I'd have to go back and retake math/econ classes since I don't remember much. This time, I'd actually have to work hard to get straight As. Then spend the next 5 years after that getting a PhD econ - goal is to work for the Fed or become an Econ prof - CR?

Hopefully, I'd never have to GC again

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476603)

You can’t just snap your fingers and get s PhD esp in an insanely competitive field like Econ.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34614581)

also Econ PhDs are one of the few PhDs that still have high employment rates and can get a job in industry if they need to (my last resort)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476618)

i doubt econ is - there is no real liability for fucking up analyses unless you work for the fed

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476634)

and inhouse law is not stressful. it's just kind of dumb. which academia econ is probably the same.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476644)

i don't like the practice of law

if i were you, maybe i'd just stack cash and start a business

substantively, i liked math/econ much more than law though. i regret going into this profession daily.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476722)

dumb if you'd need to spend time and money to go back and take math classes. if that's the case you're probably not getting into a t15-20. even dumber if you're not just a few years out of college.

and if you're not in a t15 your chances of getting a decent academic gig are not great.

would ultimately be spending 6-8 years + lost income to go back to industry.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476654)

late 20s to early 30s

i majored in math and econ, but forgot a ton of my classes and also didn't do that great in my econ classes due to laziness (got As in my math classes). i'd have to retake everything and get a 4.0.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476706)

if you didn't get great grades in your econ classes the first time around then retaking them won't automatically "make up" for that, admissions is too competitive at top schools

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476730)

I was lazy as hell in undergrad. basically didn't study. I pretty much just half assed everything. Still graduated with like a 3.8 GPA (but not great in econ)

When I did study, I'd get As though

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476742)

your best shot would be if you were able to show demonstrated interest in research since law school. like RAing for an econ prof during law school or having a law + econ publication since graduating. absent that your application would look more like a guy taking a flier at a profession change (which it would be) rather than a good potential researcher. adcoms don't like that.

as it stands i doubt you'd get top 15-20

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476764)

fwiw, my undergrad was pretty rigorous for a school that isn't Caltech/MIT...i mean there wasn't much grade inflation and everything was curved to a B-

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476772)

can't just gloss over poor past grades at these places. definitely not with just one-off classes at least. a full-time masters might help a little but lol @ doing that when you're already in law, and it would just solidify you in the higher mid-tier rather than get you further.

they *will* see you as a job-switcher and not a potential researcher, and they won't like it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476822)

Seems like a very sub-optimal use of time though. You could do it but like ... why? The picture you're painting in your head is pure fantasy. You'd just be grinding through regressions instead of briefs. And you're paying 5+ years of opportunity cost and (for a masters) tuition to do so.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476839)

and not working towards academia would defeat the purpose for him. even if he got this spot he'd have very poor chances at academia.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476851)

Anyway, this is just him fantasizing aloud. But I like to play along.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476872)

Biglaw beats a work ethic into you

In retrospect, undergrad was really fucking easy and if you worked like 1/200th the amount of time you put into biglaw, you'd get a 4.0

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476745)

I swear at least a quarter of the guys who taught me in undergrad were career changers and they ended up in a top tier program.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476803)

I know an ex-military bro who made a similar switch to academia and the person you're replying to is roughly correct about what you'd have to do. Though you could probably do marginally better than big state U if you plan correctly.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476815)

Doing this would actually be very helpful in adjusting your expectations.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476849)

t3 in any field can be "hard" to get into in the sense that if you don't have a near-perfect shit then you'll be a reach at that level

but econ is much more competitive. one of the few academic fields outside of the hard sciences that has good professional prospects if you don't get academia. if you're super smart and "good at philosophy" you might still not want to take the gamble of trying for academia in philosophy by doing a phd. many more people take that gamble in econ.

the culture is very different from that of a humanities/soft social science program. it's not like other departments which are full of people who just "shunned" gc like you're describing. it's full of people who strove really heard specifically for econ and who would be ok with using it as a platform to move into gc work.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3768377&forum_id=2#34476917)