT score to get into college. Once you’ve been accepted into college, congrats you have completed the first step. Now comes step two which is navigating through undergrad. This requires lots and lots of studying and some late nights all while living off of loans and being broke as a joke. After doing this and keeping a high GPA, it is now time to take the dreaded LSAT. This is an exam that requires approximately 2-3 months of studying but the more the better. After taking the exam, you receive your score, and it is good enough to get you into law school. Now comes the application process. Now you need to obtain three letters of recommendation from your professors, as well as type up a good personal statement. Now that you have completed the application you must submit and wait for responses. Congrats! You’ve been accepted into law school and have made your decision! Step 2 is complete. Now comes the challenging part, getting through law school and passing the bar exam. This requires living off ramen noodles for three more years all while incurring debt and getting very little sleep. But finally, after all of that you have graduated from law school and passed the bar and now able to make good money as an attorney. It only took 7 years of post-secondary education and $200,000 but it was all worth it for the salary and prestige of being a lawyer.

Now this all sounds like a lot which it is but this post is not meant to scare you but to inform you of the path ahead. I write these blogs to educate you and guide you on the process of becoming a lawyer. As awesome as it is to become a lawyer there are some questions you need to ask yourself before going to law school. The main question is do I want to be a lawyer, and if so why? Many people go into law for the wrong reasons. If you are going into law for money there are so many easier ways to make lots of money as it takes years and years to become a lawyer and often involves lots of stress. Some might go into law for the prestige. People like that tend to not last long in this field because of the stress that occurs. Some might go because they were told they are good at arguing. Just cause you are good at arguing does not mean that you will be a successful lawyer. I just gave you some bad reasons for going to law school but what are some good reasons? Some good reasons to go to law school is that you love the law. If you love the law and are passionate about justice, then law school might be for you. Another good reason to go to law school is because you love to read and write. Law school and the lawyer profession require lots of writing and reading so if you can tolerate that then you can make it through law school. Lastly, if you enjoy learning this might be another reason to go to law school as you will be learning a lot in law school.

In conclusion, there are many reasons to go and not to go to law school. This blog piece was written so that people will consider other options before going to law school and to look at the pros and cons of law school. If you have read this article and this post describes you then law school might be a good fit. If not, there are other careers out there for you to try.