I don't know what the people before me were talking about, and clearly neither do they. Reading your questions indicates, quite obviously, that you already have a BA. It's true that's the requirement to enter law school, but experience and LSAT scores play a large part, too. I graduated with a BA in History (also a worthless degree unfortunately) with the goal of going to law school. My mother died during my senior year and I had some other personal problems and I didn't take the LSAT or apply to law school when I should have, so I had to either enroll in something else or face the prospect of paying all of my undergrad loans without being able to get a job anywhere besides the local car wash. I decided to get an associate's and work as a paralegal for a while. I ended up really enjoying it and worked as a paralegal for 5 years before finally taking the LSAT and applying to Fordham. Since it had been 5 years, they barely looked at my transcript and during the admissions interview instead asked me a lot of questions about my experience as a paralegal.

I was accepted and, as a result of my paralegal work and life experience, found my classes to be considerably easier than my younger classmates. I scored a clerkship out of law school and have been working (successfully I think) as a litigator for the last 9 years. None of that would have been possible without my paralegal degree and I don't regret getting it (or using it) for a second.

That plan worked for me, and I can't say for sure that it would work for somebody else but it sounds like you have a good plan, good thinking, and a clear idea of where you want to go so I'd be optimistic. Good luck to you!

No, an associate's will NOT help you. I am kind of shocked that you are even considering this! If you end goal is to attend law school, you should already know that you CANNOT get into law school with an associate's degree or roll your grades over to make your undergraduate work look more credible. If you really tanked with your bachelor's, then you are stuck unless you plan on starting completely over with a whole different bachelor's degree. Becoming a paralegal has nothing to do with law school.

If you want to go to law school, study your butt off and get a good LSAT score. That is the only way.

You want to trade one worthless degree for another this time in law.........consider this........

56 thousand law degrees are awarded each year........with thousands in the pipe line......law is and will be saturated for years and years.........get something in the health field and you won't have to starve trying to pay off your 200K student loan........just look in the yellow pages under lawyers.......page after page of attorneys begging for work........the new software can do 90% of what you would hire a lawyer to do.........for $40 bucks........

No. Of course, it depends on what your goals are. If you are seeking to endlessly pay law schools money, go for it. If you are seeking employment, forget it.

Previous-poster "kapn" knows what he is talking about. But watch out for "Oldlady"< she's a disbarred attorney.

Choosing a career is one of life's most important and difficult decisions. But knowing what your expectations are, and then comparing them to the realities will help you make educated decisions.

We simply already have way too many Legal Professionals. AND the legal profession is dramatically changing: it is in absolute CRISIS! Job searching in this vocational field has changed >>DRAMATICALLY<< in the last five years. And, every year, more and more people graduate from law school, but there are fewer and fewer jobs. Even the largest and most reputable law firms are experiencing unprecedented cutbacks. I don't expect the situation to improve in the coming years.....

Be aware of what you are proposing on getting yourself into. Please do more research first. Reminder: We are STILL in a World-wide Recession. Obviously, economic conditions affect the number of jobs available. Consider career paths that have available JOBS.<< Even in a Recovery, there are some jobs that just won't return - the field of Law won't make a comeback. Too many things have changed in this vocational field.

Warning> Jobs in the field of Law are drying up fast!! This no longer is a good field to invest time and/or money into. This is a SHRINKING, crumbling, and dying vocational field. Many, many reasons: We now have computers. So, many people today (mistakenly) think they can do their own legal work, thanks to the Internet and legal books. Also, there are a lot of companies out there making very efficient legal software for the field of Law. Today's graduating lawyers tend to be very computer savvy, so they just do the work themselves to save themselves the cost of overhead - they aren't hiring legal staff. Also, the "Public" buys this legal software/law books in order to get legal work done without the expense of an Attorney. Also, we simply already have way too many Legal Professionals - we just have an absolute glut!! ("Legal Professionals" includes, but is not limited to: Attorneys/Lawyers, Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc) For example: Sites like legalzoom.com have taken away work that many small-time attorneys/lawyers would do/used to do.

The field of Law has a mystique that actually exceeds reality. The field of Law is a vastly overrated career - especially by television.<< There are many myths regarding the field of Law:

**myth: working as a legal professional is mentally challenging (Actually, most work as a legal professional involves mountains of routine paperwork: research, cite checking, drafting documents, and document review. Legal professionals need to write down and track EVERY activity they do, all day long [in 6 to 15 minutes increments, depending on the billing system] - a painstaking but necessary task - handling details is a large part of working as a legal professional),

**myth: being a legal professional is thrilling, high-powered, and glamorous (remember: television is FICTION - the fictional legal professionals on TV are ACTORS - the majority of work that a legal professional completes, does not happen in a courtroom),

