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[achangeisgonnacome]

So, to briefly introduce myself: I'm about to enter my second year at a very good law school, but I am sort of unhappy with my choice.  Before entering law school, I felt the desire to do something practical with my life.  I was (and still am) very interested in intellectual property law, but as my first year of law school progressed, I felt myself drifting away from that ambition and back towards my main love of literature.  I got OK grades in my first year and will probably be able to land a high paying job after graduation, but this is not a huge deal for me, as money has never been a big deal in my life.  I feel very different from the majority of my peers and do not fit the "law school stereotype"; most of my friends were incredibly surprised that I was entering law.  At any rate, all extraneous information aside, I think I am a prime example of someone who didn't think for long enough before entering law school (took only a year off between college and law school, and was dealing with major personal problems during that year).  I think that I would have an OK life if I pursued law, but I obviously want to pursue the field that makes me happiest.  I'm also still quite young (24) and have few restraining factors (other than some debt from law school) to hold me down. 

However, I'm a bit concerned about a few things.  First, speaking honestly, I don't think I could be happy entering a program that doesn't have a decent to good placement for graduates.  My college GPA at a reasonably well renowned school was decent but not amazing (3.68), although my GPA in English was significantly higher (~3.8).  In my field of interest, British Romanticism, I did an Honors Thesis and received all A's in any related classes, so that's something in my favor, I guess.  The majority of the grades that pulled my GPA down were math classes (I was both an English major and a math major).  I am reasonably acquainted with French and German and received A's in those classes as well.  I'm also traditionally a very strong standardized test taker, and while I certainly don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, I can't foresee myself doing poorly on the regular GRE if I studied for it (and boy, am I motivated).  The GRE Subject Test is another beast, of course, but I think I could do OK on that as well if I studied a lot.

Anyway, all of this is a longwinded way of asking: am I potentially a competitive applicant at good PhD programs, taking all the above information into account?  I've surveyed a few of the top schools' websites, and the entering student statistics have been somewhat discouraging in that regard (median GPA of ~3.85, for instance).  If anyone could help me figure out the answers to some of these questions, I would greatly appreciate it.  Sorry if anything is confusing; I was stirred to write this quite late and my thoughts may be slightly jumbled.   

[klaradeb]

OP, assuming you're legit, a word of warning: for your sake I hope that you've done your homework, read everything you could find on this site and others about the current state of the job market in English, and realize that asking this particular question on these forums is not for sissies.

Everybody says they don't care about money when they're 24 with no dependents.

[tuxedo_cat]

I think that I would have an OK life if I pursued law, but I obviously want to pursue the field that makes me happiest.  

Do you know what people actually study in grad school in this field?  (in top programs, not a whole lot of literature)  Do you have any concrete familiarity with what the life of an English professor is actually like (including the job market)?  And how much in school loans for law school are we actually talking about?

It sounds like you went into the study of law without doing your homework about either the training or the profession.  Don't make this mistake twice.

[larryc]

Yes you could get in to a good program. No you could not land a job afterwards.  Don't do it.

[jackit_n_tyy]

My advice:  Pursue IP law -- a thriving, multifaceted, and interesting profession -- and enjoy lit on the side.  As larryc says, there are few jobs in lit.

[snowbound]

There is only one good reason to go into an English PhD Program:  Love literature? Nope. Long to be a teacher?  Nope.  Would like a professor lifestyle?  No again.  The only good reason is that you just can't imagine anything else you would rather do than immerse yourself in this stuff for years in grad school. So you do it, regardless of the impracticalities and the small chance of eventually making it to a desirable tenured position in a good location.  Given the horrendous state of the job market, it is a crazily impractical thing to do.  

That doesn't mean it's a "wrong" decision necessarily.  Is someone who chooses the life of a professional actor or musician "wrong" to do so?  If you go into it with your eyes open and the certainty that this is what you want to do, regardless of the outcome, then great!  Go for it!  That passion for what you're doing will help carry you through the process and will increase your chance of actually landing a good job.

THis doesn't sound like you though. For one thing, your desire a year ago was to go to law school.  And for another thing, you say

I don't think I could be happy entering a program that doesn't have a decent to good placement

. Your concern about the placement record of the program you enter is wise (though grads from even excellent programs are having a very hard time finding jobs), but the way you put it makes me wonder whether the likely prospect of a job at the end is a key consideration in whether to go to grad school at all.  If it is, DON'T GO.  

