WHAT UNDERGRADUATES THINK ABOUT LAW SCHOOL.

A highly anticipated new survey of thousands of undergraduates and first-year law students found that the top four most cited reasons for pursuing law school are: providing a pathway to a career in politics, government or public service; having a passion and high interest in legal work; creating opportunities to give back to others; and the desire to be an advocate for social change.

The study commissioned by the Association of American Law Schools, Before the J.D.: Undergraduate Views on Law School, found that access to high-paying jobs was the fifth most-cited reason undergrads are interested in law schools, with 31 percent placing it among their top three reasons for seeking a law degree.

Joe Patrice comments:

“Women are more likely than men to say that law school is too hard and that they don’t want to defend guilty people, while men are more likely to say that three years is too long and that too few jobs in the field pay enough money.”

The men’s answers directly track the big controversies in legal education. Obama publicly tagged the “three year” problem and its impact on students forced to pay another year of tuition for classes that ultimately have little bearing on their future careers. And it’s good to hear some undergrads are cluing in to the bimodal salary distribution.

But where were they finding these women? This is “Math is hard” level swill. How much does one have to scrape the bottom of the collegiate barrel to find a majority of women talking about school as too hard?

The concern about defending guilty people is understandable though. Even though it’s ludicrous — it would at best represent half of the field of criminal law, which itself is only small part of litigation, which is a small part of the legal landscape. But too many people have no concept of a legal career outside of Law & Order reruns.

True. Or maybe “Suits.” But an honest representation of, say, ERISA practice probably wouldn’t draw ratings.