60k annual job no debt vs t14 Forum

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Vexination2520

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60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by Vexination2520 » Sat Aug 26, 2017 5:50 pm

Hi. So I will have a 60k job out of college working at a big 4 accounting firm in Chicago with no student debt and 25k saved up by the time I graduate. Right now, I have a 4.0 GPA. I am guessing I would need around a 172 for a full ride at a T14 school so I am just wondering if I were to get that 172, would it be smarter to choose law school over my accounting path?

Also, if I go the accounting route, I would use the 25k saved up to spend a year getting my masters of accounting and get my CPA.

In terms of the actual skills and daily tasks, law and accounting are pretty similar so either one wouldn't make a big difference to me in terms of the job preference.

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Future Ex-Engineer

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by Future Ex-Engineer » Sat Aug 26, 2017 6:01 pm

Vexination2520 wrote:Hi. So I will have a 60k job out of college working at a big 4 accounting firm in Chicago with no student debt and 25k saved up by the time I graduate. Right now, I have a 4.0 GPA. I am guessing I would need around a 172 for a full ride at a T14 school so I am just wondering if I were to get that 172, would it be smarter to choose law school over my accounting path?

Also, if I go the accounting route, I would use the 25k saved up to spend a year getting my masters of accounting and get my CPA.

In terms of the actual skills and daily tasks, law and accounting are pretty similar so either one wouldn't make a big difference to me in terms of the job preference.
Obviously this is a personal preference question, but with a full at a T14, you could reasonable assume biglaw (if you want it) starting out after 3 years. Biglaw currently starts at $180k (might increase in the next few years) - you have to decide if the TVC of three more years of school is worth sitting out 3 years of 60k salary.

In my mind it's a pretty obvious choice (i'd go to LS *if* you get a full to a T14 - but don't expect to get a 172 on the LSAT - that shits hard), but it all depends on your risk aversion and other factors like cost of living, whether you need to make money right now, what type of salary increase are you looking at with accounting/career advancement/hours, etc

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perfunctory

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by perfunctory » Sat Aug 26, 2017 6:02 pm

It''s about whether you want to become a lawyer. Also, how do you know the tasks of both professions are similar?

Vexination2520

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by Vexination2520 » Sat Aug 26, 2017 6:09 pm

perfunctory wrote:It''s about whether you want to become a lawyer. Also, how do you know the tasks of both professions are similar?
I meant I would be doing tax accounting which is a lot of researching then applying the research to the current situation which seems very similar to what some lawyers/law students do.

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screwtapeletters

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by screwtapeletters » Sat Aug 26, 2017 6:27 pm

Vexination2520 wrote:
perfunctory wrote:It''s about whether you want to become a lawyer. Also, how do you know the tasks of both professions are similar?
I meant I would be doing tax accounting which is a lot of researching then applying the research to the current situation which seems very similar to what some lawyers/law students do.
No

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Justtrying2help

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by Justtrying2help » Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:36 pm

OP the smart thing for you to do is to study the lsat for a year (preferably during your last year of college) and get your MAAC (or just work depending if they still offer work experience as an alternate to 150 credits for the cpa) and apply for law schools at the same time. If you get a score that will give you a full ride plus a stipend to a top 13 law school then go. If you do not, sit for the CPA and work at least 2-3 years doing tax accounting. At that point you would be a more qualified candidate (if you still desired a career as a lawyer), you'd be eligible for top MBA programs (if you decided you hated tax and want to transition to a new career), or you could stay put in a great paying career with no debt. Law school will always be there and median lsat scores are steadily dropping. Give yourself an opportunity to make a decision with no bad options.

doggozeg

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by doggozeg » Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:12 am

You need to look at long-term career, not just now.

