[ronmexico]

No problem.

Anyway, to answer your other question, going to U of I for undergrad might make sense if you would have to take out loans to go to Chicago. It's not going to impact your ability to get into a good law school, and you may not want to have a lot of undergraduate debt if you also plan to take out loans for law school.

[globosapien]

i didn't know where to post this, but this thread seems most appropriate.

is anyone willing to sell me their powerscore LSAT logic games study guides? anything from powerscore would be nice. the prices on amazon are outrageous!

[rich.paekk]

Dear Ronmexico,



A lawyer that I work with keeps telling me that I should be a doctor instead of being a lawyer. His reasons are that a doctor makes much more money and has less hours than a patent lawyer. Is this statement false?

[jho]

WOW.. It's pretty much impossible to get into Yale huh T___T What would you need, really, do you think?

[bloo]

how important are good recommendations from teachers or employers? and is it really important to be an all around student to get into the top 5 as long as the applicant's gpa and LSAT scores are really strong (i.e. are extracurriculars absolutely neccessary...would it be ok to just be a member of a club, or would the applicant have to be an officer to clubs?)?

thanks for your help!

[ronmexico]

Dear Ronmexico,
A lawyer that I work with keeps telling me that I should be a doctor instead of being a lawyer. His reasons are that a doctor makes much more money and has less hours than a patent lawyer. Is this statement false?

No, that's probably true. Although it is a lot harder to get into med school, plus it's an extra year and then you have to do a residency where you don't make a lot and have terrible hours. I don't know a lot about med school, because I only had a couple of friends go and never even considered it myself. But by the time you're in, say, your 40s, a doctor would be working fewer hours for probably more money, although partners at some firms make more than the average doctor.

WOW.. It's pretty much impossible to get into Yale huh T___T What would you need, really, do you think?

You would need at least a 3.9 and 174 or so to have a 50-50 chance.

how important are good recommendations from teachers or employers? and is it really important to be an all around student to get into the top 5 as long as the applicant's gpa and LSAT scores are really strong (i.e. are extracurriculars absolutely neccessary...would it be ok to just be a member of a club, or would the applicant have to be an officer to clubs?)?

thanks for your help!

Your recs are almost irrelevant. Everybody can find a couple of professors who are willing to say something nice about them. Your extracurricular activities are also pretty much irrelevant. Obviously, if it's really exceptional, it might help, but in general it won't matter as much as for college admissions. Work experience (which is to say full time work experience after college) can matter. But the numbers are by far the most important part.

[bloo]

wow, i didn't know yale was THAT hard to get into.

what stats do you think one needs to get into harvard? t.i.a.!

[ronmexico]

It's not nearly as difficult as Yale, since it's so much larger and loses so many students to Yale. A 3.9/174 would almost certainly get you in.

[eelijnim]

Hi Ronmexico, or anyone else who would love to reply..!

I really need some helpful suggestions/advice!
I just finished my sophomore year in college so now I'm home from school. And I want to DO something this summer.
My advisor suggested I try to find a part-time job at a law firm or something, but is that even possible?
I know many people would allow unpaid internships, but a paid job...for a college student?
Also another disadvantage is that I just got back from a family trip, so I've been gone for the past month..timing is not good.
I can't get a job at the mall because they're done with seasonal hiring, and I don't want to do summer school because I don't really need too...plus I have no money.
Are there any suggestions on how I can spend my summer effectively and feel like I'm not wasting it?
I would love to work for a law firm but I only have about 2-2.5 months left before I go back to school in Seattle.
I'm currently in Portland and I don't think there's many options for me.. I asked several lawyers at my church if they needed any help and they said they would give me business cards of some other lawyers they know but said they doubted any help would be need. What should I do? I don't want to drive myself crazy with boredom and won't law schools wonder/ask what I did this specific summer because nothing will be on my resume/transcript?
What would you do if you were me? Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thank you!

[jho]

Thanks for your prompt reply Ronmexico (:
Wow, so you'll have to be a genius to get into Yale. My my..

[ronmexico]

Hi Ronmexico, or anyone else who would love to reply..!

I really need some helpful suggestions/advice!
I just finished my sophomore year in college so now I'm home from school. And I want to DO something this summer.
My advisor suggested I try to find a part-time job at a law firm or something, but is that even possible?
I know many people would allow unpaid internships, but a paid job...for a college student?
Also another disadvantage is that I just got back from a family trip, so I've been gone for the past month..timing is not good.
I can't get a job at the mall because they're done with seasonal hiring, and I don't want to do summer school because I don't really need too...plus I have no money.
Are there any suggestions on how I can spend my summer effectively and feel like I'm not wasting it?
I would love to work for a law firm but I only have about 2-2.5 months left before I go back to school in Seattle.
I'm currently in Portland and I don't think there's many options for me.. I asked several lawyers at my church if they needed any help and they said they would give me business cards of some other lawyers they know but said they doubted any help would be need. What should I do? I don't want to drive myself crazy with boredom and won't law schools wonder/ask what I did this specific summer because nothing will be on my resume/transcript?
What would you do if you were me? Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thank you!

It's pretty late in the game to try to find a summer job. I would just try sending a resume and cover letter to as many firms as you can asking if they need any help. Other than that, you should send resumes to local government offices. You most likely won't be able to find a job that pays anything. And no, law schools aren't going to be really concerned with what you did during one summer.

[globosapien]

I was originally going to post this in the HUMOR section, but decided to post it in this thread instead, since most of us are planning to go to law school or attending law school at the moment.

