\
  The most prestigious law school admissions discussion board in the world.
BackRefresh Options Favorite

Dental School or Law School?

I am trying to choose between dentistry or law as a career. ...
hairraiser set idea he suggested
  07/23/10
tl;dr DENTAL PLAN!
pungent irradiated piazza sneaky criminal
  07/23/10
tl;dr DENTAL PLAN!
filthy selfie death wish
  07/23/10
LISA NEEDS BRACES!
pungent irradiated piazza sneaky criminal
  07/23/10
DENTAL PLAN!
filthy selfie death wish
  07/23/10
LISA NEEDS BRACES! Dude, read what you wrote...you answer...
Well-lubricated soggy mood
  07/23/10
DENTAL PLAN!
filthy selfie death wish
  07/23/10
discounted dental plan
Passionate Dingle Berry
  09/05/10
...
yapping internal respiration
  08/03/10
tl;dr DENTAL PLAN!
vivacious cruise ship international law enforcement agency
  09/05/10
If you can deal with nasty ass mouths for a living, be a den...
Appetizing slimy windowlicker theater stage
  09/06/10
mba
Fuchsia hyperventilating garrison
  07/23/10
The only safe career these days is rap producer.
Snowy electric furnace
  09/05/10
Killself
Impressive dilemma faggotry
  09/05/10
This is a dumb question.
Lascivious awkward boltzmann
  09/05/10
Dental School is pretty obviously tcr.
shivering candlestick maker half-breed
  09/05/10
Dentists are only good at one thing: suicide. "zOM...
Titillating Flirting Gaping Ticket Booth
  09/06/10
My dentist seems like he loves his life. Banks like 300k a y...
shivering candlestick maker half-breed
  09/06/10


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: July 23rd, 2010 7:55 PM
Author: hairraiser set idea he suggested

I am trying to choose between dentistry or law as a career. (I realize that these are very different fields)

Although I enjoy learning philosophy, economics, law, politics, etc, after reading sites like this, it seems as though law is a pretty depressing career for someone trying to make six figures. Correct me if what I have gleaned is wrong: It's $160,000 a year to start at a corporate law firm but one only gets this type of job if one goes to a top school with top grades. Otherwise, every other law job pays substantially lower with little chance of making a 6-figure income down the line? I am not taking into account ITE here because I'm a going to be a sophomore in college. Shouldn't the legal job market be substantially improved by the time I am out of law school?

From what I understand from websites like this, a corporate law job consists of stressful 80 hour work weeks involving doing meaningless bullshit, endless ass-kissing and a non-existent work-life balance. You constantly have to be watching your blackberry when you're off work and you get limited vacations. Is this accurate?

Also, does one get salary increases if one is not a partner at a Big Law firm? Apparently, a small percentage of associates actually make partner so does this mean that one is locked into the $160,000/yr starting salary and brutal work hours for life if one does not eventually make partner? Do the hours ever wind down?

Do people actually enjoy practicing law? My impression from sites like this and Above the Law is that the majority of lawyers are pessimistic and find law school and the practice of law to be a huge scam. However, would I be correct in theorizing that there is a self-selection bias on sites like this? A happy lawyer is less likely to go search "lawyer and misery" on Google or post on a forum about how much law sucks, right? So is this sentiment typical of lawyers as a whole? Are the majority of lawyers miserable and filled with regret? Is the decision to go to law school tantamount to putting your nuts on a stove as is depicted on these websites?

The other field I am looking at is dentistry. An average dentist in my area can get 180-200k a year with 35 hour work weeks for life once he gets his practice settled. If one is really good, one can make upwards of 500k and if one gets into certain rackets (franchising practices, doing cosmetic work, etc) one can potentially make upwards of $1 million a year. (Although a very small percentage of people actually achieve this). All the dentists I know have huge houses (at least in my eyes) and they work Monday-Thursday. I shadowed one and it seemed like a very chill job. The dentist I shadowed talked about movies with the staff and chatted with patients all day and had the TV on as he was working on teeth. The assistants did most of the work. It seemed like a very low stress environment. Plus, he had 3 day weekends. Dentists are their own bosses and can set their own hours and vacations. In fact, some alternate between a Monday-Thursday work week and a Tuesday-Friday work week so that every other week, they have a 4 day weekend. No ass kissing involved, etiher. However, the debt from a dental school is higher than law school and one has to buy an expensive practice.

