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New Podcast Shows Aspiring Lawyers What Law Is Really About

By U.S. News & World Report

Prospective law school applicants often spend hours researching which careers they can pursue after getting a J.D. and which schools can help them reach these careers. But it’s almost impossible to thoroughly investigate every possible law job. From labor law to human rights work to health care, there’s an endless number of options.

” I Am The Law,” a new podcast on what life in the legal profession is really like, may help with some of this legwork.

The podcast lets legal professionals in areas such as family law, patent law and real estate law describe what their jobs are like and how they started their careers. The show debuted in January, and each episode is about 20 minutes long.

Kyle McEntee, a 2011 graduate of the law school at Vanderbilt University, is part of the team behind “I Am The Law.” It’s in line with another of McEntee’s ventures, Law School Transparency, an organization that provides detailed employment data from law schools and tools that help prospective students project their cost of attendance.

Find out [which law admissions trends 2015 applicants should know about.]

“We focus on quantitative information so much that we wanted to add more qualitative information to the mix, to help people make that informed decision about pursuing a particular career,” says McEntee. “The law is about so much more than what you can glean from statistics. And also more than you can glean from news articles and TV shows and movies and those sorts of things.”

The podcast, McEntee says, is for prospective and current law students, as well as law school alumni. He hopes the show will more accurately portray what law is like and go beyond the big-firm life so often seen on television.

“Our task here is public education,” McEntee says. “We’re doing it through the lens of journalism.”

We spoke with McEntee about how the show is produced and how prospective and current students can make smart decisions about their legal careers. An edited excerpt of our conversation, and an episode of “I Am the Law,” is below.

How do you select guests for the show?

Every episode is a different law school graduate. The vast majority of them are and will be lawyers. We are making our selections based on trying to provide a fair cross-section of what the profession is. That means gender diversity, racial diversity, practice area diversity, employer type and employer size diversity.

We have a lot of small-firm attorneys on the show, and that will always be the case because that’s what the legal profession is like. That’s what people end up doing. We’ll never have more than 10 to 15 percent of our shows being people from big firms.

Take [this quiz to see if you’re ready to apply for law school.]

Why? Are lawyers at big firms not a huge representation of the market?

Exactly. That’s the story that’s usually told both on TV and through the articles in The New York Times and The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.

You hear about what’s happening at the big firms, and it’s sexy. I get it. But our goal is to help people make informed decisions that are applicable to them. And the vast majority of people will never work at firms like that. Largely because they don’t want to, but also because those jobs are very difficult to get unless you’re at a very prestigious law school.

What do you hope prospective law students learn from the podcast?

I hope they learn more about themselves and what they actually want to do and then use that information to make smarter choices about where they go to law school and how much they’re willing to pay.

Consider [four things when selecting a cost-efficient law school.]

Why present this information in podcast form?

I think podcasts are growing in popularity. With so many people obsessing over ” Serial“, that could not have happened at a better time.

People interact in such a specific way with podcasts. It’s deeply engaging. You can’t watch a video when you’re driving, or you can’t watch a video when you’re in the shower. But you can play a podcast when you’re in the shower or when you’re driving.

Podcasts are on demand. When you’re ready to listen, you listen — you control it entirely. You can rewind.

What else can prospective law students do to learn more about legal careers?

Listen to some of our episodes and then mimic our hosts anytime you can. Ask questions of lawyers to demand that the people you talk to go beyond the surface.

Searching for a law school? Get our complete rankings of Best Law Schools.

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New Podcast Shows Aspiring Lawyers What Law Is Really About originally appeared on usnews.com

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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