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Category: School
Well, I guess I should write a little to let you know about getting into law school. The big difference between law school and medical school, I guess, is that if you want to go to law school, you will probably get in somewhere. We don't have this "only 30%" barrier to deal with. Unfortunately, just getting into law school probably won't do you any good. If you want a good job with some control as to WHERE you want to work, you need to get into a top school. This is where it gets difficult.
As for your college requirements, the good news is that there are no class/major requirements for law school. You can be pre-med (god knows why you would), a math major or even a classics major (woo-hoo!). Some schools offer pre-law classes and programs but I have learned quickly here in law school that any supposed law training you have had in college is completely worthless and actually servces to slow down your learning process here because you have to "unlearn" before you can start to learn.
Anyway, once you have decided to go to law school the main thing that you HAVE to do is take the LSATs. This exam is not easy. However, the hard part is studying for it. The material is not stuff that you can memorize and know, but in fact somewhat intuitive. The exam is divided into 3 types of questions: 1) Reading Comprehension, 2) Legal Analysis and 3) Logic Games. There are 5 sections to the exam, with one of those 3 appearing twice and an experimental section. The exam takes about 4 hours and is multiple choice.
As of now the LSATs are graded from 120-180. (don't ask me why). I think average is somewhere in the mid 150s. You are near the 90th percentile around 162 or so, and the 99th percentile around 170. To give you a hint on how stiff the competition is at Yale law school (#1), their average LSAT score two years ago was 171. The cream of the crop, I guess.
Anyway, as for studying for the LSATs, I took the course and I know it helped a lot (I went up 8 points. For all you "know it alls" up there, a friend of mine scored in the high 160s, took the course and went up 8 points as well!). I realize that it is $900 but when you are going to spend THOUSANDS on law school, what is another grand? The best thing the course does is calm you down and show you that it isn't as hard as you think if you just relax. It shows you a few tricks but that is not the point. It prevents you from being overwhelmed on test day as you will have seen so many problems similar to that on the real exam that you can relax and realize that you know how to do this.
Once you have taken the LSATs (they are offered a couple of times a year...June and October, I think)then you are ready to apply to school. Apply to many. Apply to a wide range. Stretches, solids and safeties. With your application, you are going to need a couple of letters of recommendation (probably at least one from a college professor), and a personal statement that YOU right. This is not the easiest thing in the world to do either. But just relax, think of something relatively anecdotal and don't be too shy to write something favorable about yourself. Law schools like to see confidence and you need to let them know that they would make a smart choice by admitting you to their school.
You will see a lot of people taking some time off after college before going to law school. They do so for many reasons. I did it because I wanted to make some money, make sure I really wanted to go to law school and I was tired of going to school for 16 straight years. It seems to me that taking time off is a good thing. The students who did so seem to have a better grasp of the "big picture" and "life" and all that crap, but there is no formula. Don't feel you need to go work as a paralegal for a couple of years so that your resume will have "legal experience" on it. I don't think that matters. It might affect your job applications AFTER law school, but I don't really know. Just go with what feels comfortable. Some people fear that if they take time off, they may never go back. Do whatever feels right.
Well, hmmmm...that seems to be it. any major you want; LSATs; appliations (EARLY!!!!); and be really sure you want to go. Law school is REALLY expensive so you need to make your mind up before you get here. There is a huge drop out rate for students who realize two weeks after they get here that this was not for them. Don't make that mistake.
Good luck...and HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!!! :)
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Submitted By
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Tom Humphries |
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Law Student |
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