Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Why, Oh WHY????

So apparently, I'm not reaching people. I came across this article in the Daily Iowan and nearly up-chucked. In short, University of Iowa's law school applicants has increased by 53%!!! Shut up. I'm so upset.

Well, I guess that has always been the trend. When people cannot find gainful employment--they go to school. Tradition has always said that law school is a wise decision. This is the premise that I seek to usurp daily. It is an extremely UN-wise decision.

But wait! A further read of the article reveals that it's not the economy that is causing the people to stampede UI's law school, but "largely a result of more aggressive recruiting efforts."

I'm pretty convinced that the ABA paid off this newspaper because the author included the following fibs:

"In previous years, the mortgage and credit crises have forced application numbers down as potential students struggled just to stay afloat, he said. But people are adjusting now and realizing they can be accepted to and pay for law school, he said.

People are also realizing the benefits of a law degree in the current economy. Officials agree when the economy falls, interest in graduate programs increases." [emphasis added]

University of Michigan (Tier 1) and Michigan State (Tier 3) say that they did not do more recruiting. The blame the severe increase in applicants, 50% and 40% increase respectively, on the economy alone.

Thank goodness, all of the schools do not plan on increasing enrollment. UI seeks quality--not quantity.

I think that I'm going to post a comment on this article to dissuade students from going to school. I have to think of something good to say.

This all reminds me of when I was young. I was very good in school. According to my mother, the more school smarts I picked up, the more real world smarts fell out of my head. She said, "with every degree, you lose some common sense." Yah.. my mom can be a meanie. My point is, there are so many kids that are so brilliant that they will be able to get into a competitive law school like UI, despite the increased number of applicants. However, these same students are not intelligent enough to reconsider going to law school.

Ironic, isn't it?


2 comments:

  1. Here is an ATL article that reports a 62% increase in law applicants to Iowa's college of law:

    http://abovethelaw.com/2009/11/applications_up_way_up_at_iowa.php

    I'll comment on the article you cited, as this school is 2 hours east of my third tier law school. Yeah, they CONSTANTLY stress "We are a top 25 school," but does this really make this an exceptional school?!

    I also lost a fair amount of broader knowledge during law school - I am now getting back to reading the classics, artwork, mathematics, and biology. Many of my law "professors" were legal pinheads - nothing else really mattered much to them.

    This also reminds me of one of my favorite quotes (from Bertrand Russell): "Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education."

    Also, take a look at the comment, on my blog, from an Iowa Law Review student (he is second in his class and has no job prospects):

    http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/2009/11/next-up-third-tier-commode-albany-law.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow... if no. 2 at IU was screwed this year... I feel bad for the rest of the class. This school is a first tier failure.

    ReplyDelete

 

Blog Template by YummyLolly.com - Header Image by Arpi