Think 30 years out, not five. Would you rather be in accounting, or law? What would you be doing?
Last edited by doggozeg on Sat Jan 27, 2018 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

rozes

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by rozes » Sun Aug 27, 2017 12:09 pm

Vexination2520 wrote:
perfunctory wrote:It''s about whether you want to become a lawyer. Also, how do you know the tasks of both professions are similar?
I meant I would be doing tax accounting which is a lot of researching then applying the research to the current situation which seems very similar to what some lawyers/law students do.
Go the tax accounting route, because you clearly have no idea what lawyers do.

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guynourmin

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by guynourmin » Sun Aug 27, 2017 1:21 pm

rozes wrote:
Vexination2520 wrote:
perfunctory wrote:It''s about whether you want to become a lawyer. Also, how do you know the tasks of both professions are similar?
I meant I would be doing tax accounting which is a lot of researching then applying the research to the current situation which seems very similar to what some lawyers/law students do.
Go the tax accounting route, because you clearly have no idea what lawyers do.
If you think this is rude, it doesn't make it less true. Go tax accounting, at least for a couple years. Your GPA isn't going anywhere and you haven't even take the LSAT yet. Law school isn't going anywhere either. Two years from now you could realize tax accounting is exactly what you want to do or you could revisit this law school idea. A few years of substantial work experience will also be somewhat helpful with your admissions and post-ls employment situation.

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Hikikomorist

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by Hikikomorist » Sun Aug 27, 2017 1:28 pm

guynourmin wrote:
rozes wrote:
Vexination2520 wrote:
perfunctory wrote:It''s about whether you want to become a lawyer. Also, how do you know the tasks of both professions are similar?
I meant I would be doing tax accounting which is a lot of researching then applying the research to the current situation which seems very similar to what some lawyers/law students do.
Go the tax accounting route, because you clearly have no idea what lawyers do.
If you think this is rude, it doesn't make it less true. Go tax accounting, at least for a couple years. Your GPA isn't going anywhere and you haven't even take the LSAT yet. Law school isn't going anywhere either. Two years from now you could realize tax accounting is exactly what you want to do or you could revisit this law school idea. A few years of substantial work experience will also be somewhat helpful with your admissions and post-ls employment situation.
I agree with this, but I think OP should eventually go to law school, assuming a T-13 full-tuition scholarship. Accounting salaries in even moderately expensive cities don't seem great.

Vexination2520

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by Vexination2520 » Sun Aug 27, 2017 4:15 pm

Future Ex-Engineer wrote:
Vexination2520 wrote:Hi. So I will have a 60k job out of college working at a big 4 accounting firm in Chicago with no student debt and 25k saved up by the time I graduate. Right now, I have a 4.0 GPA. I am guessing I would need around a 172 for a full ride at a T14 school so I am just wondering if I were to get that 172, would it be smarter to choose law school over my accounting path?

Also, if I go the accounting route, I would use the 25k saved up to spend a year getting my masters of accounting and get my CPA.

In terms of the actual skills and daily tasks, law and accounting are pretty similar so either one wouldn't make a big difference to me in terms of the job preference.
Obviously this is a personal preference question, but with a full at a T14, you could reasonable assume biglaw (if you want it) starting out after 3 years. Biglaw currently starts at $180k (might increase in the next few years) - you have to decide if the TVC of three more years of school is worth sitting out 3 years of 60k salary.

In my mind it's a pretty obvious choice (i'd go to LS *if* you get a full to a T14 - but don't expect to get a 172 on the LSAT - that shits hard), but it all depends on your risk aversion and other factors like cost of living, whether you need to make money right now, what type of salary increase are you looking at with accounting/career advancement/hours, etc
At what point do you think this changes? For example, a 4.0 GPA with say a 172 LSAT might get me a full ride to a low T14 which would be good, but what do you think is the lowest LSAT score/the lowest amount of money I should shoot for before this decision requires a lot more thought. If I just got a half ride, would the better option still be go to LS (assuming I want to be a lawyer and all that), and if I just get sticker at all T14, then it is basically shoot for retake or stick with accounting?

