[chibiblue88]

^

indeed! thanks ronmexico! i feel a lot less pressure about joining now.

fun fact/excruciatingly painful incentive (i.e. peer pressure): according to the Phi Alpha Delta on my campus, 1/6 lawyers in the US are members.

[ronmexico]

^^ Really, 1/6? Huh. I don't even recall ever seeing it on a resume or law firm profile.

[Norlan]

As you may know, even if you become a lawyer, still not guaranteed that you will get paid a lot. According to salary.com, average starting pay for fresh-grad lawyers is only $50k in the US, varying from areas. Also, the legal field is quite competitive

[eunice0017]

Hi. Other than GPA and LSAT scores, would prior work experience, volunteer service or joining a club during my undergrad years influence my chances of acceptance? Thank you.

Edit: Also, what business undergraduate degree would you recommend for law school? I am currently a sophomore at a university and am an accounting major, I am open to switch to finance; which undergrad degree do you think would be better?

[ronmexico]

Hi. Other than GPA and LSAT scores, would prior work experience, volunteer service or joining a club during my undergrad years influence my chances of acceptance? Thank you.

Edit: Also, what business undergraduate degree would you recommend for law school? I am currently a sophomore at a university and am an accounting major, I am open to switch to finance; which undergrad degree do you think would be better?

After your LSAT and GPA, the most important factor is generally your personal statement. Several years of post-college work experience can help, but work experience during an undergrad won't make much of a difference, unless it's something really exceptional. Volunteering/being in a club, etc. also won't have an impact. As long as you have some kind of ECs, you'll be fine.

Accounting and finance are equally good majors, since your major doesn't really matter anyway. You don't have to switch if you don't want to.

[eunice0017]

After your LSAT and GPA, the most important factor is generally your personal statement. Several years of post-college work experience can help, but work experience during an undergrad won't make much of a difference, unless it's something really exceptional. Volunteering/being in a club, etc. also won't have an impact. As long as you have some kind of ECs, you'll be fine.

Accounting and finance are equally good majors, since your major doesn't really matter anyway. You don't have to switch if you don't want to.

Thanks ronmexico. But to further clarify, when you say EC's what types of activities would qualify as an extra curricular?

[ronmexico]

Thanks ronmexico. But to further clarify, when you say EC's what types of activities would qualify as an extra curricular?

Any kind of activity would count. Any sort of club, volunteering, etc.

[christykorea]

I don't know if someone has already asked you this... and someone probably has already.... but do you mind if I ask what you go on your LSAT and what you did to study for it?
I also saw that Kaplan provided classes for LSAT.... think it's worth the price?

[seoulmusic]

I plan on taking 1-2 years off after undergrad and before applying to law school. It's always been a dream of mine to join the Peace Corps and teach English overseas. I believe I read that it is encouraged to take some time off for gaining experience before applying to law school, but would this time off be better spent doing something that has to do w/ law? Like maybe an internship or something? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

And thanks for taking the time to answer all of our questions

I'm doing the same thing and honestly I think it is worth it. Taking a break before law school also makes much more sense than taking a break after law school. When you finish law school, you want to find a job and pass the bar while all that information you spent three years studying is still fresh in your mind. However, if you are going to take a break you should do something worthwhile. Some law schools will note that you have a break between undergrad and law school and ask what you did during that time. Personally, I'm taking a year off to travel and live in Korea while interning at a law firm here. Sure it would be nice to graduate from law school earlier but I really don't think I'll have the chance or time to pursue something like this later. Either way, good luck to you.

Background:
I'm currently attending CC as a sophomore with a International Business and "Law", to be more specific, it's just Business on my transcript. Will transfer to a Uni after 2-3 years of CC. Anywho, I'm rather interested in Law and have a few questions

1) Upon applying for entry to a Law School, is it a most that you need to go to a "top 14" school? I know, obvious question..
2) After you graduate from Law School, a)can you get a well-rounded paying job with a law degree, not necessarily to be LAWYER but, b.) is it mandatory to take the bar exam for any law-related-jobs/career?
3) I'm planning to change my current major to "International Law", of course, as you stated in the previous pages, any undergraduate majors can still apply to a Law School, as long as you have a good LSATs score and GPA, a)but can you explain a little bit to me about International Law and b)any advices on which courses I should take or should I just keep it at International Buss?

Thank you so much for your time! Greatly appreciated! *I'll have more questions for you, hehe, If you don't mind*

About question 1. Where do you want to practice law? Graduating from a top 14 school gives you the advantage of usually being able to find a job pretty much anywhere in the country. Obviously class ranking and such also matters, but it would be easier to find a job in (for example) New York after graduating from Yale rather than Santa Clara. A school like Santa Clara is a decent school but is more of a regional school, where it would be easy to find a job in California but harder somewhere out of state. Yale Law on the other hand, can get you a job pretty much anywhere as long as you didn't graduate dead last. And even then the prestige of the name would still help you find some sort of work. Just something to consider, best of luck.

