[blue_shoe]

Ok, so I'm graduating in 1 semester. Right now I'm currently a math major minoring in Education. I don't really know the education is for me. Honestly, I can careless about the younger generation cause I'm fed up (sorry younger peeps). The pay isn't worth the effort I put in as a math major. I'm thinking about Law school. I thought about it when I was a sophmore, but some how kinda gave up cause I didn't think I was up for it. You can say I have no confidence in myself. Besides, in order to get to law school you just need a bachelor degree, so I thought I could just finish up math and see. Also, I heard they like math major anyway.

However, I just don't have the confidence to succeed. Really, I don't know if I'm up for it. I'm shy and reading and communication skill has always been a challenge for me. I don't speak like Hilary Clinton, and I don't have the greatest set of vocabularies in my tool box. But I'm thinking more of like family lawyer, immigration lawyer, divorce/small claims lawyer, not some attorney who go to court and big shot like OJ lawyer if you know what I mean.

Any insight if I should go for it or not?

[bROBOT]

this is the advice i followed: if you can see yourself in another job, try that first; if you still want to go to law school after that, then go. But don't go if you're not sure, because it's a huge commitment to make, personally and financially. Once you commit, there's pretty much no turning back.

[x3sarah]

I have a question about letters of recommendation. I know that it is recommended that I get at least three letters, but do they all have to be from professors? What if I wanted to get two from professors and one from a previous employer during an internship? Would that be okay?


Also, for those who got 170's or above, if you took a LSAT prep course, which one did you take and what was your experience like? Did it help you out a lot?



Thanks in advance for the answers.

[=___=]

I have a question about letters of recommendation. I know that it is recommended that I get at least three letters, but do they all have to be from professors? What if I wanted to get two from professors and one from a previous employer during an internship? Would that be okay?
Also, for those who got 170's or above, if you took a LSAT prep course, which one did you take and what was your experience like? Did it help you out a lot?
Thanks in advance for the answers.

Three letters are fine, so long as you submit the minimum number required by the schools. Many schools nowadays only require two. Just make sure you don't go out of your way to get three by asking people that don't know you very well, and thus increasing the chances of writing a poor recommendation. Your letters don't need to all be from professors, though preferably if you're applying straight from undergrad, letters written by professors are the norm. But keep in mind that these letters are simply not an important part of your application, compared to your numbers. I only applied with two letters, and only one of them was from a professor.

I took Testmasters, which should be available everywhere. What it helped most was providing me with an abundance of practice problems, allowing me to practice for two months straight before the real thing. Otherwise, their materials are pretty bare in terms of explanations and actual content (it is rumored that Testmasters doesn't want its techniques being stolen). Powerscore (which I also teach for) uses very similar methods to Testmasters, just renamed. It is a newer company, but the materials contain extensive explanations and techniques laid out before you.

[bROBOT]

I took Kaplan. While I found it frustrating at times, I can't complain with the results. I went from a 158 to a 171. I was frustrated with both the material and the people in my class. I don't know if other classes sort people by initial scores, but I really wish Kaplan would have done this. I found the class was slowed down a lot by people with stupid questions, and by people who simply couldn't be bothered to try and learn the methods/materials. As for the material itself, I was often impatient with the strategies, but they eventually clicked and became very useful. That said, if you can discipline yourself to learn the methods on your own and practice constantly, it might be worth it to save the $1300.

[The 1]

So I'm thinking of withdrawing from the quarter to maintain my mediocre GPA. I've already withdrawn from two classes the last two years (coincidentally, they were both in the Spring quarter). With all these Ws on my transcript, is it going to hurt my chances of getting into law school? I know the two most important things they take into consideration is LSATs and GPA but do Ws on my transcript raise red flags? I'm at a 3.25 right now....with one more year to go...and there is a VERY HIGH possibility that I will drop below a 3.2 this quarter if I don't withdraw this quarter. So any advice?

[K_Holic]

Call me naive or stupid... but why don't they have respect for those majors?

i would like to know as well..and also, which majors do they like anyways?

[ohkelly]

^ my guess is that they find these majors don't teach anything useful for a law degree. you learn everything you need to know for law in law school. majoring in those things doesn't really give you a rounded education, which is probably helpful when you want to concentrate on a specific type of law. or at least, that's how i see it.

any major that teaches you to think analytically/critically and gives you practice in writing research papers should be good. other than that, i doubt what major you choose really matters.

[K_Holic]

To get into law school, do they look primarily at marks?

[k1D3Ck]

To get into law school, do they look primarily at marks?

GPA and LSAT

[ronmexico]

i would like to know as well..and also, which majors do they like anyways?

^ my guess is that they find these majors don't teach anything useful for a law degree. you learn everything you need to know for law in law school. majoring in those things doesn't really give you a rounded education, which is probably helpful when you want to concentrate on a specific type of law. or at least, that's how i see it.

any major that teaches you to think analytically/critically and gives you practice in writing research papers should be good. other than that, i doubt what major you choose really matters.

