Law school... and cute Asian chicks from Australia

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zsUiqR6Zq4#t=2m24s

There's no place on earth like Australia...

 

Why do you want to go to law school?

 

You don't have to have ANY particular major to go to law school (although many poli-sci majors do go to law school).

I would say go to law school ONLY if you have a strong interest in law, not because you think it'll make you money. It's a highly saturated market and you should be aiming for a top 15 school...get good grades and LSAT and you'll be fine if you decide it's what you want to do.

 

My pre-law advisor told me that the only major that law school WILL give preferential treatment are Engineer Majors.

 

Here is my two cents:

LSAT - The key thing with the LSAT is that it is not a test of intelligence like many people think. All the LSAT really does is test how well your prepared for the exam. Last semester I was in charge of hosting a program called Diversity Outreach Day and as part of the event we were awarding free LSAT courses. One guy I met actually goes to law school with me, but also has his own LSAT prep courses after leaving PowerScore. He got a ridiculous 179 and his advice was learn/memorize the test to the point where you can spot the wrong answer patterns in your sleep. If you do that, you will do very well. The test has a formula, so learn it. And if you go a prep course, and you should, avoid Kaplan because they don't use actual LSAT test from previous year which will hurt you.

Major - Your major doesn't matter for getting into school. It will matter for job hunting if you have a hard science background (engineering, etc). Intellectual Property law is still a hot market and since lots of students don't have a hard science background, it is easier for you to get a job because it means less competition.

And like someone above mentioned, if you are going to go to law school don't do it just for the money. There are people who come to law school for the money, are miserable, do well and get a good paying job, but that is one of the reasons why there are so many alcoholics in the legal community. And law school is tough! It will kick your ass no matter how well you did in undergrad. Most people that chance the money go to big firms where once you actually calculate the number of hours you work, your pay comes out to a little over minimum wage. And everyone hates big law firms!

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

This is by far the most important thing you have to ask yourself

 

I echo what everyone else has said about being sure that you want to go to law school.

I ended up in law school after graduating with a 3.95 undergrad GPA. I felt like I was a smart guy, hard worker, didn't know what to do...so I'll go to law school!

My only advice is don't go down the same route as me. Have a clue what you're getting into and be damn sure you want to do it.

 

echo what everyone says about law school. why not try to spend a summer working in a law firm before deciding to spend 3 years and a lot of money for law school? if you still want to go after that, go for it.

 

1) Contrary to what some are saying: your major DOES matter for getting into law school. The WORST major you can choose is Political Science. Diversity is the name of the game these days kid, and Political Science is the most common major you'll find. By far. Getting a bachelor of science is the best thing possible. Be something that is different, but something you can enjoy and get good grades from. Good grades are the most important, no matter the major.

2) Give me your email and I'll give you a presentation I made for aspiring law students. I was President of the JD/MBA Society at my university, and we did a presentation for the undergrads of the university, so I compiled all the advice for them. I still have the slides. Its really good stuff. It'll give you advice on getting into law school, the LSAT, and being awesome in law school. Seriously, give the email and I'll provide that wealth of knowledge.

3) Think of what law schools want. Diversity in every possible category. And they care about their RANKINGS. See what factors go into evaluating a law school in the U.S News Rankings and play towards them.

4) Try to take a major that will get you a job without the law school route. Two reasons for this. One, The law career is changing right now, and who knows how its going to be in a year or two. My guess is that it will stay the same, but there have been many radical shifts in how law firms operate and we just have to wait and see if it'll catch on to all the law firms. But so far, it hasn't happened yet. So make sure you have a backup plan if the legal field changes, and Second point, having one of those majors is more appealing to a law school.

5) And why do you want to go to law school? Litigation, Corporate, Intellectual Property? A bachelor of science is needed for an intellectual property route. However, law school does care about other majors. Accounting and business is a good one too. Even litigators can be better for knowing accounting.

6) Do NOT become a political science major. Everyone in law school does it, and it doesn't teach you ANYTHING. Everyone older than an undergrad knows this. Its the worst major possible. I got a minor in it, its junk.

Listen to my advice. I didn't write all of this for fun, more out of duty to a fellow clutchfan Think about it.

 

wtf is that.....and the 1560 the game mic in police interview...lol. You guys are so strange....

 

yo Pimphand, where do you go to school?

 

My two cents...

I graduated in 1996 from Texas A&M with a BBA in Accounting. I decided to go to law school. I enrolled at UH Law in 1997. I had no idea what area of law I wanted to practice. I got a job (after 6 months) in the corporate world and got laid off after the Enron debacle. After another job hunt, I got a job representing people in bankruptcy cases. Seven years later, I am still practicing bankruptcy law and making a good salary.

LSAT - It is an artificial barrier between you and law school. There is no real correlation between how well you do on the LSAT and how well you do in law school. Take LOTS of practice tests.

Law school - Three years of misery. It is just as much a test of endurance as it is a quest for knowledge. You will see a lot of people quit. You will see a lot of your classmates get a divorce during law school. It is difficult on those around you as well. Be prepared. You have done well in undergrad. So has everyone else in the class. You are competing against people who are just as smart as you are.

Major - Does not matter. Law schools take people from virtually every major under the sun.

Employment - Unless you are in the top 10%, you will not earn over $100,000 coming out of school. I knew many people who did, and they were miserable at the big firms. Take less money and go somewhere smaller and really learn your craft. I logged more court time in my first year of bankruptcy practice than my big firm classmates have 9 years later.

The market is somewhat saturated, but I will tell you that I am earning more as an attorney than I would have as an auditor at this point. More importantly, I have a large degree of satisfaction in what I do. I enjoy going to court and arguing (especially when I win).

If you have any questions about law school, etc, ask me. I will give you the truth as I see it.

 

Someone on the admission committee probably knows it better.
To me major doesn't seem matter that much as a factor, but that probably varies with school. The hard numbers are the king, LSAT, and GPA and the rest are tie breakers. Google LSAT+GPA formula for law school, you will get an idea.
PoliSci is a good major to prepare you for law school. And also you don't need a science background to do IP litigation. Lastly, law school is not for weak minded, so be damn sure you want to do it. As someone said, if you are in it for the money, you might be hugely disappointed.

 

Ummm....it is hard to do patent prosecution if you cannot qualify for to PTO exam. A science background is required to get your license to practice before the PTO.

 

Anyone found law school test is a load of crap?
You work your butt off the whole year to get various legal standards straight, but in the end the lazy professors threw you fact patterns that only touch lightly upon the intricacies of those standards they spent most time talking about in the class and you found yourself no better off than the wise-ass next to you who didn't work as hard.

 

Yes, for patent prosecution a BS is must. But IP is first more than patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret. Second IP litigators don't need a science background. That said, I did have a heave programming background before law school and that gave me a lot of leverages.

 

Yes...this sums up my law school career.

 

I would advise everybody not to go - the market is oversaturated.


Unless you can get into a top 14 or better school, your chances of earning your way out of debt are very low. Even people from Harvard/Yale/Stanford (the holy trinity of law schools) are finding hiring season very difficult these days.

Make sure you know what you are gettting into before, because these days the cost/future earnings ratio is WAY WAY higher than it has ever been, and will probably only get worse.

PS - you don't need a science background to do IP if you're going to do copyrights/trademarks. If I had it to do all over again I might specialize in that or something health care related.