I often write about the worthlessness of legal education. Given that I attended Georgetown Law, it doesn’t take a 179 LSAT score to figure out that for the most part, I am talking about that place. Of course, it is nice that they added an olympic sized swimming pool to the place since I graduated. But, I have a funny feeling that GULC grads want jobs, not a big thing of water to play in.
The GULC student bar association came up with an idea as to how GULC could serve them better — by offering more credit for externships (you know, real practical experience). Their proposal is here, and they make a reasonable point.
Stanford gives 12 externship credits; Berkeley gives 10; GW gives 8. Currently, Georgetown gives 2 credits; we’re debating whether to raise that to 3. ( source)
Yeah, call me for an alumni donation. I’ll say the same thing I have for 10 years. “What the hell did you do with the $75K I already gave you?”
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Oh poo. Bisexual vegetarianism and the law was my favorite class!
As a non-practicing GULC grad I can honestly say the I’m glad I know the stuff, even if it only comes in handy when arguing with my mechanic.
A big swimming pool would be fun lol jk
Same as it ever was. Nice job calling them out.
But I guess I won’t be seeing a profile of you in my next alumni magazine. :(
Hoya saxa.
A truly Olympic sized swimming pool allows for a better workout thereby leading to a healthier body which leads to a healthy mind.
Shame on you for lampooning such an improvement! :-)
Oh, don’t get me wrong… I think it was a wonderful addition to the campus. I just think that the effort might have been better spent.
I tend to think most formal education from at least high school on up is largely useless from a practical job-getting standpoint. And as far as G-town getting a donation out of me, I’ll think about that someday when my loans are paid off. Sometimes they do stuff I like and sometimes they do dumb stuff I hate, just like any large institution.
Having said that, my biggest concern with the externship program at this point is whether employers who hire a couple law students for cheap or free would then hire one less graduate for pay. Sure, it would be great if the externship would be like an apprenticeship leading to someone getting hired or at least making the contacts to get hired, but I am not sure it would work that way and wouldn’t just be exploited by places looking to cut their costs with little benefit later to the students. People who want practical skills and contacts will tend to seek out ways to get those anyway, without waiting for a formal externship program to lead the way. (There are already judicial externs all over the place, for example.)
Apart from that, getting a decent job out of G-town is always a crapshoot anyway simply because the classes are so huge, and anyone who doesn’t recognize that going in – or hell, doesn’t recognize going into law school that the country is over-lawyered and just expects to pop out the other end and find a job – is delusional. It’s not so much that I’m in love with law professors and their silly ideas abt quality education (I’d like to see us all go back to “reading law” like Lincoln, it was cheaper and more practical) but more that I’m tired of people who don’t understand that education does not guarantee them a job. The sense of entitlement really turns me off. If the schools mislead people with stupid promises, then someone else like a parent or person in the profession should step in and set people straight so they can spend that hundred grand with eyes wide open.
Apart from that, getting a decent job out of G-town is always a crapshoot anyway simply because the classes are so huge, and anyone who doesn’t recognize that going in – or hell, doesn’t recognize going into law school that the country is over-lawyered and just expects to pop out the other end and find a job – is delusional.
A fair enough perspective. However, for $100,000, I think its students deserve better from a school that touts itself as a “T14.”
I totally agree with you about “reading the law.” I think that law school should be 2 years (with certain undergrad prerequisites), and then a 3 year internship before you can sit for the bar.
Another good reason to withhold donations.
I disagree with m on the crapshoot though – the best advice I got in choosing law schools [in DC with night programs] was to pick G-town even though GW (and maybe GM) has a sexy IP program and I’d probably end up with a higher class rank.
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