Go to law school or not?

You probably have way more freedom in your life than a 9-5er. With very, very few exceptions, lawyers are not 9-5ers - particularly the ones who make $200k 5 years out. They are 7-11ers.

Listening (reading) your post I take away one thing: You don't want to be a lawyer. Nor do you want to go to law school.

I can't entirely understand why law school/law career gets such a bad rap on the internet. It seems so one sided. Well, to some extent, this is an artifact of AskMe members' biases. A lot of people on Ask Metafilter have been inculcated with the notion that education is a good thing, only to witness the falsity of that notion in the real world. This is especially so for lawyers, and people who have thought about going to law school.

Do not go to law school unless you want to be a lawyer. I would actually advise that you do not go to law school unless you are passionate about being a lawyer.

And, I would normally not bring this up since it's a jerk move, but since this is in the context of further education: For the love of god, man, do some spelling and grammar checking. If school admission essays are written in the style you're using here and you're getting into those schools, then they are not places that are going to give you a reasonable degree.

I'll give you another secret, OP: people are more honest and critical about the legal profession on the internet because it is safer to be honest and critical here than in person. If someone asks you about your profession in person, you may feel put on the spot. Is this a trick question? Why are they asking? Who do they know? How will they interpret what I say? Lawyers are serious networkers - and good networking is based on positive relationships. If someone asks you about your profession because they may be interested in it, that person has just potentially become someone in your professional network even years before they may enter the profession. Now what is the shrewd thing to do: speak frankly and possibly dissuade them from entering the profession or give non-committal and vaguely positive answers trusting that they do their own homework later on and leaving your connection to them unblemished just in case they show up someday as a colleague? Most people will hedge their bets, give you best case scenarios, hope for your sake that you avoid the pitfalls, and then hope for their sake that you can somehow scratch their back someday down the road. We on the Internet don't know you and have no real reason to assume that you will ever cross our path again. We have no personal interest in the outcome of your story. So please understand that when you hear the chorus of "NO!" from us, we are only giving you our opinion based on experience. You do not sound like a good candidate for the legal profession. That's the good news. Knowing that now can/will save you thousands of dollars and a lot of time (on the order of decades). Going to law school is a really shitty way to find out if you want to go to law school. Trust me on this one.

I can safetly assume that they all make well over $100,000 per yr. One thing you'll learn if you do decide to practice law is that you cannot "safely assume" anything. Ever.

I am a lawyer in Canada about 2 years post-call, so I hope that when I say don't go to law school perhaps it will resonate? Some points to consider: - The job market is still tough, even if Canada hasn't been as hard-hit as the U.S. I know of good, qualified people struggling to find a job up here. - I really think your view of how much you could be making is unrealistic. Going solo at 5 years post-call is incredibly hard to the point of being potentially foolish - there is so much you don't know, and therefore can't provide to your clients. Similarly, how do you propose to attract and maintain and bill $200k per year worth of clients with only 5 years of experience and massive overhead? If you dig deeper I think you'll find the reality of the business aspects quite sobering. - Law is not only much more demanding of your time than a 9 to 5 corporate gig, but more demanding of your energy: you are always "on" as a lawyer. Especially if you want to be making the big bucks: long, exhausting hours are a necessity. - I know this will seem like a nitpick, but the fact that you don't see why things like proper grammar are important is telling. Lawyers always have to balance time constraints, and attention to detail cannot be sacrificed. In sum, admission to law school is in no way an indicator of success as a lawyer; and a law degree is in no way a guarantee of a job or a particular income. I'd caution you to think very hard about what the other commenters have written - it does not seem to me like law school and a legal career will meet your expectations.

Adding to the chorus here. I teach at a law school, have been a member of the bar for 17 years, and (usually) love the law. It's a great career if you have the right personality (among other things, a high tolerance for conflict and an ability to concentrate even on drudgery), but it's not for most people. If you go to law school, you'll graduate with a basic knowledge, but certainly not a complete skill set. You'll be a shitty lawyer at the beginning, and you'll need good mentoring and huge reserves of motivation to become anything other than a shitty lawyer. Your question and comments suggest that you really don't have the necessary motivation. (Not your fault; it's just not you.) In lots of other jobs, you can become competent even if you don't have reservoirs of self-motivation. In some other jobs, it may not matter much whether you are motivated or not. Law is different. Again, I love my profession and I love competent lawyers of all types. But the shitty lawyers can do a lot of harm to their clients (and ultimately themselves). Save your application money. Hire a career counselor.