Quartz sync: Sep 30, 2023, 11:35 PM

content/Essays/law-school.md

@@ -7,19 +7,29 @@ date: 2023-09-20
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 I have a lot of thoughts about law school, both as an institution and the type of culture it creates in the workforce. These include my experiences as a student and as an observer. Places and names will be altered to preserve anonymity as well as the school that I'm attending. [[#Homework/Further Reading|Prospective law students, click here]].
+
+> [!hint]  Law school as a process usually looks like this:
+> Take the [[Misc/lsat|entrance exam]] $\rightarrow$ apply  $\rightarrow$ first semester $\rightarrow$ 1L job offer $\rightarrow$ Second semester $\rightarrow$ 1L summer job $\rightarrow$ 2L job offer $\rightarrow$ second year $\rightarrow$ 2L summer job $\rightarrow$ career offer $\rightarrow$ third year $\rightarrow$ career.
+> 
+> Sometimes, the timing of job offers will be delayed, as it depends on the type of employment that you're pursuing. I talk about this more in the [[#Job Prospects]] section.
 ## Applying
 I was one of the lucky ones that knew I wanted to be a lawyer right out of the gate. 
 
 With law school, a substantial minority of applicants are on their second career ("nontraditional students"), or view law school as a backup plan after job prospects from their recent degree didn't pan out. Teachers and aspiring history professors are plentiful in this degree.
 - Sidebar: I will say, teachers being present makes study sessions very helpful, and icebreaker parties significantly more fun!
 
-For the uninitiated, law school as a process usually looks like this:
-Take the [[Misc/lsat|entrance exam]] $\rightarrow$ apply  $\rightarrow$ first semester $\rightarrow$ 1L job offer $\rightarrow$ Second semester $\rightarrow$ 1L summer job $\rightarrow$ 2L job offer $\rightarrow$ second year $\rightarrow$ 2L summer job $\rightarrow$ career offer $\rightarrow$ third year $\rightarrow$ career.
-Sometimes, the timing of job offers will be delayed, as it depends on the type of employment that you're pursuing. I talk about this more in the [[#Job Prospects]] section.
-
-In this process, it feels like every step is more daunting than the last. 
-
 There are a lot of equitable concerns and shady dealings with law school applications, as well as a lot of conflicting opinions. 
+
+In the law school process, it feels like every step is more daunting than the last. Applying in particular is a race to see who runs out of money first, as most applicants will be applying to as many schools as possible. This has a few purposes:
+- Ensure acceptance to a school that the applicant would actually go to
+- Hope for acceptance to a school that's good enough to lord over the schools you want to go to
+- Hope for a huge scholarship at a school that's worse than the schools you want to go to
+
+As you can see, it's a lot more about gaming the system and obtaining leverage than it is being considered for your merits. And law schools play into it: there's an institution called the US News World Report, which rates every US law school by *how selective they are*. Not how good they are, just how much better they make themselves out to be.
+- Disappointing sidebar: I mentioned being considered for your merits. [That's currently ALL you can be considered for.](https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/students-for-fair-admissions-inc-v-president-fellows-of-harvard-college/)
+### Equity, Rankings, and Deans, oh my!
+
+
 ## Your First Year
 
 ### Detour: Constitutional Law
@@ -34,8 +44,8 @@ There are a lot of equitable concerns and shady dealings with law school applica
 ## Homework/Further Reading
 For those considering law school, I'd like to suggest two resources to you.
 
-During my undergraduate studies, I stumbled across an excellent account by Rhett Campbell, a retired energy bankruptcy attorney. At the time I found these (and presumably when they were updated), he was the CEO of a nonprofit called the Terry Foundation. A lot of his opinions hold up, and I've uploaded them here as PDFs at [[Attachments/why-not-to-go-to-law-school.pdf|Why Not to Go to Law School]] and [[Attachments/law-study.pdf|Guide to Making Good Grades in Law School]]. All credit goes to Campbell for these resources. If you only take two things from these documents, let them be "**law school is hell**" and "**outline early, outline often**."
+During my undergraduate studies, I stumbled across an excellent account by Rhett Campbell, a retired energy bankruptcy attorney. At the time I found these (and presumably when they were updated), he was the CEO of a nonprofit called the Terry Foundation. A lot of his opinions hold up, and I've uploaded them here as PDFs at <a href="https://be-far.com/Attachments/why-not-to-go-to-law-school.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Why Not to Go to Law School</a> and <a href="https://be-far.com/Attachments/law-study.Pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Guide to Making Good Grades in Law School</a>. All credit goes to Campbell for these resources. If you only take two things from these documents, let them be "**law school is hell**" and "**outline early, outline often**."
 - Sidebar: I do agree with Campbell's view that there's a certain "fire in the belly" that you need to be a lawyer. I think I satisfied this because reading these documents made me excited, not stressed.
-- Sidebar x2: The resources he recommended weren't that helpful. The real value of his writings is his firsthand experience. 
+- Sidebar x2: The resources he recommended weren't that helpful to me. The real value of his writings is his firsthand experience. 
 
 During the application "cycle," I also enjoyed Kathryne Young's book How to be Sort of Happy in Law School, and I think it provides a realistic expectation of what it means to be a law student while also being a person. Some of what I talk about in the [[#Detour Constitutional Law|detour on con law]] comes straight from her book.

content/Updates/2023/sept.md

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 title: Summary of Changes for September 2023
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+draft: false
 tags:
   - "#update"
 date: 2023-09-30