This is pretty much it. They just don't consider these things real academic disciplines. So try to stay away from "prelaw," "legal studies," "criminal justice" and the like. It's sort of telling that bascially zero percent of the students at top schools majored in any of these things. Also avoid purely pre-professional majors like "event planning" or whatever.

To get into law school, do they look primarily at marks?

GPA and LSAT
I am not writing in caps to emphasize, but they are written in caps most the time.

Plus they look at your life history whether you have been a LR, RC, and LG master of ALL TIMEEEEEEE!

This is also largely correct. Your LSAT score is going to be easily the most important factor, except at perhaps a handful of schools (like UCLA and Boalt) where your GPA might matter more. But those two numbers will allow you to predict pretty accurately where you'll get in.

[plusone]

This is also largely correct. Your LSAT score is going to be easily the most important factor, except at perhaps a handful of schools (like UCLA and Boalt) where your GPA might matter more. But those two numbers will allow you to predict pretty accurately where you'll get in.

ah, so no more 'intangibles' BS like in undergrad admissions...

[lil_buddha_gal_2]

thank buddha, australia is less stressful than overseas. our uni entry scores are based on our OP's earned from year 11 and 12 in highshcool. If u dint receive a high OP than the government education dept has provided by funding other ways to enter uni. I dint have to worri, as i receievd a high OP. lol. One way is "Upgrading." Do a favourate/easy course at uni or TAFE and after a yr or semester transfer, into the course u orginally wanted to do. U will enter easily if you received grades from the course u were doing. Just make some effort and ur OP will increase..
We also have uni entry exams (SATs), but i think they are just for international students... *sighs* i love australia.. lol. But i do understand the stress and worries that some poeple have to go thru wen entering uni overseas.. Its soo tough.. good luck to everyone..

[rich.paekk]

Hello, I was wondering when is the best time to study for your lsats. is it junior year or can it be sophmore year?

Also I'm doing biomedical engineering and im a rising sophmore planning to go into the field of patent law. My track right now is biological studies and not prelaw so I have to get it changed asap. Can you think of any prereq classes there are for prelaw?

Thanks!

[ronmexico]

Hello, I was wondering when is the best time to study for your lsats. is it junior year or can it be sophmore year?

Also I'm doing biomedical engineering and im a rising sophmore planning to go into the field of patent law. My track right now is biological studies and not prelaw so I have to get it changed asap. Can you think of any prereq classes there are for prelaw?

Thanks!

There is no "prelaw" major so there's no need to get anything changed. There are no prereq classes. As I've said, if you're a science major, you should try to take more writing-intensive classes.

There's really no reason to start studying for the LSAT before your junior year, since you won't take it until your senior year.

[k1D3Ck]

LSAT scores last 5 years so when ever your ready and feel like you can beast it. Take it.

[::kitty::]

so since the new lsat has slightly changed, do you still recommend the Real LSAT by LSAC series and the Logic Games Bible by Powerscore? i guess the more practice, the better...or just stick to the latest lsat's?
ermm the series has up to lsat #38 (~$20 each, but they're from a while back) or i guess i could buy some #37-51 separately for $8 each??? =P

btw, thanks for all the helpful information!

[k1D3Ck]

so since the new lsat has slightly changed, do you still recommend the Real LSAT by LSAC series and the Logic Games Bible by Powerscore? i guess the more practice, the better...or just stick to the latest lsat's?
ermm the series has up to lsat #38 (~$20 each, but they're from a while back) or i guess i could buy some #37-51 separately for $8 each??? =P

btw, thanks for all the helpful information!

Pm me

[ronmexico]

so since the new lsat has slightly changed, do you still recommend the Real LSAT by LSAC series and the Logic Games Bible by Powerscore? i guess the more practice, the better...or just stick to the latest lsat's?
ermm the series has up to lsat #38 (~$20 each, but they're from a while back) or i guess i could buy some #37-51 separately for $8 each??? =P

btw, thanks for all the helpful information!

I would suggest picking up at least a few of the more recent ones. The trend seems to be toward easier logic games and tougher reading comprehension. If you find yourself doing worse on the newer ones, get more of them. But after you've gone through the Logic Games Bible, try to take as many tests as you can, and try to see if there's anything that consistently gives you a hard time.

[debborah]

ok im from australia and recently one of the unis that i was intent on going to changed their whole course structure to how it is in america. im so confused. originally you were able to do law straight out of highschool (undergrad) but now you have to complete an undergrad degree AND THEN you can enter law.

they use the LSAT for entry too. the program is called juris doctor and from wat i gathered that is the same as in the states rite?? - but i have no idea what it involves. i tried reading through the thread but i was so overwhelmed with all the terms used. could you please break down wat is involved to do well in the LSAT .. is it logic or your existing knowledge of law?

im interested in corporate law (more towards the banking and finance sector) .. sorry if i sound like such a noob.
all the info i have got from the uni is so limited since they only introduced the JD recently.
i'll be greatful for any replies^^