Law school reqs....

[peachy]

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some law schools actually look to take other people who did well on the LSAT with majors besides law over those who majored in law...this is what i was told by a number of law advisors when i was looking into law school

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Do you mean they majored in Law in undergrad? I didn't know such a major existed, is it similar to majoring in Government or PoliSci?

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i group anything law related under LAW like legal studies

[shadow29]

I'm considering going to law school in the future but not to be a lawyer. Rather, my goal is to work in politics as like a legislative director for a senator or congressman.

What are your thoughts on people going to law school with no intention of being a lawyer? (My parents are both lawyers and I worked in their office a couple summers and pretty much hated it. But I think that understanding the law will help tremendously in making the law.)

[The Armchair]

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From the practice tests I've taken, I can tell I'd do very well on the LSAT, but my GPA is 3.3. Is this out of range?

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My story:

2.8 GPA
168 LSAT
Those are not typos.

Went to a second-tier law school, ranked around 50th. Made law review. Will be making a sizeable salary next year.

YMMV.

[PhatTBoll]

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For a polisci and psych double major living in Indiana- what types of jobs would you recommend to get a good feel for the legal profession? I know I should probably ask an advisor about this, but here you are and my advisors are idiots.

how about if I was looking to get a good feel for what a patent attorney does?

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I'll pile on here too... how about if you're already out of school and working full-time as a civil engineer and can't really go get some law internship type job for a couple years to check it out first?

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Just watch a couple episodes of law and order and you should be fine.

[The Armchair]

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Just watch a couple episodes of law and order and you should be fine.

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L&O is great for the Crim Pro questions on the NY Bar.

It sucks for Evidence questions.

[Mr. Zero]

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If you go to law school without working in a legal setting for several years you are a complete fool.

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Your advice is dead-on, but I disagree with this statement. I had a great prof in undergrad who taught his law classes in a manner similar to law school classes. I had him for three semesters and felt adequately prepared and informed about what law school and the practice of law would be like. I enjoyed law school and look forward to starting up in a few weeks.

But while I don't think it's a requirement to actually work in the legal field, it certainly is critical to have some understanding of what you're getting yourself into. And do some quick calculations based on your estimated debt.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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If you go to law school without working in a legal setting for several years you are a complete fool.

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Your advice is dead-on, but I disagree with this statement. I had a great prof in undergrad who taught his law classes in a manner similar to law school classes. I had him for three semesters and felt adequately prepared and informed about what law school and the practice of law would be like. I enjoyed law school and look forward to starting up in a few weeks.

But while I don't think it's a requirement to actually work in the legal field, it certainly is critical to have some understanding of what you're getting yourself into. And do some quick calculations based on your estimated debt.

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I don't mean any disrespect, but it seems like you haven't even gotten to the part where his advice is critical - the actual job.

[arod15]

160 is the bare min to get into a good top 60 school assuming 3.7 GPA but no worries 3.5 and 155 ish will get you into a 2nd tier school. Be sure cause law school is tough. Im prob going to go next year....

[webmonarch]

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For a polisci and psych double major living in Indiana- what types of jobs would you recommend to get a good feel for the legal profession? I know I should probably ask an advisor about this, but here you are and my advisors are idiots.

how about if I was looking to get a good feel for what a patent attorney does?

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Well, the first thing is that, like me, you did not have a technical major in college. In order to pass the patent bar you need to have a technical undergrad major OR pass a reciprocal test which, I assure you, is not as easy as calculating poker odds. Google "patent bar" and you'll find more information on this.

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I'll pile on here too... how about if you're already out of school and working full-time as a civil engineer and can't really go get some law internship type job for a couple years to check it out first?

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As for experience, something as simple as volunteering for a public interest law firm on weekends is worlds better than nothing at all. The best thing you can do is to really DO THE WORK, however it comes.

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some law schools actually look to take other people who did well on the LSAT with majors besides law over those who majored in law...this is what i was told by a number of law advisors when i was looking into law school

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Yes, technical majors tend to get a bit of a "bonus" over those with liberal arts majors, which are a dime a dozen for law school admissions offices.

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News and media is one of those fields that sounds real exciting on paper, but the reality is that it's a business that happens to revolve around television.

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Yes, law is very similar, except it revolves around money. Not much better. This is the reason I posted in this thread in the first place. ;-)

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What are your thoughts on people going to law school with no intention of being a lawyer? (My parents are both lawyers and I worked in their office a couple summers and pretty much hated it. But I think that understanding the law will help tremendously in making the law.)

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I don't mind it, but I would REALLY recommend that you consider a MPP (Masters of Public Policy) first. It's better suited to what you want to do, and skips stuff from law school that is completely unrelated to legislation and the like. I used to work on Capitol Hill in Senate member office, and most "big dogs" (Legilative Directors, Cheif of Staffs) had MPPs or similar masters degrees as opposed to law degreee.

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My story:
2.8 GPA
168 LSAT
Those are not typos.
Went to a second-tier law school, ranked around 50th. Made law review. Will be making a sizeable salary next year.


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Good for you. You were almost certainly in the Top 10-15% of your class. So, for every one of you there are 9 people who aren't in your situation.

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Your advice is dead-on, but I disagree with this statement. I had a great prof in undergrad who taught his law classes in a manner similar to law school classes. I had him for three semesters and felt adequately prepared and informed about what law school and the practice of law would be like. I enjoyed law school and look forward to starting up in a few weeks.

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What are you starting in a few weeks? Law school? A job? What?

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And do some quick calculations based on your estimated debt.

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Absolutely. Even better, ask yourself what your situation may be if you are not able to get a $125k/year job. What will you be paying for years to come? And don't do it quick. Do it slow and meticulously. take it seriously, and decide if its worth it.

Look, I don't mean to dissuade anyone. I DO want to disssuade people from going into something that is a serious investment in time, money, and life direction. Law school is not a bad choice for people who know its best for their needs and who have done their research. Its the exact opposite for people who are just doing it for something to do and have no clue about the profession.

[ihardlyknowher]

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Harvard, Yale, Stanford or another Top 5

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This is what I meant by first-tier.