This Graph Shows Why You May Want to Think Twice About Going to Law School

The old conventional wisdom was that law school was a ticket to steady, high-paying work.

The new conventional wisdom is that law school is more of a gamble, but if you can find a job after graduating, you'll make buckets of cash.

It turns out neither is exactly true.

In a breakdown of law school graduates' earning prospects Monday, Business Insider took a look at the huge divide between what graduates of top law schools make and what their colleagues from lower-ranked schools earn — and how the divide can skew reporting.

Image via Business Insider

As the graph above shows, law school grads don't make an "average" salary near $100,000. They either nab a top job paying around $160,000, or they fall into a bigger clump of grads earning between $40,000 and $60,000 — which is right around the national $46,000 average for all workers.

So is law school worth it? If you get into a top school such as Harvard, Yale or the University of Virginia, it may well be. But if you're planning on going to an unranked school, be prepared to study for three years just to earn a salary you could have commanded without a law degree.

Watch Business Insider's breakdown below:

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