I will be graduating this year with a degree in Merchandising Management from UK and have thought about becoming a lawyer.  The merchandising degree is good, but I really don't think I want to become a buyer for a large retail operation.  I also thought about going ahead and getting my MBA, but that will also lean more toward management which I don't want!  If I do decide to go to law school, I would use my JD to become an FBI agent.  The majority of FBI agents hold a law degree or language degree.  My sisters boyfriend works for Merrill Lynch as a broker out of Nashville, but he sometimes works 12-14 hours a day (he is just getting started), so I would presume that the work time will go down when he receives more clients.  He wants me to try to become a broker, but I don't know if I can handle all of the stress (I've owned tech stocks for the last couple years and it just about kill me to watch the ticker anymore)  I love anything that has to do with the markets, but I don't know if I want to make it a career.  Law school is really weighing hard on my mind these coming semesters.  My main concern about law school is if I can manage the grades.  I currently have a 3.5 GPA and have to study for exams (I'm no whiz kid)  How difficult is law school and how hard should I prepare for the LSAT?  If I do decide to go to law school I would love to go to UK, but they require a 155 on your LSAT and at that score they say its competitive.  At 160 you will more than likely be accepted.  What is the average scores and how well did you do on your LSAT the first time(that is if your a lawyer)?  

This is a hard decision, but I don't want to do something for the next 30 years that I hate.  What option would you go with if you were me?

1. Stockbroker
2. Law School
3. FBI
4. Buyer for a major retail operation    
5. Start gun store for AR-15.com members 30% discount to all members [:D] just kidding  

I would just stay in Lexington & scalp tickets to UK basketball games.

I will give you $100.00 usd, cash for your soul, and I will give you first rights to buying it back.

Let me know if you are interested.

You need to figger out what YOU enjoy doing.

THEN figger out a way to make a living at it.

If nothing comes to mind, find something you can tolerate doing, that provides a healthy salary, so you can afford the lifestyle of your choice (i.e. you can purchase LOTS of guns and ammo)

Opting for #3, FBI, will require Law School, an accounting degree, or major language skills.

I chose law school, and I often work 12-14 hour days, in case that matters to you.

I know lawyers who work less and those who work more.

Edited to add:

Re your specific law school questions, the LSAT is (or 15 years ago, WAS) a heavily learnable test format, and I suggest, no DEMAND that you attend an LSAT prep class, a good one, and it won't be free.  It is worth every penny.  Do everything you can to get into the best law school you can.  It will mater for your first job or so, and decrease in importance as your real world performance comes into play, but it is good to be from a good school.

Law school itself was not difficult for me, but I have a good memory and take all forms of tests well. Expect a LOT of reading.  

Go FBI   I this day and age you are sure to see some great action and help the rest of us out.

I will sell you mine for $150. If interested, let me know, and I will tell you where to send the cash.
Upon reciept, I will provide you with documents giving you full rights and title to my soul.

McUZI

Citadel, how much more difficult was law school than receiving your undergrad?

Well, nobody shaved my head and kicked me in the ass, if that's what you mean.

TO me, law school was both harder and easier.  It lacked the structure and manditory study periods, etc of a military college.  I had to consciously sit down and study when there were other things I felt like doing.  You really can't fake reading 6 cases on assumption of the risk and participating in class the next day.

It was kind of one-dimensional compared to undergrad, obviously all classes concentrated on the law to the exclusion of any other subjects, but lots of it is pretty intuitive once you get the idea of how precedent was shaped.

I'll tell you one thing, I was glad it was only 3 years, I did it right after undergrad, and I was ready to stop studying, except then I had to get ready for the bar.

GPA wise, I did a little better in undergrad, but I learned more in law school.  

Law school.  Then become either an ambulance chaser, or a corporate law hack.

the_reject

I am good to go with that, but I need to have the signed contract before monies are exchanged. If you are interested, IM me your name and address and I will get the contract out to you post haste.

Check your IM

I am just holding the souls, in escrow, until at a later date, when it becomes important to the seller (as it always does at some time), we can then work out a reasonable price for it's return.

