Deciding to go to Law School

Pre-Law Mini-Guide

Deciding to go to Law School

PRE-LAW MINI-GUIDE Prepared by Dr. Rick A. Swanson, J.D, Ph.D., Dept. of Political Science; FREE TO COPY AND DISTRIBUTE

                A. Deciding to go to Law School—There are several things you can (and should) do to help you decide if you want to go to law school.

1. DON’T GO TO LAW SCHOOL BY DEFAULT! Bill Swinford, a pre-law advisor at the University of Richmond, says: “Ultimately, you should go to law school ONLY if you have carefully evaluated your desires and goals and made a conscious, well-informed decision that you want to obtain a law degree. You should NOT go to law school simply by default, because law school is far too difficult, far too expensive, far too time consuming, and far too emotionally draining to do simply because you can’t decide on anything better to do. There are few experiences in life more miserable than going to law school or being an attorney if your heart is not in it.” TRUE! Investigate lawyering BEFORE you go to law school.

2. Lawyering. Be aware of what the practice (not just the study) of law is like—the two are totally different! Talk to both practicing attorneys and people with law degrees who don’t practice. Find out what these people do, why they do it, and how they like it.   Intern, work part-time, or volunteer at a local law firm if at all possible, or even ask a local attorney if you can shadow them for a few hours or days to observe their routine. Also read as much as possible about the practice of law—for example, check out the Dept. of Labor’s Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook entry “Lawyers and Judicial Workers”: www.bls.gov/oco/ocos053.htm Also look at the National Association of Law Placement’s pre-law advice at www.nalp.org/prelaw/explor.htm Also see the references listed at the end of this guide.

3. Legal Reasoning. Take at least one law-related class in which at least part of the course requires you to engage in legal reasoning and analysis involving the actual law (e.g. communication law, business law, constitutional law, civil liberties, etc.). Many students find that after taking such a course, they lack either the interest or the capability to engage in the particular type of analytic thinking that legal reasoning requires. Beware, however, that most undergraduate law-related courses involve more popular and interesting topics than do many law school classes.

4. Law Classes.   Sit in on some non-exciting law classes at a law school—Uniform Commercial Code classes for example, and not civil liberties, to get a more accurate feel for what a typical law school class is like.

5. Law Schools. Visit the law schools you’re considering applying to and besides seeing the admissions director, ask as many students as you can find who are hanging out at the law school what their school is like. They are likely to give you a less biased appraisal of their law school experience than would an admissions director or student tour guide picked by the admissions director. Also check out the ABA-LSAC Official Guide to Law Schools on the web at www.lsac.org or www.abanet.org for extensive information on individual law schools.

6. One-L. Read Scott Turow’s book “One-L” which describes his first-year experience as a law student. It’s an amazingly accurate description of a typical first-year experience at law school, even though he attended an elite law school (Harvard).

7. Wait. Take a year or two off of school, and work at professional employment if you’re unsure about law school—this might actually improve your admission chances: First, it adds professional experience to your resume; second, it will show that you made a careful, serious decision to go to law school rather than simply going to law school by default directly after college to avoid the “real world.” It will also let you relax before resuming intensive academic studies, and let you save up money for law school. In fact, only a minority of law school applicants are college seniors. However, beware that LSAT scores generally expire after five years, so if you wait longer than that, you’ll need to take the LSAT again. Also, you might lose some of your reading, writing, and analytic skills if you’re not careful to maintain them. Finally, many law schools will allow you to defer admission for a year if you’ve been admitted but remain unsure about going.   However, if you’re still not relatively certain that law school is for you, don’t go, because it is financially and emotionally costly, and there are high attrition rates for law students whose heart is not in lawyering.

                B. Getting in to Law School—There are several things you can (and should) do to increase your chances of getting in to law school.

1. Grades. YOUR ADMISSION CHANCES ARE LARGELY DETERMINED BY YOUR GPA AND LSAT SCORE. EVERYTHING ELSE IS USUALLY SECONDARY EXCEPT IN BORDERLINE CASES. Focus on good grades over employment, extracurricular activities, or community service. These other things are helpful ONLY IF your grades do not suffer because of them. The relative weightings of the GPA and LSAT score will be roughly equal, but can vary significantly across schools.   A high LSAT score will help compensate for a low GPA, and vice versa. However, there is no particular GPA or LSAT score that will guarantee you admission, although your combined GPA/LSAT score might automatically admit you depending on the school. Thus, reduce your other activities for you to have enough time to study in order earn a high GPA, and to study intensively for the LSAT. This includes reducing employment, even if this means taking out additional student loans to pay for your undergraduate degree. If you really want a career in law, then you must view additional student loan debt as a long-term investment in your future--that is, a necessary short-term sacrifice for your long-term gain. To estimate your chances of admission, see the admission data grid provided by many law schools in the ABA-LSAC Official Guide to Law Schools at http://officialguide.lsac.org

2. LSAT. How to prepare? PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE taking the exam, using old exams from the LSAC directly and from commercial preparation guides. If you a disciplined self-learner, many commercial preparation guides are relatively cheap, such as Barron’s Guide, Princeton Review, Cliff Notes, Arco, LSDAS Official Guide, etc. Or, if you can afford it, and are unable to teach yourself, then take a preparation course like Kaplan, Princeton Review, LSAT Intensive Review, etc. Although review courses should help improve your LSAT score, you must decide for yourself if the amount of improvement you expect (which can not be predicted) is worth your investment, and could not be achieved on your own.   Also, if you do poorly on the LSAT, don’t necessarily give up—you can take it again, and many law schools will average your results. However, beware that law schools are not required to do this, and many do not. Also beware that of LSAT repeat test-takers, only a relatively small minority actually improve their scores significantly, and about a third of repeat test-takers actually see their scores drop (sometimes substantially). Thus, choose carefully whether to retake the LSAT. For all LSAT information, visit: www.lsac.org

