Accelerated Law School

[corpsole2]

Have any of you ever heard of the accelerated law school? It's a fairly new concept that's is starting to spread among top law schools in the U.S. where you earn the J.D. in two years instead of three. But the kicker is you often find yourself with an 18 credit course load every semester. I was looking at the Northwestern University accelerated law degree program, and it seems they try and squeeze three years of material into two.

This is crazy, but if I was to do law school, I'd want to get it done as quickly as possible. Anybody have any experience with this? Is it any worse than a three year program?

[dewisant]

I imagine it would be, ABA is it?

[sanantone]

Couldn't they easily fit 3 years of law school into 2 by including summer semesters?

[corpsole2]

Couldn't they easily fit 3 years of law school into 2 by including summer semesters?

That's exactly how they do it. Normal law schools take summers off to let students pursue legal internships or clerkships, whereas the accelerated version goes non stop for two years. Now, most of them require 12 credits of 'experiential learning', which they describe as gaining real world legal experience alongside their studies.

[LaterBloomer]

I'm going to rain on your parade. Why do you want to go to law school? As a former paralegal, I can tell you that there are lots of folks out there with HEAVY law school debt, and not getting jobs that are commensurate (spelling?) with said debt. Also, have you worked in the field? It blew my mind how many law clerks would say, "I don't want to practice law" after a year's internship. I'm talking at a court level that wasn't NEARLY as tough as working for a private firm.

[corpsole2]

I'm going to rain on your parade. Why do you want to go to law school? As a former paralegal, I can tell you that there are lots of folks out there with HEAVY law school debt, and not getting jobs that are commensurate (spelling?) with said debt. Also, have you worked in the field? It blew my mind how many law clerks would say, "I don't want to practice law" after a year's internship. I'm talking at a court level that wasn't NEARLY as tough as working for a private firm.

I appreciate the unvarnished truth here, Latebloomer. I've heard these opinions before from others.

The truth is, I am looking at several options, and law school is one of them. I am leaning toward an MPA program or an M.A. in Diplomacy, since I want to get into public policy. But I am looking at several ideas, and law school happens to be one of them.

[sanantone]

I recommend a public policy degree for public policy.

[dmjacobsen]

I appreciate the unvarnished truth here, Latebloomer. I've heard these opinions before from others.

The truth is, I am looking at several options, and law school is one of them. I am leaning toward an MPA program or an M.A. in Diplomacy, since I want to get into public policy. But I am looking at several ideas, and law school happens to be one of them.

Right now, going into law is a pretty bad idea. You can find any number of stories via a quick Google search on how the vast majority of new attorneys are having difficulty finding work. As always, anecdotal evidence is sketchy at best, so let's look at some hard numbers:

Attorney surplus/deficit on a state-by-state basis (tl;dr: most states have a great surplus of attorneys): http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/0...blogs&_r=0
USDOL Occupational Outlook for Lawyers (tl;dr: ~50,000 new attorneys each year, ~7,500 new attorney jobs each year): Lawyers : Occupational Outlook Handbook : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

You mention that your goal is to get into public policy, which begs the question: why dump tens -- and in some cases, hundreds -- of thousands of dollars into a law degree, when the MPA will work just as well with your plan, if not better? Sure, most elected officials in high office have law degrees, but is that a requirement for the job? Not at all. Heck, basic common sense isn't a requirement for the job.

If being an attorney is truly your passion, go for it. If working at higher levels of government is more your style, I'd say go for the MPA and start working your way into politics by getting a low-tier elected office and working your way up.

[corpsole2]

Well, I floated the idea of law school because that is traditionally the usual route to public policy careers. That being said, I am more inclined to earn an MPA or MBA, and I am told that these two degrees are considered academic cousins and are interchangeable between the private and public sectors.

Villanova University has a new MPA program I'm looking at; so does Norwich U.

[sanantone]

The MPA doesn't have the same flexibility as the MBA. Public administration is rarely listed as a requirement or preference for openings in the private sector. Business administration is regularly listed for openings in the public sector. But, public policy and public administration aren't the same thing. Also, in reference to what someone else said, most people working in public policy are not elected officials.