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Stubborn Law Students Insist They Would Do It All Over Again

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. on January 29, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

The 2011 Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) is out, and it appears as though law students are as masochistic as ever.

More than 33,000 law students at 95 Canadian and American law schools responded to the web-based survey, which is curated by Indiana University's Center for Postsecondary Research. Researchers asked about on-campus engagement, career services, and overall satisfaction.

And guess what? Eighty percent of respondents said they would definitely or probably do it all over again.

Curiously enough, almost all of the survey's respondents entered law school after 2008 -- when the recession started. Perhaps they haven't yet tried looking for a permanent job?

Or perhaps they just have low expectations? Approximately 84% of students expected to graduate with at least $80,000 in debt also reported being satisfied with career services. Impossible!

Though, 23% of those students did say they would not choose the same school. Maybe they're the sane ones?

The LSSSE data also includes transfer students, who seem to have a bit of an inferiority complex. While they are more likely than their non-transfer counterparts to prepare for class and study, they're less likely to work with others.

Transfer students also keep to themselves outside of class. Data shows that they are less likely to participate in law review, school organizations, clinics or other activities.

An adopt-a-transfer-student program may be in order.

If you want to dig further into the LSSSE results, go ahead and do so here. If not, we'd like to point you to just one more statistic:

Only 51% of female students say they frequently ask questions in class, compared to 68% of men. Ladies, what's going on?

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