Hello,

I’m currently a Junior in undergrad, looking to go to a T14 law school, and I was wondering if I could get some advice on how best to proceed from here, based on the successes and failures of people who are familiar with the process. I stumbled upon this website about a week ago, and I’m impressed with what I’ve learned from it only in that short time, but I’d greatly appreciate some pointers.

Some things about me:

I go to an American college in Switzerland, where I’ll be receiving both an American and a Swiss degree (BA in International Relations w/ Minor in French). I’m also on a fast track to finish up in three years (it’s only my second year, but I’m a junior).

My GPA is 3.7 and I haven’t taken the LSAT yet. To be honest, I have no idea what I’ll get, as I haven’t completed a practice test yet, but I’m hoping for high 160s to low 170s (of course, at this point it’s easy to be optimistic). I’ll obviously be aiming for the highest score possible, and my GPA will probably stay about the same. I’d like to take an online LSAT prep-course; I was thinking Princeton Review, unless there are better ones out there I don’t know of?

My biggest question is about my international experience. I have dual nationality (USA, France), I’m fluent in four languages (English, French, German, Italian), and I’ve lived almost half my life in Europe. Also, through my college I have the opportunity to travel every semester with a small group to study a specific country or region and do some research there. Finally, I obviously attend and international college. Is this experience something that’s going to play much in law schools’ decisions to admit me?

Thanks ahead for all responses =)

I'd recommend PowerScore. I didn't do their course, but their self-study books, known as the Bibles, were immensely helpful to me.



Does your school grade on the American system? If not, you may need to get your GPA converted to an American GPA for LSDAS.

Your life experience might make for an interesting personal statement, but as a soft factor, it's not exceptional.

Yes, my school does grade on the American system, so the GPA doesn't change.

I suppose I'll have to rely mostly on my personal statement and letters of recommendation as soft factors then. Are there any other things that I can do to improve in this area?

Also, would it be a good idea to save harder classes for my last semester of senior year and take easier ones in Spring 2010 (I'll be applying to schools in Fall 2010), so that my GPA will be higher when I apply?

We will let you in as long as you state the following: "America is way better than Europe and will forever PWN them"

Haha, I would gladly say almost anything if it got me into a top LS

Of course, a real Swiss wouldn't care about saying this anyway, because he wouldn't consider himself a European =)

You could write a really fun personal statement about preparedness. you can reference the swiss required bomb shelters and the military drills.

Incidentally, <3 holunder. saved me on this evil hike in the Dolomites. From a stranger's water bottle on the drei fingers. He then fell in a cow trough. I stayed for 2 months with some Nazis and begged the US embassy to get me an apartment so I could stay longer when they had to intercede on my behalf. Basically, I'm jealous.

Haha yeah, although Swiss preparedness is more of an exercise in futility. Who currently poses the biggest threat to Swiss national security? The IRS.





The Dolomites are beautiful, I'm jealous you got to go hiking there! I went to the Lago di Guarda once, a little further South. That area is beautiful =)

Grüezi

I would reccomend PowerScore over princeton review. Check out pithypikes guide on the LSAT forum, I would reccomend that over most prep courses.

If you were Swiss, some time partying in the Swiss army might of looked good when applying.

I've read pithypikes guide, and it's great, though it doesn't help me much with specifics. I'm planning on purchasing the PowerScore bibles and possibly taking an online course from here. Hoping to study at least 10 hours a week from January until the June test, with three weeks between finals and the test devoted purely to study for the LSAT.



Unfortunately I'm not a Swiss citizen, I'm just living here while I go to an international college. Looking into internships at the various IGOs and NGOs in Geneva though. I'm guessing that would look good.

I think knowing 4 languages fluently is a pretty damn good soft. Knowing multiple languages seems to be valued by law firms, which will help you land a nice job, which will help the law school's career placement stats. I think it'll give you a leg up in admissions especially at schools that are less GPA/LSAT-focused.

This is a good point. Here, I'll list the law schools that are less GPA/LSAT-focused to guide your search:

Very clever, I guess I'll apply to Northwestern with no work experience and assume that my 4.0/180 with nothing else of interest will get me into Yale.

Are you claiming that Northwestern and Yale aren't focused on GPA/LSAT?

Less != aren't thanks for playing

I know that people here (correctly) generally try to downplay soft factors, but I think that being fluent in four languages is a lot more significant than, say, "secretary of the honor society." My advice would be to bust ass studying for the LSAT, because with your GPA, you could have a solid shot at some T14 schools. I'm sure this has been explained before, but even exceptional softs won't get you into a school for which you are completely unqualified, numbers-wise; that being said, I definitely think they would give you an edge over a similar candidate.

Also, in considering life after law school (gasp!), your language skills could make you a very valuable asset to a law firm; depending on the type of law you want to practice, you could definitely excel. After all, most of the major big law firms have offices abroad.