As you may know, even if you become a lawyer, still not guaranteed that you will get paid a lot. According to salary.com, average starting pay for fresh-grad lawyers is only $50k in the US, varying from areas. Also, the legal field is quite competitive

This is AVERAGE starting pay for lawyers. From ANY law school. If you took the average starting pay for say, tier 1 law schools, it would be much more. Yes, it is quite competitive. But nothing in life comes easy. Being a lawyer though does give you a better chance at making a six figure salary than other professions. Not that money is everything, but you know what they say. Having money isn't everything, but not having money is.



*edited for easier reading

[je_amourx]

Thanks ronmexico and seoulmusic!

As I had stated earlier, that I am very interested in Law right now, but I have no passion to be a lawyer. Is that weird? I would love to graduate law school and do something law-government related jobs. I was thinking of being a paralegal, but I was unsure what exactly do they do and if it re

[ronmexico]

Thanks ronmexico and seoulmusic!

As I had stated earlier, that I am very interested in Law right now, but I have no passion to be a lawyer. Is that weird? I would love to graduate law school and do something law-government related jobs. I was thinking of being a paralegal, but I was unsure what exactly do they do and if it re

In general, I think it's a bad idea to go to law school if you don't ever intend to practice law. You don't need to go to law school to be a paralegal. If you're thinking about that, you can do it right out of college.

[seoulmusic]

Agree with ronmexico. No point in taking out loans to go to law school to be a paralegal. You can even work your way up to being a paralegal while working as a secretary at a law firm, or something like that. It's an overkill of education.

In general, I think it's a bad idea to go to law school if you don't ever intend to practice law. You don't need to go to law school to be a paralegal. If you're thinking about that, you can do it right out of college.

[splendidlure]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/index.php
^
This forum is super awesome for law school students. It's really detailed & has different subforums.

[itachi]

I'm transfering to UC Davis next fall from a CC. My initial plan was to major in Economics with a minor in philosophy, but after researching and looking at the upper division classes in Econ, I changed my mind. I want to major in Sociology with an empasis on Law and Society with a phil minor.

Will this hurt my chances of getting into law school? I currently have a 3.75 GPA and i hope to maintain this GPA until i finish my UG.
do you guys know any sociology majors who made it into law school and was successful?

thanks for taking the time to read this.

[ronmexico]

I'm transfering to UC Davis next fall from a CC. My initial plan was to major in Economics with a minor in philosophy, but after researching and looking at the upper division classes in Econ, I changed my mind. I want to major in Sociology with an empasis on Law and Society with a phil minor.

Will this hurt my chances of getting into law school? I currently have a 3.75 GPA and i hope to maintain this GPA until i finish my UG.
do you guys know any sociology majors who made it into law school and was successful?

thanks for taking the time to read this.

Plenty of sociology majors have been successful in law school. You shouldn't worry about majoring in it at all.

[LUX.]

Do law schools care if I take some classes Pass/Fail?

[ronmexico]

Do law schools care if I take some classes Pass/Fail?

Nope. Especially if they're classes well outside of your major (e.g. an English major taking organic chemistry or something). Too many p/f classes will be a little suspicious, but one or two isn't going to be a problem.

[itachi]

Plenty of sociology majors have been successful in law school. You shouldn't worry about majoring in it at all.

thanks ronmexico! you're the best!

[tuttyfruit]

i just have a question.. it's more of a matter of opinion..

which one is better? Yale OR Harvard Law?

both are top law schools but which one would be number one? or what characteristics of one of the two would make that particular school 'superior' to the other?

what's the difference between these two law schools? i mean, curriculum wise or philosophy wise?
i heard harvard graduates tend to work for big firms as lawyers but yale graduates tend to go to other fields than law. for example, several/few(?) presidents of the U.S. have graduated from yale law. mark mccormack, founder of img, graduated from yale law but did not become a lawyer..

when i think of harvard law i think of those high profile attorneys working for huge law firms. when i think of yale law for some reason i think about judges and politicians.

i'm not looking forward to becoming a lawyer or applying to law school but i was just curious... but there's no doubt that both schools are excellent!

[ronmexico]

i just have a question.. it's more of a matter of opinion..

which one is better? Yale OR Harvard Law?

both are top law schools but which one would be number one? or what characteristics of one of the two would make that particular school 'superior' to the other?

what's the difference between these two law schools? i mean, curriculum wise or philosophy wise?
i heard harvard graduates tend to work for big firms as lawyers but yale graduates tend to go to other fields than law. for example, several/few(?) presidents of the U.S. have graduated from yale law. mark mccormack, founder of img, graduated from yale law but did not become a lawyer..

when i think of harvard law i think of those high profile attorneys working for huge law firms. when i think of yale law for some reason i think about judges and politicians.

i'm not looking forward to becoming a lawyer or applying to law school but i was just curious... but there's no doubt that both schools are excellent!

Yale is always ranked number 1 by USNews, and probably will be for the foreseeable future. Yale is really known more for producing a lot of professors (check the faculty profiles on any law school website and you'll find that a large percentage of them went to YLS). It's seen as more "intellectual" and probably a little more laid back than Harvard (though maybe getting rid of letter grades will make HLS kids less competitive). Harvard has obviously produced a lot of people who don't work for huge law firms, Barack Obama being just one obvious example.