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by Nebby » Sun Aug 27, 2017 4:19 pm

Researching and applying research isn't an insignificant part of litigation. I assume everyone replying that OPs intuition is incorrect is referencing transactional, right? (is transactional even law practice? :twisted:)

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Future Ex-Engineer

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by Future Ex-Engineer » Sun Aug 27, 2017 6:56 pm

Vexination2520 wrote:
Future Ex-Engineer wrote:
Vexination2520 wrote:Hi. So I will have a 60k job out of college working at a big 4 accounting firm in Chicago with no student debt and 25k saved up by the time I graduate. Right now, I have a 4.0 GPA. I am guessing I would need around a 172 for a full ride at a T14 school so I am just wondering if I were to get that 172, would it be smarter to choose law school over my accounting path?

Also, if I go the accounting route, I would use the 25k saved up to spend a year getting my masters of accounting and get my CPA.

In terms of the actual skills and daily tasks, law and accounting are pretty similar so either one wouldn't make a big difference to me in terms of the job preference.
Obviously this is a personal preference question, but with a full at a T14, you could reasonable assume biglaw (if you want it) starting out after 3 years. Biglaw currently starts at $180k (might increase in the next few years) - you have to decide if the TVC of three more years of school is worth sitting out 3 years of 60k salary.

In my mind it's a pretty obvious choice (i'd go to LS *if* you get a full to a T14 - but don't expect to get a 172 on the LSAT - that shits hard), but it all depends on your risk aversion and other factors like cost of living, whether you need to make money right now, what type of salary increase are you looking at with accounting/career advancement/hours, etc
At what point do you think this changes? For example, a 4.0 GPA with say a 172 LSAT might get me a full ride to a low T14 which would be good, but what do you think is the lowest LSAT score/the lowest amount of money I should shoot for before this decision requires a lot more thought. If I just got a half ride, would the better option still be go to LS (assuming I want to be a lawyer and all that), and if I just get sticker at all T14, then it is basically shoot for retake or stick with accounting?
If you have no debt and a job that you can make a decent living with, I wouldn't go to LS unless you go for free. But that's just me - I'm a master's degree engineer making around 85k/yr. I didn't go last year bc I didn't get any full bites from the T14. Retook and am hoping for a couple of options this year. If I had to pay at all it wouldn't make any sense to give up three years of salary (in my opinion) since you never know what life will bring, and I like having options. Taking the golden handcuffs (massive debt to go to LS) scares the f*** out of me, and I won't do it.

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Mikey

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by Mikey » Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:03 am

Do you want to work in accounting or be a lawyer?

Imo, If you don't want to be a lawyer, there's really no need to waste your time going through 3 additional years of schooling for something you don't want.

chingwoo

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Re: 60k annual job no debt vs t14

Post by chingwoo » Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:35 am

guynourmin wrote:
rozes wrote:
Vexination2520 wrote:
perfunctory wrote:It''s about whether you want to become a lawyer. Also, how do you know the tasks of both professions are similar?
I meant I would be doing tax accounting which is a lot of researching then applying the research to the current situation which seems very similar to what some lawyers/law students do.
Go the tax accounting route, because you clearly have no idea what lawyers do.
If you think this is rude, it doesn't make it less true. Go tax accounting, at least for a couple years. Your GPA isn't going anywhere and you haven't even take the LSAT yet. Law school isn't going anywhere either. Two years from now you could realize tax accounting is exactly what you want to do or you could revisit this law school idea. A few years of substantial work experience will also be somewhat helpful with your admissions and post-ls employment situation.

I agree with this.

Also the people who went to my law school (t20) with a big4 background for a couple years cleaned up at OCI. At a T14 with a named scholarship, you would really really have to shit the bed to miss biglaw.

However I'd think about whether going 2 years of big4 -> 3 years law school -> 3 years of biglaw -> in house is really better than say,

5 years of big 4, make manager and go in house at a very competitive salary at a good company.

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