UBETutoring wrote:They're not going to pay for LS. Firms rarely paid for law school even in the '90's when costs were much cheaper. This was much more common with MBA's back in the day.
OP, I have tutored the LSAT to a significant number of paralegals - I'd venture to say 25% of my students are paralegals/legal assistants, and they want to go to law school because they're (1) tired of their job and (2) want to take the next step in life. The reality is that while being a lawyer is less monotonous than being a paralegal in that it requires more thinking and has more varied challenges if you dislike being a paralegal, it's very likely you won't love legal practice. Most people don't. They tolerate it in part because it sucks less than other jobs and because of money.
Although being a lawyer would seem to come with more esteem and salary, let's picture a reality in which you leave your current job, attend a middling law school and are unable to not only secure gainful employment as an attorney but are also overqualified to be a paralegal. In this situation, there is a very good chance you will have less income than you do now, be 3 years older and owe $300,000. At Cardozo, this reality is a real possibility. I'm not saying that will happen to you. For your sake, I hope it doesn't. But statistically speaking, it's more likely than securing a large firm job that pays $200,000 a year. You also have to realize that $200,000 is not really as much as you think it is in your 20's. Taxes will cut off about 40-45% of that, and you're left with $110,000, which on a 10-year loan repayment plan of $300k tuition + COL (figure $400k at graduation with interest) will probably leave you with about $70,000 post-tax or about $6,000 a month. You can live well with this amount of money, but it's not the high life.
And this is if you get the least likely outcome that will require nothing to go wrong. You're going to need to blow 1L year out of the park, do well on every exam, hope you don't get sick during exam time or have a personal issue arise that jeopardizes your focus, need to meet with OCI interviewers you connect with who don't hold being in a 3.5 year program against you, need to stomach 5+ years of big law and have them stomach you to repay your loans. None of these are 100% results. Some are 10%, and you need all of them to break in your favor just to come out of this with a net positive outcome. And let's pretend you overcome the odds to get that larger salary - the loans are something you still have to pay back so every other friday when you get that $4,230 deposited in your bank account, about $1,800 is going to pay those student loans. That's about 3 months of car payments down the drain every other Friday, the great vacation you'll need working 80-hour weeks down the drain each month, an engagement ring every 2 months (if your love interest won't say yes unless the ring is worth more than $7,200, they're not the one), a year of your child's state college tuition every 5 months, etc. all because the LSAT is annoying.
There is always a grass is greener perspective, but you have a job right now that annoys you for many of the same reasons legal practice will annoy you. You probably earn a decent wage and LS isn't going anywhere. You can take it upon yourself to not only make the chances of hitting your dreams more likely but to also make those dreams play out better even if they do come true by staying on for one more year and getting a better LSAT score. I've seen others with your goal and perspective in pretty much your exact position - an okay LSAT score and about 5 points away from a much better position. 5 years later, all of them would probably give a kidney to go back in time and stomach their job for another year, but it's possible you can be the exception. Some people just don't want to succeed enough or dream hard enough.
Hey! I really appreciate this - and also, THANKS for writing in so much detail. It really means alot. I think I may have not mentioned I'm signed up for the Jan LSAT, so I am definitely re-taking it. Also, I won't be needing to take out loans. I have a really good amount of money saved up, so I'm not super worried about loans.