Patrons of the Law (Ep. 132)
It turns out Pepperdine made quite a booboo when reporting the median LSAT score of their matriculating law school students to the U.S. News Rankings. Someone somewhere shit the bed and misreported their median LSAT score by two points. And it had quite an effect on their US News Rankings. Well, dear readers, Pepperdine figured out that they effed up and tried to fix it straight away. But US News Rankings just took them out of the running altogether. Tune in to hear the whole tortured tale, and to hear Nathan explore Pepperdine’s ABA 509 report. Plus, the guys talk more MoviePass and answer some good ol’ fashion listener mail.
34:11 – Email 1—Cover thine ears, ye jealously inclined! Best! writes in asking for help with some decision making. After scoring in the mid 150s, Best! worked her way up to a 174 and then got herself accepted to some truly excellent schools, including Harvard and Columbia. She’s got a full ride to Columbia (CHA-Ching), but Harvard may have more specialized classes that are relevant to her niche area of interest. And if she gets into NYU, she may be drawn to their culture. Where should her priorities lie? Prestige vs. personal comfort. Harvard niche classes vs. Columbia: paid for. Ben and Nathan opine.
44:12 – Email 2—Kurt has been studying for the LSAT since—drumroll, please–2014 y’all. But guess what else. He’s seen his score improve by 30 points. EVEREST. He’s taken a recent LSAT exam and is hoping to score over 170. But while he’s waiting he writes in to share some thoughts with the guys, including his thoughts on Halo Top ingredients. Kurt challenges Nathan to offer some necessary and sufficient conditions under which he would call something “ice cream” as it appears to Kurt that Halo Top, by any other name, is just that.
51:16 – Email 3—Gravy’s been giving this whole “paying for law school” thing a lot of thought. He shares some calculations with the guys to illustrate just what it means when you decide to pay for law school. How would your life be different if you simply took an entry level position with your undergraduate degree? How much money would you need to pull in as a lawyer to make it all worth it? The guys discuss Gravy’s math and agree that the big equals sign at the end of the equation points to one thing: don’t. pay. for. law. school.
1:08:44 – Email 4—An old man meets an angry goose on a path in the park. That’s just the beginning of Dave’s epic tale. He shares his experience in preparing for the LSAT and how fear and trepidation played a big part in doing so the wrong way. After listening to the podcast, he’s started taking the test head on. Grappling with questions. Being an asshole to the answers. And as a result—he’s started to feel much better about taking the test. Nathan points out finer parts of Dave’s well-written email, Ben offers some armchair philosophy, and the guys ponder how the fear of discomfort may be holding them back in their own lives.
1:17:41 – Email 5—RJ needs some help deciding which law school to attend. In his home state of Florida, he’s been accepted to FSU and UF. Each are offering handsome scholarship packages, including a full ride plus stipend to FSU. However, around the proverbial water cooler of life RJ’s been hearing that FU may jump in rankings. Would it open up some future opportunities to go to a better ranked school? Well, dear RJ, as we learned from our fair friends at Pepperdine, there’s no telling what the fuck might happen with FU’s rankings. And furthermore, rankings aren’t going to mean that much. Ben and Nathan urge RJ to do the right thing: don’t pay for law school.