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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You're wasting a spot. You won't actually do anything with the degree; this is not a whimsical degree or just a brag point for a cocktail party. Don't take a spot away from someone who actually needs it.[/quote]

Gross presumption here.  And a person who actually “needs” a spot should earn it and if nothing else should want to have earned it.  [/quote]

OP here. I think that's extremely presumptuous . I would never go to law school with the intention of playing at being a lawyer. It costs a lot of money, even in-state, and I'd plan on getting work afterwards, even if the work wasn't all that well paid. I would DO something with that education, and I would not waste it. OTOH, many people who go to law school end up quitting after a few years. A PP who went to Harvard Law School left the field -- did she "waste" her spot? Going to school so late in life when I know who I am and I know what I like seems to be a much better bet. What I'm trying to figure out is whether or not it would be worth it to me, and I'm still on the fence about that. Spending three years in school when I may not even get work afterwards would definitely not be worth it. [/quote]

PP from Harvard Law here.  There are other ways to think about who is "worthy" of a spot, or who has a more "valid right to a spot" than someone else.  I don't see it as only those who stay in the field are worthy of spots.  But for argument's sake, let's go with that assumption.  Say there are 60% of a graduating class who stay in the field, long-term, and thus, deemed by top PP as "worthy" of the spot.  First, others use the knowledge and go into different fields, say, journalism, politics, etc, and that would probably still make the "worthy" cut per PP.  But, again for argument's sake, let's assume the other 40% just disappear upon graduation.

PP is ignoring the impact that those 40% had on the 60% that are still practicing.  Those three years were shaped by the whole class, not just the 60%.  And since that 40% didn't just disappear, some of those alliances and influences continue on.  Here is an extreme example:  Right now I'm a SAHM, so in PP's world, I am now a total waste of a spot.  I am married to a former classmate who is successful enough that I needed to quit and SAH in order to not outsource our childcare.  Our marriage is pretty intellectually equal, and [b]my DH is influential in his field.  I assert that I have contributed, at times significantly, with my DH's fleshing out and thinking about many issues in his area of law, and that has impacted some case law. [/b] If my DH had been a doctor, I don't think my contribution would be less, because the skill learned is a way of thinking that is applicable to many situations.  There is no waste; there is only contribution that is manifest in both traditional and non-traditional ways.

OP has an intellectual hunger, and she should go for it.  Even as a hobby.  She will impact all those around her.  There is a distinct possibility that her kids, when teenagers, will have picked up what she's learned and be on the road to becoming sharp thinkers, and also become the worst kids to parent as they spar with the OP.  Try to hold it together OP when your kid out-argues you, it's terrible and humbling and thrilling all at the same time.  Good luck to you![/quote]

I can't decide what I love more about this - the hubris, or the lack of self-awareness.

"In between making dinner and driving Aiden to soccer practice, James and I had a discussion about one of his cases, so I'm still making meaningful contributions to the legal profession.  He really should put me on the briefs.   Below him, of course, but ahead of the senior associate."

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