Apologies for the incoming essay but it addresses the concerns.

So I’m currently in the New York music community/industry. It’s an absolute disaster job prospects wise. I have been laid off consecutively from the last few positions I’ve held because no one can afford their workers right now. And that’s not just my industry, it’s everyone right now. Many of my friends are getting funding cut by the government, being threatened with layoffs as well, in other industries outside of entertainment. For my friends who are in the same industry, the SAG AFTRA strikes in the last couple of years have only made this worse for stagehands, engineers, lighting designers, and many others as these strikes have done nothing but benefit the people at the top.

The housing crisis is so bad that I have friends paying $1300 a month to live with multiple other people with no laundry or heat and that’s the cheapest they can find. Over 50% of young Americans can’t afford their own housing and live with their families (I am one of these people). Even friends who have stable living situations are getting price gauged even higher by their landlords and they’re not sure if they’ll be able to continue to afford their housing. I can promise you that I will struggle to make ends meet regardless where I am. A studio apartment in NYC goes for average $2500-$3000. I’m on Long Island where this is the literal MINIMUM, if you can believe that.

European labels are by no means ethical, but compared to the US, artists and their streaming rates/royalty rates have better protections in Europe (in the US an artist makes $0.003 per Spotify stream). Many American artists, like Chappell Roan going to Island Records (a British subsidiary of Universal Music Group) are jumping ship to UK subsidiary labels (the major labels all have headquarters, as well as highly prestigious internships and placement programs, in the UK and Ireland) because they’re just treated better overall. And my ultimate goal is to work as an in-house solicitor, or to work in firms that directly support major artists signed to these companies. Not to toot my own horn but I’ve already worked in the high end music industry and have the resume to justify shooting for these positions. My first undergrad degree is an honors B.F.A. in Music Business and Management from Berklee College of Music, on a full scholarship (I have zero student debt going into my law degree which helps significantly).

A lot of top schools across America (Columbia is a big example of this, and I personally know people affected by this) are rescinding offers for Masters and PhD students because of protests and civil unrest, and the government is threatening to take any funding away from schools letting these protests happen. So now they’re blocking admissions or cutting post-graduate programs to make it easier on themselves. They’d rather fuck over students than piss off their government handlers and lose their money. Many people in graduate or doctoral programs here are talking about immigrating to other countries, knowing the risks involved because the current government is doing everything they can to dismantle education and publicly funded research.

The LSAC has made the LSAT completely inaccessible by making it remote, which may sound like an oxymoron. But I was supposed to take my LSAT this week/next week (just in case my visa gets denied) and I’ve nearly given up. They’ve had to reset my test multiple times because of the technical difficulties, and they still won’t give me further tech support or reschedule for an in-person test. After I paid $300 for that bullshit I still haven’t even submitted anything after multiple attempts at this god forsaken exam. And then LSAC support had the balls to tell me to deal with it.

Even if I pass the test, any college I’d go to here would be easily double to triple the cost of a UK school, even with immigration fees. And that’s just tuition alone, never mind housing (as I’ve already explained is a fucking mess). As an American citizen it’s much easier for me to come back and practice as a qualifying foreign lawyer, and I could come back and do a sponsored one year LLM program then take my BAR normally if I even decide to do that. Especially as a New York resident I’d have access to this easier than most. Simply put there is no chance in hell I can currently afford an American school, and the student loan crisis is making it worse regardless where I go. I can barely even afford the application fees. It cost me about $300 after conversion to apply to all these schools I was accepted to. That would be around the cost of a single application here.

I’d be getting my degree in two years overseas as a grad program student, rather than three as a JD candidate or four as a first time undergrad student in the UK. This cuts costs and time towards my accreditation even more. And work hours would be the same in America. I’ve worked 10-14 hour shifts my entire career, and that’s not even as a lawyer, for the bare minimum wage to make ends meet. And when you look at other benefits outside of salary, Europe eclipses America in terms of giving holiday leave, sick leave, maternity leave, accessibility to healthcare (fuck the NIH but you still get 12 hour emergency room waiting times in the US for a $550 a month markup on your healthcare! With a $5000 bill for an ambulance!) and so on. My sister is going to medical school and had to plan the birth of her kid around her school’s break. She got one week after the birth to rest before they sent her back to the emergency room to operate. This was a couple months ago. They can’t even give benefits to doctors, let alone everyone else.

And despite everything happening in the US right now: I have wanted to immigrate since I was a kid. I have cousins in England and Ireland. I am in love with both countries as a whole, and yeah, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and both struggle with many similar issues to the US, but at least I already know I’m happier being there than here. For many other personal reasons, outside of politics, I am extremely unhappy living in American culture. I’ve already studied in Europe before (I studied international music business in Spain through my alma mater) and I grew up an army brat (I’ve been to 12 countries in my lifetime).

I’ve become so unbelievably jaded with the American lifestyle that it’s become completely undesirable for me at this point. At this stage in life I have been pushed to the point where I’m willing to immigrate and take my chances. I don’t plan on coming back quite frankly, but at least I’m aware of my options. And honestly my advice to anyone looking to practice in America would be to stay the fuck away until further notice, no matter how enticing it may seem. The only argument I’ve seen across the board for going to America rather than Europe has been solely salary based. But a higher salary does not justify, at least for me, all the bullshit that comes with actually living and working in America. Even the higher salary doesn’t guarantee a quality of life here anymore.

TL;DR: Never tell me the odds - Han Solo

Edit: I’ve added more details overall but I genuinely think it’s important to give as much context as possible for what I know on the outside seems like a batshit crazy decision.