**myth: law students think that because they are good at arguing they will become great legal professionals (Actually being a great legal professional is more in one's ability to mediate between differing sides and bringing them to agreement/compromise. Many people mistakenly think that being a legal professional is about the ability to argue. Actually, a successful legal professional is defined by his/her commitment to the PEACEFUL resolution of disputes. Legal professionals are actually: mediators, advocates, negotiators, advisors, evaluators, and peaceful intermediaries between clients.),

**myth: as a legal professional I can correct injustices (actually legal decisions are more about reaching compromises than about right vs. wrong),

**myth: guaranteed financial success (actually when salaries are compared, you also need to account for cost-of living expenses [most large law firms are in large cities - the bigger the city, the more cost-of-living expenses will be], payment of debts accrued while attending law school, and time needed to build a client base. Many large law firms require legal professionals to work overtime. There are a FEW legal professionals that earn a lot of money - but MOST legal professionals just about make a living. Most attorneys do not make as much money as most people think, and attorneys have to pay their staff. Also, remember: there are more legal professionals than there are available jobs.).

And then, to top it off, legal professionals have to keep their client's information confidential. (You cannot use "juicy" tidbits that you have become aware of as fodder for the gossip circles.)

Law is a more demanding profession than most people realize. It is NOT like what you see on TV.

Cost of law school to be lawyer, approx $150,000+. Be prepared to take on a LOT of debt, if becoming an attorney is your "true", ultimate goal!!!<<<

There are no jobs in this vocational field. I have watched as my family, coworkers, friends, acqaintances, etc. as they have been laid off left and right in this vocational field.

Regarding being a Paralegal: Employers (usually law firms) in the field of Law today want employees with >>>BACHELORS<<< degrees in Paralegal Studies from traditional (bricks and mortar) colleges/universities. An "Associates" is considered worthless in the vocational field of Law, in this part of the country.

Even if you do finish law school, you won't be able to find a job when you are done. Since this vocational field is shrinking (at an alarming rate), many new attorneys/lawyers are, themselves, having to work "down" as Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc, to simply try to keep some of their bills paid <<this would be your competition. And the competition is fierce in TODAY's job market!!

Now... the law schools know this, but they won't tell you the truth >that the job market/economy is just SATURATED with way too many Legal Professionals. Instead the schools will feed you a fairytale and will LIE to you. The root of the problem is we already have too many law schools. We are STILL in a Recession, and the schools are fighting for their own survival - they will tell students anything to get to the students' money. (Which is why they won't tell you the truth about the job market for the field of Law.) And these schools continue to recruit and churn out even more graduates.............Remember>>> law schools are BUSINESSES - their TOP concern is making money for themselves.

>>>>>THE #1 MOST IMPORTANT THING (and I can't stress this enough>>>): You ESPECIALLY have to beware of the BOGUS, INFLATED law school salary/job stats given out by >law schools< (AND by the U.S. Bureau of Labor)!!***<<<<<

If you don't believe me, then:

**Check out these websites:

http://informeddecisionmaking.blogspot.c¦

http://calicocat.com/2004/08/law-school-¦

http://abajournal.com/news/triplt_bad_ne¦

http://lawschoolscam.blogspot.com

http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/

>>>>>>>>>>http://beingaparalegalsucks.blogspot.com¦

(A link to a website does not constitute endorsement.)

**do a SEARCH here on Yahoo Answers to see what other posters are saying about the current status of the field of Law. Call some local law firms - ask to speak to the Manager of Human Resources - ask them if they are hiring; ask them what they think about future job availability in the field of Law..................

**Do "informational interviews" with several paralegals from at least two or three different firms. (You can find how to do "informational interviews" from your local Public Library - ask the Librarian.) Interviewing employed paralegals can be a time-efficient and extremely beneficial way of discovering if law is the right vocational field for you. Talk to a few Human Resource Managers who work at employers in the field of Law. Ask them what their opinion is on future job availability for the field of Law. Ask them if they have any current open positions. Ask them how many resumes they receive when they advertise ONE open position. (It is ususally approximately 300 resumes are received for each open position advertised.)

**Talk to recent graduates. Ask them what success they are having finding employment opportunities. <<<<

If you want a JOB when you are done with your studies, consider and look into the fields of: >>>Healthcare<<<, Information Technology, Law ENFORCEMENT, environmentalism, emergency planning, accounting, education, entertainment, utilities, home-car-commercial-industrial repairs, vice industries, clergy, and/or debt collection. I spoke to a career counselor from Jobs and Family Services, and HE told me that these areas are where the jobs are, and future job opportunities/availability....and scholarships.

There are MANY issues of working in the vocational field of Law. My answer is an attempt to give you a realistic way of looking at this career.

If you own a degree - or any other qualification - then you'll already be in front of of the bunch when it comes to looking for careers. My mate has a degree and he wasn't sure what direction to go with it, but he unearthed some excellent tips and tricks on the site in the resource box below which aided him to settle that he wanted to be a lab assistant. There is a lot of assistance on the site regarding other careers.