Shoot High When Choosing a Business School

The Washington Post ran a story titled Where to go to business school if you want the highest salary. I’d put it this way: if you’re headed off to a professional school for an MBA, law or other degree in a highly competitive field, shoot high. Go to a school that attracts the smartest students, has the most rigorous program and the best reputation in the field.

Interest in law school plummets

The number of persons taking the LSAT (law school admission test) has fallen by 45% since 2009, according to this Wall Street Journal post. This is consistent with earlier posts on this blog that noted the dramatic decline in law school applications and enrollment declines being experienced by most law schools, resulting in smaller classes and faculty layoffs (click the Graduate and Professional School link in the right column under “Categories” for all the law school posts).

Excess law school graduates by state and region

Law Graduate Overproduction by State (2011)

Law Graduate Overproduction by BEA Regions (2011)

The above graphs are the product of Matt Leichter, who blogs at Law School Tuition Bubble. You can check out his blog for his methodology in compiling the data. Naturally, these are rough estimates at best. And, by the way, darker is not better. For a chart showing the data by state, see Leichter’s blog.

Law school isn’t the slam dunk it used to be

The above graph, which should be of interest to any student who is considering a career in law, was published by Bloomberg as part of this article in Business Week about the demise of Howrey, a formerly renowned though subsequently bankrupt D.C. law firm.

Shocking job prospects for new lawyers

This chart was published by The Atlantic based on data collected by the American Bar Association (ABA). If you’re considering law school, you would do well to read the entire Atlantic article, entitled “The Jobs Crisis at Our Best Law Schools Is Much, Much Worse Than You Think.” The ABA’s website, where you can search employment data by law school, can be found here.

Thinking of pre-law?

The recent U.S. News 2014 rankings of law schools (reported here last week) apparently have created quite a dust up. That’s not surprising. U.S. News changed its methodology and, naturally, there were winners and losers. Considering that law school applications are continuing to plummet (down over 21% this year), there is tremendous pressure on law school deans. It’s understandable some would be upset over the impact rankings may have on applications. I’d be upset, too, especially if I knew my law school was preparing new lawyers well, at a reasonable price.

Do you want to be a lawyer?

Law school enrollments are plummeting. And for good reason. The jobs aren’t there, and the cost is sky-high. In other words, the economic proposition isn’t nearly as good as it used to be and, understandably, fewer people are willing to assume the risk of being unemployed and saddled with huge debt.