To those familiar with law school/the admissions process... - Page 5

Monkeyslacks · #41 06-30-2005, 11:31 AM

I just graduated from Georgetown. I had a 3.8 from a small liberal arts school, a 173 on the LSAT, and several excellent letters of recommendation. As a result, I was accepted as a "Dean's Scholar" and given a full-ride scholarship. I have also taught courses for PowerScore on the LSAT.

I went through the application process twice. The first time, my applications were submitted at the buzzer and I wasn't happy with where I was accepted, so I took a year off and did it all again the next year.

I just skimmed the thread, so some of the stuff below may have already been mentioned. Consider doing the following.

1. Take the LSAT again. You have time to do this and your current score is going to limit your options. The test has nothing to do with law school but the top schools all rely on it heavily in making their decisions.

2. Consider taking the early acceptance route. I'm not sure how many schools offer this option, but I know of one person who got into Georgetown with pretty mediocre numbers because she did this.

3. Start early and be on top of all aspects of your application. It's great that you're thinking about this now, because it is quite a production to get everything in order. I split my undergrad between two schools and obviously needed transcripts sent from both. I sent a transcript request to one of them and found out 2 months later that they hadn't been sent because I had an unpaid $3 library fine.

4. Work on getting stellar letters of recommendation. This means that you do more than just ask someone to write a letter for you. Give them information about yourself that will aid them in writing something compelling. There usually isn't a cap on the number of letters you can submit either. I had 4: 3 professors and 1 from my employer. I had them give me the letters in sealed envelopes and had them write one to a school that I wasn't applying to in order to make sure that what they wrote was acceptable.

5. Write a compelling personal statement. Spend a lot of time on this and have at least 5 people read it. I spoke to the Dean of Admissions at a local law school and he gave me the following advice: write it as though you are trying to convince the reader that they will enjoy eating lunch with you for the next three years. This was effective for me.

6. Tour your prospective schools. I looked at all of the schools I applied to and weeded out several based on the campus and location. This was really just based on the way the school felt to me and I found it to be really valuable in my decision making process. Admissions offices are more than happy to give tours, answer questions, and give you some information about their strengths. Take advantage of this.

I haven't time to get into my own law school experience, but will say that Georgetown is an excellent school and I was happy to end up there. Furthermore, and I realize this was said in posts above but it really cannot be stressed enough, law school is what you make of it. It is your own experience and you should treat it that way. It will be bad or good based upon the decisions you make there.

Good luck.

slickpoppa · #42 06-30-2005, 11:34 AM

There is a name for people like you at law school: gunner

renodoc · #43 06-30-2005, 11:51 AM

Hmmmm. Free research on OOT. OK, I'm in.

I'll be 40 this year. Practicing retina surgeon, been to school for 27 years if you count kindergarten. Love my job but know that I can't do this fulltime for 20 more years. Have been considering law school for some time either as a jumping off point for politics or consulting. I would want to go to school close by for family reasons.

My choices:

UNLV
Sacramento
Boalt ???

I think there are more and more geezers like myself going to law school these days. How high must I score on the LSAT to have a shot? Are they really going to look at my GPA from 20 years ago? Am I going to have the ROdney Dangerfield experience?

Monkeyslacks · #44 06-30-2005, 12:04 PM

[ QUOTE ]

There is a name for people like you at law school: gunner

[/ QUOTE ]

Quite the opposite. Unfortunately(?) I was more poker player than law student and skipped almost as many classes as I attended (went to Con Law II for exactly 1/2 of a class).

Nailed the admission process though!

OtisTheMarsupial · #45 06-30-2005, 12:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Hmmmm. Free research on OOT. OK, I'm in.

I'll be 40 this year. Practicing retina surgeon, been to school for 27 years if you count kindergarten. Love my job but know that I can't do this fulltime for 20 more years. Have been considering law school for some time either as a jumping off point for politics or consulting. I would want to go to school close by for family reasons.

My choices:

UNLV
Sacramento
Boalt ???

I think there are more and more geezers like myself going to law school these days. How high must I score on the LSAT to have a shot? Are they really going to look at my GPA from 20 years ago? Am I going to have the ROdney Dangerfield experience?

[/ QUOTE ]

I go to classes with an oncologist and another student is 65.
You'll fit right in at UNLV, especially if you go part time.

lucas9000 · #46 06-30-2005, 12:44 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I must admit it served its purposes for me, although I didn't like much about CU or the law school. It was cheap and I got the training I wanted.

[/ QUOTE ]

i hope i didn't come across as selling it. law school was not a very fun time, and i feel no attachment to cu.

freekobe · #47 06-30-2005, 01:26 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Hmmmm. Free research on OOT. OK, I'm in.

I'll be 40 this year. Practicing retina surgeon, been to school for 27 years if you count kindergarten. Love my job but know that I can't do this fulltime for 20 more years. Have been considering law school for some time either as a jumping off point for politics or consulting. I would want to go to school close by for family reasons.

My choices:

UNLV
Sacramento
Boalt ???

I think there are more and more geezers like myself going to law school these days. How high must I score on the LSAT to have a shot? Are they really going to look at my GPA from 20 years ago? Am I going to have the ROdney Dangerfield experience?

[/ QUOTE ]

Because law schools are constantly looked for ways to diversify their class makeup, the fact that you're 40 will be a HUGE help. There won't be that many applicants in your age group. Throw in the fact that you're a surgeon and you should have a good shot at Berkeley. Of course, your LSAT score has to be good, but I doubt they'd place a heavy emphasis on your GPA, certainly not as much weight as they would for someone coming straight out of school.

Before you do this, realize that it's three yrs of school with no guarantee that it will help you get into politics. Furthermore, you'll incur 150,000 of debt, PLUS you won't be making any money (assuming you go full-time). That's a big burden with the potential for zero reward.

I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, I'm saying it's not a no-brainer move. Politics is largely about connections. Chances are, you will make more connections that can help you in politics at the Berkeley than you would at a smaller, lesser-known school.

freekobe · #48 06-30-2005, 01:28 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Hmmmm. Free research on OOT. OK, I'm in.

I'll be 40 this year. Practicing retina surgeon, been to school for 27 years if you count kindergarten. Love my job but know that I can't do this fulltime for 20 more years. Have been considering law school for some time either as a jumping off point for politics or consulting. I would want to go to school close by for family reasons.

My choices:

UNLV
Sacramento
Boalt ???

I think there are more and more geezers like myself going to law school these days. How high must I score on the LSAT to have a shot? Are they really going to look at my GPA from 20 years ago? Am I going to have the ROdney Dangerfield experience?

[/ QUOTE ]

For part-time, your LSAT score can be lower than if you want to go full-time.

Obviously, the better the school, the higher you need your score to be. Tons of other factors go in here. What was your GPA? Are you white? Are you wealthy? Do you have a good "story" for why you want to go to law school?

Conservatively, I'd say 163-165 as a minimum for Berkeley. No idea for the other two, but probably somewhere in the high 150s.

renodoc · #49 06-30-2005, 06:39 PM

Ha.

White, pay a lot in taxes, and have taken the appropriate 180 politically since I was last at Cal ('87)

I've aced tests my entire life.

"I want to go to your law school to answer my true calling, promote real justice, and play foil to your liberal law professors every chance I get"

adanthar · #50 06-30-2005, 07:12 PM

Berkeley actually looks at your GPA a lot more than any other school. That said, it will also be a ton cheaper than most, because you can get California in-state residency very easily after a year and your last two years of school should only be about 10K apiece.

If you're looking to go into national politics, definitely aim for the highest ranked school possible - you'll need the connections you make there to do anything.