I enrolled in part-time law school at age 29. I think it all depends and only you can decide whether it's a good idea. If I had followed the more absolute claims in this thread -- only go if you want to practice law, if you have a full ride, if it's at a T5, etc. -- I would not have gone. Yet I have no regrets and it did provide a financial benefit. I had a partial scholarship, plus some help from my employer, and paid about 1/3 out of pocket. I did not end up practicing law, nor did I necessarily plan to. But my law school experience was instrumental in getting me onto a GS-14/15 non-supervisory track, followed by an SL/non-supervisory executive position. Neither of these were attorney positions, but my law degree helped make me competitive for them at a relatively young age.

For me, the key factors that made it a success were:
- I did not go into debt.
- I actually enjoyed law school, i.e. the academic study of law and didn't mind the tests.
- I had a very supportive spouse during law school and a supportive and not-too-stressful day job. The impact on your social life (if you go part-time while working) should not be understated.
- My background is in science, so the science/law combo is somewhat unique and valued by my employer.

I'm in my 2nd year at GMU's law school and take night classes. I'm hoping to graduate in 1.5-2 years, which will put me at 38.
It is a lot of work, especially if you have a job and a family. But I think it is not a bad investment if you are a state resident and get a decent scholarship. I mean, we pay my law school less than half of what we pay my DS's preschool...

Anonymous wrote:

There was just a piece in The Atlantic about how we are churning out too many people with elite qualifications and there aren’t enough “elite” jobs to go around (like being the 3rd son in feudal Europe - you end up becoming a priest or something because there isn’t land or a castle for you)

That’s why people are skeptical. Returns are not guaranteed. Likelihood of good returns decreases with starting age (because you have less time to capitalize on your degree). Just because people with big jobs have those credentials doesn’t mean that everyone with those credentials gets a big job.

Right, that is probably true for law, but I am highly doubting that there is an excess of people with PhDs in physics, engineering, or math.

But those degrees require 5-6 years (though they are almost always free/paid). Plus most people wouldn't survive 10 min in a graduate level math class. The big question most people in those programs have is either to bail out after 2 years and work a corporate gig (think google, etc) or stick it out and get a low paid, but high prestige job that requires a PhD.

Anonymous wrote:

There was just a piece in The Atlantic about how we are churning out too many people with elite qualifications and there aren’t enough “elite” jobs to go around (like being the 3rd son in feudal Europe - you end up becoming a priest or something because there isn’t land or a castle for you)

That’s why people are skeptical. Returns are not guaranteed. Likelihood of good returns decreases with starting age (because you have less time to capitalize on your degree). Just because people with big jobs have those credentials doesn’t mean that everyone with those credentials gets a big job.

Right, that is probably true for law, but I am highly doubting that there is an excess of people with PhDs in physics, engineering, or math.

I doubt there are plenty of tenure track positions out there, and plenty hard science PhDs toil for low wages in post doc programs.

There was just a piece in The Atlantic about how we are churning out too many people with elite qualifications and there aren’t enough “elite” jobs to go around (like being the 3rd son in feudal Europe - you end up becoming a priest or something because there isn’t land or a castle for you)

That’s why people are skeptical. Returns are not guaranteed. Likelihood of good returns decreases with starting age (because you have less time to capitalize on your degree). Just because people with big jobs have those credentials doesn’t mean that everyone with those credentials gets a big job.

Right, that is probably true for law, but I am highly doubting that there is an excess of people with PhDs in physics, engineering, or math.

Anonymous wrote:There was just a piece in The Atlantic about how we are churning out too many people with elite qualifications and there aren’t enough “elite” jobs to go around (like being the 3rd son in feudal Europe - you end up becoming a priest or something because there isn’t land or a castle for you)

That’s why people are skeptical. Returns are not guaranteed. Likelihood of good returns decreases with starting age (because you have less time to capitalize on your degree). Just because people with big jobs have those credentials doesn’t mean that everyone with those credentials gets a big job.

^ this right here.

There was just a piece in The Atlantic about how we are churning out too many people with elite qualifications and there aren’t enough “elite” jobs to go around (like being the 3rd son in feudal Europe - you end up becoming a priest or something because there isn’t land or a castle for you)

That’s why people are skeptical. Returns are not guaranteed. Likelihood of good returns decreases with starting age (because you have less time to capitalize on your degree). Just because people with big jobs have those credentials doesn’t mean that everyone with those credentials gets a big job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m so perplexed because I posted about the (part time) MBA, and got a lot of posts from people saying it isn’t worth it. Then, I look at corporate america and even leaders or non profits and government, and they all have advanced degrees - either law or mba or MPP.

And yet people seem to insist it’s not worth it? Are people on DCUM being cheap? Did they get their degree and not advance as far as they should have and now think they didn’t need the degree, but perhaps they didn’t advance as far as they would have without the degree and are unaware of it.

Financially, I feel like salaries get stuck around 200-300k without advanced degree, and the upside potential is much higher if you get a graduate degree. So the impact on finances should be high over your lifetime.

Am I thinking of this correctly? Feel free to critique my rationale.

people are saying there needs to be a clear career path that requires the degree. Just getting a law degree at 35 is a giant roll of the dice

I work in policy, so there is a clear career path into senior management or executive roles.

Anonymous wrote:I’m so perplexed because I posted about the (part time) MBA, and got a lot of posts from people saying it isn’t worth it. Then, I look at corporate america and even leaders or non profits and government, and they all have advanced degrees - either law or mba or MPP.

And yet people seem to insist it’s not worth it? Are people on DCUM being cheap? Did they get their degree and not advance as far as they should have and now think they didn’t need the degree, but perhaps they didn’t advance as far as they would have without the degree and are unaware of it.

Financially, I feel like salaries get stuck around 200-300k without advanced degree, and the upside potential is much higher if you get a graduate degree. So the impact on finances should be high over your lifetime.

Am I thinking of this correctly? Feel free to critique my rationale.

people are saying there needs to be a clear career path that requires the degree. Just getting a law degree at 35 is a giant roll of the dice

I’m so perplexed because I posted about the (part time) MBA, and got a lot of posts from people saying it isn’t worth it. Then, I look at corporate america and even leaders or non profits and government, and they all have advanced degrees - either law or mba or MPP.

And yet people seem to insist it’s not worth it? Are people on DCUM being cheap? Did they get their degree and not advance as far as they should have and now think they didn’t need the degree, but perhaps they didn’t advance as far as they would have without the degree and are unaware of it.

Financially, I feel like salaries get stuck around 200-300k without advanced degree, and the upside potential is much higher if you get a graduate degree. So the impact on finances should be high over your lifetime.

Am I thinking of this correctly? Feel free to critique my rationale.

NO unless one of two things are true. (or both!)

1) You are going to a T5 (NYU doesn't cut it)
2) Full ride with living expenses covered.

Maybe think of MBAs too. They also tend to be shorter/less opportunity cost.