3. Major. There is no “best” or “better” academic major to increase your odds of admission to law school. Law school student bodies generally represent all possible college majors, including even art, theatre, and music. According to the official recommendation of the ABA and LSAC regarding pre-law curriculum, the academic courses you take should develop skills in addition to teaching certain content:

                A. Analytic reasoning and problem-solving skills—e.g. logic, philosophy, math, civil liberties, business law, computer programming, etc.

                B. Communication skills—English, rhetoric, and other courses with strong critical writing, speaking and listening components, as well as courses that develop general research and task management skills.

                C. Substantive knowledge of the law’s basis —political science, public policy, history, economics, sociology, anthropology, criminal justice, philosophy, business, etc.

4. Letters of Recommendation. For your letters of recommendation, generally choose professors familiar with your capability to perform academic work. Employers are okay only if those employers can personally testify as to your intellectual capabilities and work ethic. Three letters are better than two, but more than three is usually unnecessary because additional letters will usually give you rapidly diminishing returns.

5. Personal Statement.   If you have a disadvantaged background, or have overcome other obstacles or hardships in your life (including financial or medical hardships that interfered with your grades), or have some other unique or exceptional attribute, emphasize this on your personal statement by explaining how you have overcome the hardship(s) and/or how you can uniquely contribute to the diversity of the law school and profession of law. Other than that, in your personal statement simply be honest, persuasively present your motivation for going to law school and for practicing law, and be well-organized, articulate, and creative (but not bizarrely creative) in your writing. If you believe your grades or LSAT score do not reflect your true abilities because of illness, tragedy, or some other uncontrollable factor, include a brief (one paragraph) explanation as a separate addendum.

6. LSDAS To apply to law schools, use the LSDAS (Law School Data Assembly Service) on the Law School Admission Council website. —Nearly all law schools require applicants to use LSDAS, and it’s convenient (though it does cost money). For LSDAS info: www.lsac.org

7. Number of Schools. Apply to at least five law schools to increase both your odds and options. Use the ABA/LSDAS Official Guide to U.S. law schools or other law school guides, and talk with pre-law advisors, law school admissions directors, law school students, law school alumni, practicing attorneys, bar associations, etc., to find out what law schools are right for you. Attend regional law school fairs if you can. Then, based on your preferences for cost, location, resources, size, faculty, ranking, course and program options, networking and future employment possibilities, student diversity, etc., pick at least five schools (the average number applicants apply to) in roughly the following manner:

                One “dream school” you would really like to attend but your odds of admission are relatively slim (i.e., a “long shot.”);

                Three schools that you would be satisfied to attend, and you think your odds of admission are reasonably good (i.e., you have a “competitive” chance of being admitted.); and

                One “fall-back/safety-net” school that you would settle for attending and you think your odds of admission are relatively high. However, beware unaccredited (non-ABA accredited) law schools—they should be a “last-ditch” fallback, and you might not get licensed with such a degree.

8. Do not lie. Don’t lie on your application. Admit criminal or school disciplinary convictions. Schools care much more about if you’re honest about your past, than the particulars of what you did, unless a conviction involves dishonest conduct—perjury, embezzlement, forgery, identity theft, plagiarism, business fraud, etc. If it is discovered later (when an extensive background check is done on you for your admission to the bar) that you lied about past convictions, this is dishonesty, and your law degree will probably be withdrawn and you will probably be denied admission to the bar.

9. Transfers. Once you’re in law school, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to transfer to another law school if you’re unsatisfied with the law school you’re attending (less than 10% of all law students transfer to other law schools).   So, you should make your plans on the assumption you will stay in the same law school for all three years. If you know you want to practice in a particular state, going to a law school in that state might be somewhat helpful in passing the bar in that state, and it might be helpful in your ability to network and find a permanent in-state job after law school, but it is not necessary. In fact, you should have little trouble finding a job in any state if you do reasonably well in any law school of decent reputation.

10. Second Chance. If you don’t get admitted to any law schools the first year you apply, don’t give up. Work in a professional capacity for some years and then re-apply. As noted earlier, it might actually improve your chances of being admitted because it will give you a richer background, and it should show a greater seriousness in your admissions attempt. However, also remember that there are many, many, many, many, MANY other career options that can help make your life happy and fulfilling, so you should enthusiastically consider your other career interests and options. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For more information: ·Read “So You Want to be a Lawyer: A Practical Guide to Law as a Career” by the LSAC

If you’re unsure what you want to do as a career, read “How to Find the Work You Love” by Laurence G. Boldt

·Visit the ABA at www.abanet.org, or the LSAC at www.lsac.org to read more about being a lawyer and getting into law school.

·Visit the Law School Admission Council at www.lsac.org for LSAT, LSDAS, and the ABA-LSAC Official Guide to Law Schools.

·For financial aid information, go to: www.lsac.org or www.finaid.org or www.gradschools.com or www.graduateguide.com.

Department of Political Science, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Mouton Hall Room 112, P.O. Box 1652, Lafayette, LA 70504-1652
Tel. 337-482-6171; E-mail: pols@louisiana.edu