There's an excellent article on the stage of law school education in the Washington Post: "Why Law Schools Are Losing Relevance—and How They're Trying to Win It Back."

Bottom line: "Going to law school used to feel like a no-brainer for college graduates seeking financial security. But that calculus has changed...."

My thoughts, as a I reflect on the article:

Two rules:

(1) Borrow money for a top law school only.

(2) Start law school with some kind of game plan from Day 1.

And for anyone considering a non-top law school:

Investigate recent employment stats (at Law School Transparency, because many law schools themselves fudge their numbers), and look up the bar passage rates, too. There's no shortage of grim data. And go into the process assuming you *won't* be a special snowflake in law school and defy all the odds. How does the average student fare at School X, Y, or Z?

And a note to parents, who often have totally outdated assumptions about the security of a law degree, any law degree: Those days are long gone for all but a tiny number of law schools, and even there, students are pounding the pavement more than they used to.

Anna Ivey is the former Dean of Admissions at the University of Chicago Law School and founder of Ivey Consulting. She and her team help college and graduate school applicants make smart decisions about their higher education and submit their best applications possible. Read more law school tips in The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions.