A Boston College Law 3L wrote a (serious) letter to the dean of the law school asking for his money back on his legal education. Read his letter. It's impressive. It's concise. It's ballsy, and it's true.
My commentary? I feel like he and Ben Folds should team up on this one. More power to this guy. My friends know how often I threaten to "write a letter," and they also know how often I actually do it (not often). This guy actually did it, and I love him for it. Now is he going to get his money back? Absolutely not. Did he probably know that when he wrote the letter? Oh for sure (we're a cynical, yet realistic lot). What's more important here, in my opinion, is that people are speaking up. Lawyers are telling law schools that they can take their over-priced educations and shove it. Lawyers are turning their noses up at the theory that "learning to think like a lawyer" is somehow worth $200,000. The frustrating disconnect, however, remains. Lawyers only understand that the practice of law isn't worth the fortune spent to get there AFTER they've paid that fortune, passed the bar and, like yesterday's video clip, realized that they would never argue in front of the Supreme Court or that the closest they would come to "helping people" is by moving money around for wealthy corporations in order for them to avoid certain tax pitfalls.
I believe there needs to be some sort of entrance interview before law students are actually loaned the $200K to go to law school. Much like "job shadowing" in high school, I think wanna-be lawyers need to spend one month showing up to a firm and watching what most lawyers do all day. If, after that, you want to take out 200 G's to be that person someday, have at it (but you're an idiot). There's something to be said for informed decision making, and the reality of the situation is that, for most lawyers, the practice of law is not glamorous. For the vast majority, it won't result in a fortune overnight (or even after 20 years) because it turns out that you have to pay all that money back (with interest... not cheap interest either) when you graduate.
The irony here is that this guy is better off going back to teaching, where he'll be paid by the state. He will be required to pay a percentage of his salary, and after ten years, as a result of his public service, his loans will be forgiven. So in the end, he took a three-year, extremely expensive detour in life. But hey, "he learned to think like a lawyer." Which he can pull out at cocktail parties and use to impress his class full of 12 year-olds.
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