International students? Forum

[crimsonred]

Hi,

I am an international student working towards my masters degree at the Univ. of Colorado. So I took some courses from the law school here, and I was bowled over. I had some questions and found this amazing forum. Been reading for about 2 hours now. Anyway, here goes:

1. Is it easier to get into law school after a masters degree (with me taking up legit 6000 & 7000 level courses from the law school)?
2. I know that law schools are crazy expensive, and the thought of spending $50k+/year right now is just mind boggling. So, what about financial aid for international students?
3. I would like to concentrate on Intellectual Property and Copyright, so assuming I go to law school, graduate, do I need to be an American national to practice law in the US or will clearing the state's bar exam do it?
4. Is it almost guaranteed that you will end up in the state where you study? Because I want to end up somewhere on the east coast, but schools there are tough to get in and moreover very very expensive.

[logicman86]

Hi,

I am an international student working towards my masters degree at the Univ. of Colorado. So I took some courses from the law school here, and I was bowled over. I had some questions and found this amazing forum. Been reading for about 2 hours now. Anyway, here goes:

1. Is it easier to get into law school after a masters degree (with me taking up legit 6000 & 7000 level courses from the law school)?
2. I know that law schools are crazy expensive, and the thought of spending $50k+/year right now is just mind boggling. So, what about financial aid for international students?
3. I would like to concentrate on Intellectual Property and Copyright, so assuming I go to law school, graduate, do I need to be an American national to practice law in the US or will clearing the state's bar exam do it?
4. Is it almost guaranteed that you will end up in the state where you study? Because I want to end up somewhere on the east coast, but schools there are tough to get in and moreover very very expensive.

1.) Yes, but the difference is not ridiculously great. However, law schools tend to favor people with more life experience because they add to the diversity pool and are good bets to study and behave in a mature fashion. The difference isn't huge, but can be a deciding factor between two equal applicants.

2.) I wouldn't imagine it'd be different for international students than non-international students. Any variance here would be ethically questionable. If you have an LSAT and GPA above 75th percentile for a given school, you'll probably get $.

3.) I am not sure so will defer to another poster, but I would imagine you would not be allowed to practice law in the USA if you are not a US citizen. Why can't you get citizenship now? From my knowledge, you might have to have a firm sponsor your Visa status to work here but this is not at all a big issue for big firms, and won't be a deciding factor.

As an international student, your personal statement will be huge. The fear with international students in law where eloquence and diction are so important is that because english is their second language, they might struggle to hold their own. Whether or not this is in fact true, you have to use your personal statement to combat any doubt on this issue.