Law school should not be a default decision for those looking for someplace to be for the next three years while they map out their lives. The cost today is simply too high.

It happens at nearly every conference. Following my presentation, he or she is usually the last one in line, having patiently waited for other student journalists to talk with me about their specific media law problem.

"I'm thinking of going to law school. I want to do what you do."

Alas, I think to myself, looks like we're going to lose another good one. But it's inevitable. Once the seeds are planted, it's hard to cure the "law bug." So I give them my best advice.

For some reason, student journalists are attracted to the law like an itch to a dog. I was. But it makes sense. Journalism typically attracts people who want to know what makes the world tick. Law often attracts people who want to make the world tick better.

Journalism can provide a breadth of intellectual stimulation not found in many other careers. And though law is becoming increasingly specialized, the diversity of legal practices is something that many "generalist" student journalists find attractive.

There are also a heck of a lot of "words" in the law, whether it is reading them or writing them. That's an environment that typically is pretty comfortable for most student journalists.

But the law is not for everyone. Unless you know that you want to be a lawyer - or are one of the few lucky ones to land a full ride scholarship that affords some experimentation - one of the first things I tell prospective law students is that gone are the days when one went to law school simply because learning to "think like a lawyer" could never hurt. I'm afraid many smart, talented student journalists end up in law school mainly because they are smart and talented and feel that some "higher" calling is expected of them (and who in their right mind would choose medical or business school?)

If you don't know what you want to do - take the time to figure it out. Law school should not be a default decision for those looking for someplace to be for the next three years while they map out their lives. The cost today is, in most cases, simply too high, financially and otherwise.

Tuition and expenses at some law schools can fairly easily top $30,000/year. After lumping this with their undergraduate student loans, this means that many of my law school interns are now graduating with more than $100,000 of educational loan debt. That works out to about $700 a month for 20 years. Having only recently finished paying off my own law school loans, I cannot overemphasize the impact carrying such debt will have on your immediate and long-term decisions and goals. Where you live, what you drive, how much you're able to save for you and your family are all affected by those monthly law school loan bills. So, too, is the type of job that you are able to take after graduation. Too many law school graduates who went into law school with plans to make the world a better place by assisting underrepresented populations or advocating a social or political issue in which they believe discover too late that - because of their debt burden - they can't reasonably afford to live on the salaries such jobs pay.

From my experience, journalism students - who often were attracted to journalism for the same altruistic reasons that now point them to law school - represent a disproportionate number of those unhappily "forced" to take more conventional, and lucrative, legal positions. There is, of course, nothing wrong with conventional and lucrative - unless you yearn to do something else.

For those who want to work in media law - which, not surprisingly, also includes a disproportionately high number of the student journalists I talk to - the reality is also a little bit sobering. Media law is one of those fields to which many are called but few are able to practice full-time. On the positive side, my experience has been that most lawyers who want to work on media law issues are eventually able to so. Moreover, opportunities for volunteer work as a media law or civil rights attorney are available, such as with the Student Press Law Center's Attorney Referral Network, a local Society for Professional Journalists' chapter or the ACLU. Most lawyers, though, find that - at least in the early part of their career - they must be willing to spend most of their time working on real estate, labor law, contracts, divorce law, criminal law or a myriad of the other more common legal issues while fitting in an occasional prepublication review or freedom of information law case. More media-related work is available, at least in some parts of the country, for those who want to work on regulatory matters related to broadcasting or telecommunications. But that is generally a different type of law from the First Amendment crusader role that many of the students I talk with envision for themselves.

Because of the financial burdens and limited opportunities - at least in media law - I tell the budding attorneys I talk with that it's probably more important now than ever to have an clear understanding of what lawyers actually do in order to accurately assess whether a legal career is for them.

Working at a law office - even as a lowly mail clerk or "gopher" while an undergraduate - is a great way of seeing the legal practice up close. Internships with law-related organizations (including, for example, the Student Press Law Center or Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press) can also provide useful insight. For an even quicker "taste," consider attending a professional conference affiliated with a group or legal issue in which you are interested. (For those interested in practicing media law, for example, the Practising Law Institute holds an annual Communications Law conference in New York City each November that attracts most of the "heavy hitters" in the field from around the country. Current law school students are eligible to apply to the PLI for a scholarship.)

For those still on the fence at graduation (and even for those who aren't), I suggest that they take a few years after college to get some work experience. Many of the media law attorneys I work with are former professional journalists. They are able to bring a valuable insight to their legal counseling role. Journalists, I've seen, appreciate knowing that their lawyer has "been there." While working as a reporter, take the opportunity to get know your media organization's legal counsel and let them know of your interest. Also consider taking an assignment as a court reporter. Not only can such experience help you later on as a lawyer, chances are also good it will help distinguish you from the competition when your law school application goes before the admissions board and when you're looking for that first media lawyer job three years later.

In the end, keep in mind that law school is not for everyone. It's probably not for most people. But if you think being a lawyer is for you, make the decision with both eyes wide open. Investigate the realities of a legal education and the legal profession with as much tenacity and objectivity as you would investigate and report the latest athletic department scandal or student government mischief. Student journalists do tend to make pretty good lawyers, but they also make pretty good journalists. And heaven knows, we need good journalists as much as we need good lawyers.

Visit the Student Press Law Center online at http://www.splc.org.