????如果大家認為這些債務呈均勻分布，請再想一想。“眾多法學院的經濟資助結構與幾乎任何其他教育機構的情形剛好相反，”溫特哈爾特說。“入學成績最低的學生（往往是女性，少數族裔，或是來自社會經濟背景處于弱勢的家庭）實際上在補貼入學成績最高的學生，后者往往能夠獲得獎學金。”為了爭奪更高的排名，法學院一門心思地招攬高分申請者，而不是幫助那些或許最需要幫助的學生。

????這個起點當然無助于提升學生對法學生的溫情，法學院起始年級的氣氛非常詭異。溫特哈爾特說，這種情形非常像真人秀《單身漢》(The Bachelor)。他說：“每個人都假裝彼此相處融洽，但在假象之下，顯然存在一股揮之不去、因為競爭壓力導致的緊張感。”

????如果你渴望邁入的法學院聲稱自己與眾不同，你最好不要全盤接受這種說辭。“有一種說法是，波士頓學院堪稱法學院中的迪斯尼樂園(Disneyland)，”溫特哈爾特說。“這顯然只是一個比喻，旨在強調這所法學院多么友善，多么熱情。在我看來，這個比喻形象地表明，它的學生們正在非常虛偽地掩飾自己相互競爭的事實。說到底，它依然是一所層級分明的學校。它依然奉行曲線評分模式。只有一定數量的人才能進入這所學校。在人數眾多的大班，學生們你追我趕，力爭上游。這種相互競爭的動力似乎過于強大。因此，不管大家多么努力地擺出一副友善的表情，都很難完全掩蓋。”

????如果極具競爭意識的學生奮發圖強，但沒有獲得他們想要的東西，那就會造成非常不美妙的后果。“我認為，很多時候，這些學生會覺得真實的世界與他們原來的想象大相徑庭。他們非但沒有步步高升，就連收入也陷于停滯。我認為，從廣義上講，他們會產生某種仇恨心理，”溫特哈爾特說。“這種心理當然讓人們更容易接受對法學院的各種批判，以及那些從意識形態角度對法學院現狀發出的拷問。”

????法學院經受的完美風暴就是這樣醞釀而成的。法學院作為一家教育機構招收了一大批雄心勃勃的學生。它幾乎沒有嘗試過要消除學生們之間存在的經濟條件不平等，直接讓他們相互競爭，最后又把他們扔進一個根本無力消化他們的勞動力市場之中。而當學生陷于困境的時候，學院方面只是聳聳肩，大言不慚地說什么，它們當初根本就沒有保證過畢業后一定能找到專業對口的工作。

????但有一些證據表明，法學院正在采取措施平息如潮水般涌來的指責。過去幾個月，愛荷華大學(University of Iowa)、賓州州立大學(Penn State)和羅杰?威廉姆斯大學(Roger Williams University)等學校相繼削減了法學院的學費。

????為了打消申請者的戒心，就連科克里也給未來的律師們提供了一些實用的建議。“你可能上不起你心目中的首選院校，”他說。“據我了解，公立和私立法學院一年的學費相差很多，前者大約是13,000到16,000美元，后者可能高達56,000到57,000美元。”約翰?馬歇爾法學院每年的全日制學費為41,304美元。

????“那么，這些收費低廉的法學院在哪里找呢？”他補充道。“其實全美各地都有這樣的學校。你可能要做的一件事情是，好好地了解一下這些低收費院校，看看能否被錄取，能否制定一個去那里上學的融資計劃。”

????暫且不談機構改革，多說一些真心話或許是改善法學院處境的第一步。（財富中文網）

????譯者：葉寒

????

????If you think the debt is spread around evenly, think again. "The financial aid structure at so many law schools is exactly the reverse of what it is at just about any other educational institution," Winterhalter says. "The bottom of the entering class -- which tends to be women, tends to be minorities, tends to be people from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds -- effectively subsidizes the top of the class, who get merit-based scholarships." In the scramble for higher rankings, law schools focus on reeling in high-scoring candidates rather than helping students who might need it most.

????This starting point doesn't contribute to warm feelings for law school, which is a notoriously strange atmosphere to begin with. Winterhalter says it's a lot like the reality show "The Bachelor." "Everyone sort of pretends to get along, but it's very clear that beneath the veneer, there's a sort of lingering tension that comes from people's competitive drive," he says.

????And if the law school of your dreams says it's not like the others, you might want to take that claim with a grain of salt. "There's a saying at Boston College that it's the Disneyland of law schools," Winterhalter says. "Apparently, it's supposed to be a metaphor for how nice and friendly and warm and welcoming it is. To me, this is the ... the perfect metaphor for how sort of phony people are about the fact that they're being competitive. At the end of the day, it's still a rigidly hierarchical school. It's graded on a curve. Only a certain number of people can get in. There are big classes where people are fighting to be at the top, and it seems like that social dynamic is just too powerful to be completely overridden, no matter how hard you try to be nice."

????When competitive people work hard and don't get what they want, the result isn't pretty. "I think that often, they feel like what they thought was a mode of moving up in the world ends up just sort of stagnating them economically, and I think that, broadly speaking, people feel sort of bitter about that," Winterhalter says. "That certainly makes people more receptive to critiques of law school and to ideological examinations of what's going on."

????So, there you have it: Law school's perfect storm. As an educational institution, it admits highly ambitious students, pits them against each other with little attempt to level the financial playing field, and releases them into a market that can't absorb them. When students struggle, schools shrug and say they never guaranteed employment in the first place.

????But there's some evidence that law schools are taking steps to put out the fires. In the past few months, schools such as the University of Iowa, Penn State, and Roger Williams University have cut tuition.

????Even Corkery has some disarmingly practical advice for prospective lawyers. "You know, you might not be able to afford to go where you want to," he says. "I think tuition from public schools to private runs from around $13,000 to $16,000 a year, up to probably $56,000 to $57,000." Full-time tuition at John Marshall is $41,304 per year.

????"Now, where are those low-tuition law schools?" he adds. "They're just in pockets across the country. One thing you might do is explore schools with lower tuition and see if you can get admitted and work out financing to go there."

????Institutional reforms aside, maybe the best first step is a little more real talk.