The law school option
One of the recurring themes of this chronicle has been my decision to apply (or not to apply) to law school. There was a period back in the winter when I pored over paperback law school guides and toiled for hours inputting statistics into spreadsheets so I could get some idea of where I might get in (Results: Harvard/Yale=impossible; Michigan/Georgetown=longshots; BC/BU=likely; UConn=safety). But then over the holiday season--with all its idealism and optimism--the idea of law school grew stale and started to fade and the desire to pursue my creative passions (ha) grew more urgent. I started working on some creative pieces. And kept working on them. And kept working on them. And now, a couple of months later, I still don't have one solid piece of short fiction that I'd feel comfortable submitting to any kind of writing program. Every morning, I go back and read what I've written the day before, and I cringe and I'm embarassed.
The June LSAT is a little more than two months away. In some ways, law school would be a get-out-of-jail-free pass. It's not free, either in terms of money or effort, but it would certainly tie up a lot of the loose ends of my life (one more year to kick around, hopefully doing something fulfilling; three years of school; thirty years of a potentially-lucrative career; ten [knock wood] years of retirement). But at the same time, I can't help but think that going to law school is a little defeatist. I know that a lot of people who read this are in law school, or will be soon, and my intent is not to denegrate anyone else's decision. It's just that in my case, enrolling in law school will mean acknowledging that I'm not cut out for all of those things that I wish I was cut out for.
The most compelling aspect of law school is that it would be a second chance to have a fully-realized adult (not in the pornographic sense...or at least not entirely in the pornographic sense) social life in an academic environment. It's not that I didn't love my years as an undergraduate, nor am I looking for Bright College Years 2.0, but there's something almost irresistable about that ready-made assortment of interesting people that one finds in any academic program. But is it worth three years of hard work and tens of thousands of dollars? Decisions, decisions.
Status report:
-I'm finishing up the project I've been working on for my uncle (the plastic perfume pump tycoon). Should be getting paid for twenty hours of work pretty soon.
-Half a dozen jobs I've applied to in the past couple of weeks have all been dead ends. Surprise, surprise.
-I'm contemplating applying to work at Foxwoods Resort and Casino. Maybe as a cashier or something totally mindless. The pay is decent, the environment is at least mildly amusing, and I probably wouldn't feel guilty if I decided to quit after a month.
-If I can cobble together twenty double-spaced pages of creative writing by April 14 (I've got ten right now), I'll probably submit to the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop summer program. The program runs from the beginning of June to the end of July. Hopes are as low as they can possibly be.
The June LSAT is a little more than two months away. In some ways, law school would be a get-out-of-jail-free pass. It's not free, either in terms of money or effort, but it would certainly tie up a lot of the loose ends of my life (one more year to kick around, hopefully doing something fulfilling; three years of school; thirty years of a potentially-lucrative career; ten [knock wood] years of retirement). But at the same time, I can't help but think that going to law school is a little defeatist. I know that a lot of people who read this are in law school, or will be soon, and my intent is not to denegrate anyone else's decision. It's just that in my case, enrolling in law school will mean acknowledging that I'm not cut out for all of those things that I wish I was cut out for.
The most compelling aspect of law school is that it would be a second chance to have a fully-realized adult (not in the pornographic sense...or at least not entirely in the pornographic sense) social life in an academic environment. It's not that I didn't love my years as an undergraduate, nor am I looking for Bright College Years 2.0, but there's something almost irresistable about that ready-made assortment of interesting people that one finds in any academic program. But is it worth three years of hard work and tens of thousands of dollars? Decisions, decisions.
Status report:
-I'm finishing up the project I've been working on for my uncle (the plastic perfume pump tycoon). Should be getting paid for twenty hours of work pretty soon.
-Half a dozen jobs I've applied to in the past couple of weeks have all been dead ends. Surprise, surprise.
-I'm contemplating applying to work at Foxwoods Resort and Casino. Maybe as a cashier or something totally mindless. The pay is decent, the environment is at least mildly amusing, and I probably wouldn't feel guilty if I decided to quit after a month.
-If I can cobble together twenty double-spaced pages of creative writing by April 14 (I've got ten right now), I'll probably submit to the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop summer program. The program runs from the beginning of June to the end of July. Hopes are as low as they can possibly be.
posted by temporarily unemployed at 14:04
7 Comments:
NOTE: somebody owes somebody a "dream surreal life house" post. They sure do. PS: Yes, it's come to this.
~C
you dont plan on living past the age of 66 or 67 ?
also, although i don't think that going to law school for the ready-made social scene is a good idea, i also don't think that any doors are going to be slammed in your face as the result of having gone to law school. i am sure that there are people who go to law school and then become creative types. journalists, political pundits, teachers, John Grisham (sweet)... i'm sure there's more out there than you know about.
i don't mean to suggest that law school is the correct or incorrect path for you, but maybe you should do some research into what possibilities might await you afterwards, rather than simply trying to figure out where you could or couldn't get in.
-jc
jesus christ comments on your blog? amazing!
~C
My vote? Take the LSAT, because why not. You'd be good at it. But don't go to law school unless you're actually excited about either law school or being a lawyer (they're pretty different, so you can be excited about one or the other). All the time, effort, and expense would feel a lot worse if I weren't into law stuff. If you ever want to talk about it, I'll give you a more nuanced perspective.
DK
FOR INSPIRATION: Here is a dream cast for The Surreal Life, courtesy of me and Carly.
1. Jodi Sweeten (Stephanie Tanner)
2. Luke Perry
3. Alex Trebeck
4. Jamal White (Steve Urkel)
5. Nancy Kerrigan
6. Tonya Harding
7. Dakota Fanning
Zing! Inspired. Beat that.
~C$/future celebreality casting director
Question: How does someone who has yet to take the LSAT judge his or her likelihood of getting into particular schools? Perhaps the unemployed ivy league graduate lets their ivy league education make their head swell.
Answer: The unemployed ivy league graduate has taken several practice LSATs, and knows what his cumulative GPA is, so its not so far-fetched to imagine which law schools are or are not within reach, given the weight of those two factors in the law school admissions process.
P.S. - If you think my head is swollen, poke around the blog a little more. I assure you, the self-loathing you'll find isn't an act.
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