Also, it doesn't matter where one goes to dental school when speaking in terms of future job success. One only needs to get average grades in D-school and if one isn't trying to get into specialties, it is not a cutthroat environment at all.

I care little about **prestige** so I don't care if I am looked down upon for being a dentist (zOMG hAve FUN WITH YOUR haNDS In peOple's moUthS all Day lawlz) if it potentially pays more for less hours, tons less stress and an ability to actually enjoy the money I am making.

Hypothetically, lets say I have the choice between going to a T6 Law school and getting good grades or going to a dental school and getting good grades. Which path makes the most economic sense (when taking into account the additional debt and opportunity cost of the extra year of dental school and the debt from buying a practice) if one has an equal interest in both areas of study? Which seems like a better deal in terms of effort/reward? Does corporate law get better after a few years in the business? Is one locked into the starting salary and brutal hours for life if one doesn't make partner? What naive mistakes have I made in my analysis?

(Sorry for the length of this post!!!)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15591370)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 23rd, 2010 7:55 PM
Author: pungent irradiated piazza sneaky criminal

tl;dr

DENTAL PLAN!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15591374)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 23rd, 2010 7:56 PM
Author: filthy selfie death wish

tl;dr

DENTAL PLAN!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15591376)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 23rd, 2010 7:57 PM
Author: pungent irradiated piazza sneaky criminal

LISA NEEDS BRACES!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15591387)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 23rd, 2010 7:59 PM
Author: filthy selfie death wish

DENTAL PLAN!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15591395)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 23rd, 2010 10:16 PM
Author: Well-lubricated soggy mood

LISA NEEDS BRACES!

Dude, read what you wrote...you answered your own question.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15592458)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 23rd, 2010 10:16 PM
Author: filthy selfie death wish

DENTAL PLAN!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15592465)



Reply Favorite

Date: September 5th, 2010 9:31 PM
Author: Passionate Dingle Berry
Subject: discounted dental plan

you will be surprised at the affordability of the discounted dental plan with coverage through http://www.dentalcall.com/. Log on today and check out their rates.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15973759)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 3rd, 2010 3:14 AM
Author: yapping internal respiration



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15688336)



Reply Favorite

Date: September 5th, 2010 9:34 PM
Author: vivacious cruise ship international law enforcement agency

tl;dr

DENTAL PLAN!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15973776)



Reply Favorite

Date: September 6th, 2010 1:05 AM
Author: Appetizing slimy windowlicker theater stage

If you can deal with nasty ass mouths for a living, be a dentist.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15975434)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 23rd, 2010 10:16 PM
Author: Fuchsia hyperventilating garrison

mba

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15592466)



Reply Favorite

Date: September 5th, 2010 9:36 PM
Author: Snowy electric furnace

The only safe career these days is rap producer.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15973800)



Reply Favorite

Date: September 5th, 2010 9:38 PM
Author: Impressive dilemma faggotry

Killself

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15973821)



Reply Favorite

Date: September 5th, 2010 9:40 PM
Author: Lascivious awkward boltzmann

This is a dumb question.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15973840)



Reply Favorite

Date: September 5th, 2010 9:46 PM
Author: shivering candlestick maker half-breed

Dental School is pretty obviously tcr.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15973901)



Reply Favorite

Date: September 6th, 2010 12:32 AM
Author: Titillating Flirting Gaping Ticket Booth

Dentists are only good at one thing: suicide.

"zOMG hAve FUN WITH YOUR haNDS In peOple's moUthS all Day lawlz" is not only a prestige thing -- it's a likely cause of hating your life. Enjoy.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15975149)



Reply Favorite

Date: September 6th, 2010 2:18 AM
Author: shivering candlestick maker half-breed

My dentist seems like he loves his life. Banks like 300k a year in a low COL area and works less than 40 hours a week. Plus, he barely touches anyone's teeth. He makes his assistants handle most of the grosser stuff.

It's a pretty sweet gig. If I could go through school over again, I'd probably try to be a dentist.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1376209&forum_id=2#15976062)