I found it hilarious...
Letters to Annoying Classmates
from the Law School Discussion Forum

To Smelly Girl in Con Law:

Take a f**cking shower. You attend a highly regarded law school so I fail to believe that you are too f**cking stupid to know the basic methods of common hygiene. Showers/soap/shampoo are not new inventions. Seriously, you smell like mini cooper, and I hate you. When I get to Con Law each day I can't stop myself from hoping you got in a car accident and won't be there that day. The first time you sat next to me I noticed the pungent, acidic stench of rotten BO mixed nicely with something I couldn't identify- semen, vomit, herpes? It's anyone's guess, really. You f**cking reek and I hate it. Clean yourself off, there are pigs that roll around in shitpiles all day that smell better than you. Even if you graduate from law school you will still smell like mini cooper and no one will hire you- what employer wants to hire Smelly Girl? You will bomb in every interview, even if you are top in the class.

Also, learn how to sit in a chair properly. This means not floundering around like a beached whale in death throes, as it shakes the entire table and jostles everyone else. I understand that you're horribly obese and your ass probably doesn't fit in normal chairs, but that really isn't an excuse to thrash around spasmically- I am surprised your fat ass hasn't injured someone yet. You can bet I'm suing you if the table breaks and injures me. Finally, learn how to sit up like a normal human being. I am so f**cking tired of when your elbow touches my shirt. I don't care that the tables are slightly cramped. Type with your face if you have to, I don't care. Just don't f**cking touch me, you smelly i can't read. Also be sure not to let your laptop powercord touch mine, because yours is probably smelly and dirty and mine is immaculate and beautiful. Keep it away, stinky.

And to the f**cker that always talks to her- what is wrong with you? Don't you know she smells like mini cooper? Are you f**cking stupid? Yes, you are, thanks for playing.

To Douche Bag in Torts:

Shut the f**ck up loser. No one likes you. When you walk by girls make a vomiting motion and we laugh- yes, this really happens. I am so sick of seeing your hand pop up every 5 minutes- you never have anything of value to say. Why do you have such an insatiable need to hear yourself talk? I f**cking hate you and so does everyone else. I hope you fail out of law school, then I will laugh at you even more, jackass. If you do stay, that's fine, because no one likes you anyway. You always sit alone at lunch and pretend to read a casebook, but obviously you just stare at the pages because during class you are too f**cking dumb to get a single answer right. Stop raising you hand, you only make yourself look stupid.

To Dumb Girl #1 and Dumb Girl #2 in Civ Pro:

Dumb Girl #1 and Dumb Girl #2 are best friends. They sit next to each other and talk about insipid topics such as pedicures or their loserf**cker boyfriends. Then class begins, and Dumb Girl #1 raises her hand at the first opportunity. IT IS CIVIL PROCEDURE. IT IS NOT CRIM. We do not care that you majored in criminal justice at a T.T.T. Shut the f**ck up. Great work knowing what "evidence" is, too bad it's irrelevant to personal jurisdiction. Nice work keeping up on Law and Order and Judge Judy.

Later, Dumb Girl #2 will raise her hand to say something brilliant such as, "Well, um, I sort of get it, but like what will happen if a meteor lands on the defendant, or if Godzilla invades?" You will fail out of law school, you dumb i can't read- that's what will f**cking happen.

You will both make fine additions to a law firm someday, making coffee and giving blowjobs.


To Loserf**cker Old Man in Torts:

You piss me off more than anyone besides Smelly Girl. I thought you would be smart, given that you're 43 years old. Nope, I was seriously wrong. You are a f**cking idiot and your wife must hate sleeping with you. Why do you raise you hand constantly- you are a moron. Don't speak up in class to say things like, "This reminds me of what we were talking about on Friday!!" No mini cooper, dumbass, we were covering the same topic on Friday. You are a loser and you should do us all a favor by throwing yourself off a bridge.

[ilikestupid]

how do people finance their law school tuition? do most people use loans and scholarhips? i also heard that the law school will give you money, how does that work?

[ronmexico]

Loans. Some schools give you money, the same way that colleges do. Except that law schools will only give "merit" money; there is little to no need-based aid. Generally, schools will only offer you money if your numbers are well above their averages. Most people (like me) take out loans.

[bloo]

sorry to bother you so much about the extracurricular activity questions, but i feel that to get into a really good undergraduate school, it is neccessary to be great all around (i.e. have really strong numbers AND really strong extracurricular activies AND really strong application essays). does that apply to law school? i know you've emphasized numbers as being the most important, but will the lack of extracurriculars hurt the applicant?

also, once someone's been accepted to law school, can the law school withdraw their acceptance offer? an example would be the UC system for undergrad, where if someone got less than a 3.0 their last semester of high school, the admission would be withdrawn and the student could no longer go to the UC. i'm asking this because i'm not sure if i can take difficult requirements the last semester before graduation and still be able to go to a top law school, assuming that i've been accepted and have just passed the classes with a 2.0 although my formal gpa was a 3.8+.

thanks for all of your help. :]

[ronmexico]

^No, they're not going to be very concerned with your lack of ECs. I mean, everybody has had some job or activity or something, so it's not like there are people with literally no ECs. But it's not going to make a big difference how many you have.

I've never heard of anyone having their acceptance withdrawn because of bad grades. For one thing, many law applicants have already graduated, so this isn't an issue at all for them. I don't know of any school with a policy like the UCs have. In the few instances I've heard of where an acceptance was revoked, it was either because the person didn't graduate from college on time or was found to have lied on their application.

[incomplete]

hi, i was wondering if i can go to law school even though i'm an english major and not a political science major.

[ronmexico]

^Sure, of course you can. You can major in just about anything and go to law school.

[ilikestupid]

after law school do you have to take the bar exam? what does it do for you?

[lakers]

^it gives u the credentials to practice in any one state, basically.

i looked through the previous pages to make sure i wont ask repeated questions, but how's social life? How does it compare to undergrad? is there even anytime for a social life?