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law student

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Everything posted by law student

  1. My username is a little outdated now, but I did my M.A. in philosophy then went to a top-10 law school on a scholarship and now a practicing attorney. Happy to answer any questions about the path. I would just add - law as a day to day job is nothing like an academic pursuit. I spend my days in excel spreadsheets and dealing with really small problems that are taken too seriously and the stress is constant. Happy to discuss more, but as far as the law world, I have probably a top 1% legal job and it is still insufferable and awful.
  2. Thanks for all the help and replies! Do you think a 3.5 gpa amongst my degrees would be prohibitive from getting into a top 10 program (I know that is completely arbitrary), but just curious.
  3. Bump, looking for anyone else to chime in. Thanks for everyones comments so far.
  4. Ideally I would be qualified for two job markets- the philosophy market and the legal academic market. The legal market though will be a tougher sell just because the vast majority of law professors being hired now have phds in a quantitative field, like economics, and usually a Supreme Court clerkship. My plan would be to go back to do a phd with the intention of finding a school I could cross teach philosophy and potentially law subjects too, but not necessarily in a law school. Just depends on the school and situation. For instance, my undergrad had a philosophy professor with a JD who also taught courses like intro to con law and criminal theory. Stuff like that. Edit: Overall, I am less concerned with the legal academic job market, but rather I am here more so to discuss my chances at a "top" phd program, especially given some of the potential flags in my application from my original post. I am also here to discuss ways to overcome such potential issues.
  5. Thanks for the reply. The job market being so poor is why I didn't continue on to a phd originally. I figured it was time to shift careers. However, I realize how much practicing law is not my thing. It will be nice having a fallback, especially working during application season in a year or two. I personally wouldn't leave unless it was to a "top" ranked department anyway. The worry is that I won't have any chance, especially because I will be out of academia, a little older, etc.
  6. Hey everyone, it has been a few years since I have been on this site. I am looking for some advice about potential chances down the road. I know no one truly knows, but I haven't followed the last 3-4 cycles and just want to get peoples opinion. I am a 3l law student (graduating this year) from a top 10 law school at just around middle of my class. I am the EIC of a significant law journal. Previously, I got an MA in Philosophy from a strong philosophy department, with strong, but not perfect grades ( I also completed a master's thesis). It was a lifelong dream to follow the law, but I am starting to reconsider. I worked the past few summers and have a full time job lined up after graduation and taking the bar. I will take the bar and start work for a year or two. But already, I hate the actual practice of law. I truly miss philosophical work and I am taking a philosophy grad class right now and desperately miss it. After working for a year or so, I am considering going back to do my PHD and go into teaching (not necessarily the law job market because I am not going to a competitive clerkship, but into a philosophy department). My undergraduate is a small, liberal arts college that has sent students to top 10 philosophy departments previously, but rarely. Overall, what do people think my chances might be for a significant department, given a strong writing sample and hopefully good letters of rec. I will have been in the workforce for a year or two. Further information: I have been published in a mediocre philosophy journal and I currently am publishing a law review article in a half-decent or better law review (not as a student note). No GRE right now, but I have a 99.5 percentile LSAT so I am not too worried about that. Also, my gpas are in the 3.5 range. I know a lot of strong applicants have 3.9s+. I was a collegiate/professional athlete while in school so my GPA took a bit of a hit as a result. My law school gpa is likewise around a 3.3-3.4, which is at or above half the class. Any advice is helpful. I know when I was on this site 4-5 years ago, there was a guy who didn't do well in phd apps, but went to a top 10 law school instead. I have no idea if he went back to get a PHD, but people like that with law school and legal employment experience would be most helpful, but any advice is appreciated. And to be clear- I will be in my late 20's when I potentially apply. I have no idea if that may help or hurt, especially if I am applying from a work environment and not an academic one. My areas of interest are in moral philosophy, political theory, and jurisprudence.
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