Anonymous wrote:I heard about cases of “full ride” to the very best law schools, like UChicago. I guess it’s extremely hard to get those but I am not sure about the details.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious…how does one become a law professor…is there such a thing as a law PhD? Almost sounds like the route for DD.

Just wondering if that route is fully covered. As an example, you of course have to pay yourself for an MBA, but a finance PhD is 100% free and actually you can earn decent money getting research sponsored.

Wondering if law is at all the same.

No, law is not at all the same.

You don't really pursue a Phd -- advanced study in law is called an LLM. The academics of law is a little weird and little backasswards: the basic degree is a doctorate, the JD, and then the (most common) advanced degree is the LLM, which is a master's degree. The JD is practical and basic, it provides foundational knowledge for the practice of law. The LLM is more academic and scholarly, and people get them in special areas (I have an LLM in tax). I know two people who got LLMs hoping to become law professors (one has a UVA JD and a Yale LLM, and one has a Berkeley JD and a Stanford LLM). They both did become professors, but they also had pretty significant and impressive experience as well, and one was highly published and one had done very high profile work. They also both started at the very bottom, teaching legal research and writing, which is in no way shape or form a job where you are actually a law professor. It's the lowest type of adjunct position there is and most people do it for fun, or while in transition, or something. It isn't a great stepping stone to becoming a professor because so few are going to be able to make the leap from it. But I do know those two people did. But you aren't going to get that job going from JD to LLM to teaching LR&W, you need experience first, and that means practicing law. And some law professors don't have LLMs at all, they are just famous or highly published. There is an SJD degree as well which is a research based degree more like a Phd. Some law professors have that, but not many. And there is the very, very rare professor with a somehow-relevant Phd. I'd say about half my law professors at my top tier school just had a JD, and about half had an LLM as well (or they had a law degree from another country and an LLM). Some SJDs and Phds were sprinkled in there, but not many.

And there is no funding for LLM programs like there is for Phd programs -- LLM programs are a cash cow for law schools. So ... they are quite expensive. (An LLM is also what international attorneys hoping to practice in the US get).

So ... I'm not going to say that carving out a career as a law professor is impossible for OP's child. It's not impossible. But it's probably almost impossible. And she'd either need to practice law for awhile (at a very high level -- BigLaw or DOJ), or publish like mad (possibly even a book or books in addition to law review articles) before even seeking academic work out. And the JD needs to be from a top school -- that goes without saying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is merit aid, especially if you are a resident of the state where you're attending a state school. She will need excellent undergrad GPA and high LSAT score. College major does not really matter for admissions.

Ok, can we get a straight answer? Some people are saying “No way, no how—no free money to law students. Just loans.”

Others are saying there IS free money at at least some law schools in the form of merit aid.

Which is true?

Anonymous wrote:Your DD should only go to law school if she gets into a top 15 school. The ones that can’t get lawyer jobs after graduation went to lower tier schools.

+1 to above PP on becoming a law professor - very hard.

Even if not a law professor, I think some areas of legal practice is more ‘academic’ - tax for sure, and maybe insurance, financial products? Basically, difficult and complicated subject matters that require expert knowledge. ‘Academic’ types do well in these fields, and get paid very well.

Anonymous wrote:There is merit aid, especially if you are a resident of the state where you're attending a state school. She will need excellent undergrad GPA and high LSAT score. College major does not really matter for admissions.

Anonymous wrote:I heard about cases of “full ride” to the very best law schools, like UChicago. I guess it’s extremely hard to get those but I am not sure about the details.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A law degree is a good credential to have. She can work in government if she wants.

This is OP! Thanks for the info regarding financial aid for prof schools. I understand it better now.

And I thought giving more information would keep the comments on topic lol.

I was trying to stress that we were just thinking about the finances of it. My personal thoughts now is that I would NOT want her to become an attorney. But we wouldn’t sway our 18-year-old either way at this point. Who knows!? She should learn a lot more about herself in the next few years to more solidify her decision on what she wants for her future.

Either way, DH works in finance where people with law degrees (attorneys and not) get paid substantially for a 9 to 5 job. They are more corporate lawyers and give input on
Contracts, compliance or regulatory issues. Again, we envision our snowflake doing more…. Actually Making laws and contributing more to societal changes, but who knows!?

If your husband works in finance and can pay out of pocket for college, why wouldn't you pay for graduate/law school?

Not OP. One school of thought: Many students end up in grad schools b/c they don’t know what they want to do and continuing school is easy choice. Then they burn out or just are miserable in school or worse, become the lawyer, doctor, consultant that they don’t want to be. If paying for school themselves, they are more invested in decision of do I really want this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A law degree is a good credential to have. She can work in government if she wants.

This is OP! Thanks for the info regarding financial aid for prof schools. I understand it better now.

And I thought giving more information would keep the comments on topic lol.

I was trying to stress that we were just thinking about the finances of it. My personal thoughts now is that I would NOT want her to become an attorney. But we wouldn’t sway our 18-year-old either way at this point. Who knows!? She should learn a lot more about herself in the next few years to more solidify her decision on what she wants for her future.

Either way, DH works in finance where people with law degrees (attorneys and not) get paid substantially for a 9 to 5 job. They are more corporate lawyers and give input on
Contracts, compliance or regulatory issues. Again, we envision our snowflake doing more…. Actually Making laws and contributing more to societal changes, but who knows!?

If your husband works in finance and can pay out of pocket for college, why wouldn't you pay for graduate/law school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A law degree is a good credential to have. She can work in government if she wants.

This is OP! Thanks for the info regarding financial aid for prof schools. I understand it better now.

And I thought giving more information would keep the comments on topic lol.

I was trying to stress that we were just thinking about the finances of it. My personal thoughts now is that I would NOT want her to become an attorney. But we wouldn’t sway our 18-year-old either way at this point. Who knows!? She should learn a lot more about herself in the next few years to more solidify her decision on what she wants for her future.

Either way, DH works in finance where people with law degrees (attorneys and not) get paid substantially for a 9 to 5 job. They are more corporate lawyers and give input on
Contracts, compliance or regulatory issues. Again, we envision our snowflake doing more…. Actually Making laws and contributing more to societal changes, but who knows!?

Anonymous wrote:Curious…how does one become a law professor…is there such a thing as a law PhD? Almost sounds like the route for DD.

Just wondering if that route is fully covered. As an example, you of course have to pay yourself for an MBA, but a finance PhD is 100% free and actually you can earn decent money getting research sponsored.

Wondering if law is at all the same.