You're only 24.  You have time to change your mind and to make a number of false starts.  But it does start to have some longterm effects.  If you switch to grad school inEnglish, then drop out (most people who enter fall by the wayside at some point during the average 7-8 years it takes to complete a PhD inEnglish), I assume it will be very hard to get back into a law school, right?  So don't make a rash decision.  Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[punchnpie]

IP law is like a license to print money. If you can hack it, stay with it - you're going to need that license to pay off your law school loans.

I'm not an English PhD, but I do have a JD and PhD. Law, except for a few fields and a few schools, is not the high-paying field many think it is. The competition for jobs is tremendous, the money for any but the top grads from top schools is just average, and there you are making 50K with 150K in law school debt. It's been years since I advised people to go into law.

Others have mentioned the job market in English. Go back and read the various threads on this topic. Do yourself a favor and don't go.

Cut your losses (and your law school load debt) now and just stop. Get a job while you figure out what you really want to do.

[janewales]

OP, I'm struck by your emphasis on GPA in your post. I've been the director of an English grad program for a few years, and while of course we care about GPA, one of the most important elements for us in a PhD application package is the research proposal. We look for an original, sophisticated proposal that is a good fit for the research interests of our faculty. Do you have an area in mind? A topic? A proposal of this sort?

It's a huge gamble, undertaking a PhD in English these days. If you don't already have a burning need to do this work, and a field in which you propose to work, then just don't do it. And if you DO have that topic and that need, then you still shouldn't do it, at least not if you have to pay anything at all for the privilege. If you can get a full ride (a REAL full ride) in a good program, then OK (though even then you need to be realistic about what happens after you've finished the degree). But you sound more disillusioned with law school, than committed to a particular topic in English. Maybe you could just take a leave from your program for a year, and do some stock-taking. There are options beyond law school and a PhD in English...

[prytania3]

I think that I would have an OK life if I pursued law, but I obviously want to pursue the field that makes me happiest. 

The field of unemployment?

[punchnpie]

I think that I would have an OK life if I pursued law, but I obviously want to pursue the field that makes me happiest. 

The field of unemployment?

I almost wet my pants on that one.  OP, take heed. She ain't lyin'.

I don't know why academics think it is so terrible to take a look at their interests, see where there's a market, and try to marry the two in their degree. It's not a sin to make a living, it's not a sin to be in a field with demand. You can be happy doing a number of things, if you put your mind to it.

[prytania3]

I think that I would have an OK life if I pursued law, but I obviously want to pursue the field that makes me happiest. 

The field of unemployment?

I almost wet my pants on that one.  OP, take heed. She ain't lyin'.

I don't know why academics think it is so terrible to take a look at their interests, see where there's a market, and try to marry the two in their degree. It's not a sin to make a living, it's not a sin to be in a field with demand. You can be happy doing a number of things, if you put your mind to it.

Here Punch, have a Poise.

Seriously, dude, I'm an English professor, and I've read A LOT of literature. I mean, I've read all of Balzac, but guess what? After a while, you've read so much that the books have to get better and better to satisfy--and when they aren't out there--screw it--you quit reading and take up accounting.

Of course, you don't care about money. You're young. That'll change.

[palla]

Before getting a PhD, do research on the job outlook.  Read the job-seeking experiences threads.  Research the number of recent PhD grads without academic jobs. The job outlook is horrible, even for those with great qualifications.  I know PhD who is installing fences because he has to feed his family.  Think carefully before getting a PhD.

[prytania3]

Before getting a PhD, do research on the job outlook.  Read the job-seeking experiences threads.  Research the number of recent PhD grads without academic jobs. The job outlook is horrible, even for those with great qualifications.  I know PhD who is installing fences because he has to feed his family.  Think carefully before getting a PhD.

I went out with a guy who owned a fence company. He was a laid-off accountant. He was making a fortune on fences--

[systeme_d_]

I went out with a guy who owned a fence company. He was a laid-off accountant. He was making a fortune on fences--

That's because good fences make good neighbors, as Robert Frost reminded us, in "Mending Wall."

Oh my gosh, we're back to English!