Contract will go out in the AM.

Good doing business with you.

Hmmm, I value mine much to much to entrust it with another.  I also know that everyone comes to values theres much more when they beleive it is gone.

I'll refrain from making any comment until I cash the check...

I'll just say this..
Souls as a commodity is a very, shall we say, "shnooky" belief, to which I will be glad to profit off of.

, you haven't seen the contract yet...

Buy an LSAT study guide +/-$19.95 and then head to law school.  You won't regret it.

It's pretty tough to sell your soul in a buyer's market.  Right now, the market is glutted, and most of the short sellers have already covered.  You'd do best to hold on and hope for a rally.

Regarding your choice of vocations:  

Life is a series of compromises.  You have to make enough to support yourself, but you don't want to be stuck in a miserable job either.  No one says you have to have your life all figured out right now.  I spent six years in the Navy before I decided on what I wanted to do when I grew up.  Take some time.

It's also okay to change your mind.  When I got out of the service, I spent some time as an equities analyst on the OTC technologies side of the NASDAQ.  I had a good time, and I was paid well, but it wasn't for me.  Now I'm studying electrical engineering and working a menial job with an insurance company at one third my previous pay.  I miss the money, but I know it will pay off in the long term.  Such is life.  

So hold on to that soul, and take some time to figure out what you really want to do.  Don't let others make the decision for you.

Good Luck!

As a side note, I also used to work for Merrill Lynch.  The Series-7 is not hard, but being a broker is a very high stress occupation.  I worked at WFC-N, Merrill's former headquarters adjacent to the World Trade Center.  

What I noticed while I was there is that there are very few middle-aged brokers on the floor.  It was mostly older folks who have been hardened by the business, or young folks looking to make the big bucks.  There is a high rate of attrition.  One of the guys a few chairs down from me died of a heart attack at the age of 35.

I only tell you these things so that you can go in with your eyes open.  Some of the best times I've had were when I worked on the floor.  It was an adrenaline rush, particularly for a young man.  

hielo and McUzi have souls?


[;D]

The law school-FBI route doesn't sound like a bad idea, except that the FBI is one f'd-up organization.

I dont know if being a stockbroker's a good idea.  The way the market's going, it's going to be a generation before you'll find people willing to trust the market and brokers again.

Why buy 'em when there's so many "free" ones available??

Cant' say much about your choices but i can say that what looks good when your young has a tendency to loose it's luster with age. I started out as a biologist and loved the work but the pay sucked and was going to suck for the duration. I went back to school and got an advanced degree in electrical engineering--something i find easy but not too interesting. I make more in one week now than i made in two months back then. Go for the money so you can by back your time to do something you really like in style. just my two cents

There is a high resale market...

You cant actually "sell your soul" as it were..to anyone let alone the devil
As you are your soul...and if you could sell it to the devil ..you wouldnt have to as apart from Christ the devil (if it were possible) would have it by default. However lost souls are not the property of the devil but according to the bible..will share the same accomodations as equal partners...
So apart from Christ...please select a field of endevor were if you cant do the most good at least someplace where you will inflict the least damage... :)

I doubt if any of you useless assholes would get more than a Susan B.........

Me personally, I would go for the MBA. Get a Jr. Analyst or a trading job with a wirehouse. Then work towards portfolio management job. Maybe get a CFA. But then again I am biased cause that what I want to do. [:)]

tsk! tsk! OK gentlemen let's play nice.

Has anyone tried to auction their soul on ebay?
Im not in to this sort of thing, so Im not gonna try...but McUzi...you should consider selling to the highest bidder if your gonna let it go. [:D]

My apologies, folks...I should not drink and post.....

DON'T sell your soul to the devil.
Take it to the redemption center (Jesus)

Ask God for wisdom who gives it to all men who ask- freely.

Read the book "Cold Zero" it has a alternate pathway chronicled into the FBI.

5. Start gun store for AR-15.com members 30% discount to all members  just kidding

30%! You better be kidding!! We want stuff for free prick! [:D]