Why, oh why was I not smart enough to go to Yale Law?

I didn’t get good enough grades in college and I didn’t score high enough on the LSAT to go to Yale Law. But if I would have I don’t know how I would have turned down an offer from a super-high-powered law firm to defer employment for a year in exchange for $80k. From the WSJ:

When I witnessed the job-search drama as a student at Yale Law School, just about the most desirable placement was a spot at Cravath. It didn’t seem to matter that even summer associates at Cravath were expected to close Time Warner deals way past midnight. Nor did anyone seem to care that a new hire could regularly expect to have his viewing of Saturday Night Live disrupted by an emergency call from the office. Prestige whores will give it up for their choice currency, and Cravath carries that elite cachet.

Or at least it did. The class of associates that just joined Cravath was asked to defer their arrival for a year in exchange for a sweet deal: They would receive $80,000 to not work, plus they would get benefits and student-loan payments. This offer was optional.

Not one Yalie took the offer. I sure would have. I would have loved to do nothing for ski, backpack, and hang out at the beach for a year, all while making $80k. In fact, that’s just about my dream job. Then again, afterwards you would be a slave to Cravath, Swaine, & Moore, but such is life.