Applying to LS in 3 years (UG) Forum

[AspLaw]

Hey guys,

I have a quick question about applying to Law School after three years in UG. I'm a sophomore in college right now and plan on taking the LSAT in October. Could I apply to law school in my third year of UG, provided that I have a satisfactory LSAT score? By that time, I will have finished MOST, but not all of my major requirements. I was thinking about applying to law school in October of my junior year, and then finishing my requirements by the end of junior year. Or, is it absolutely necessary to have finished all my major requirements before applying?

[pwyoung]

You simply need to be on track to have a bachelor's degree in hand by the time you matriculate into law school.

[NCGuy]

Cooley allows people to apply after their third year, if you're THAT desperate.

[AspLaw]

I don't think applying in three years has anything to do with being desperate. In fact, with tuition rates soaring in recent years, graduating early may even be beneficial for someone planning on going to law school. And I never asked for a law school that allowed candidates to apply after three years. Perhaps a basic reading course would do you some good.

[EvilClinton]

I don't think applying in three years has anything to do with being desperate. In fact, with tuition rates soaring in recent years, graduating early may even be beneficial for someone planning on going to law school. And I never asked for a law school that allowed candidates to apply after three years. Perhaps a basic reading course would do you some good.

It is going to hurt your resume and job search later, but otherwise there is no problem with it.

[AspLaw]

I don't think applying in three years has anything to do with being desperate. In fact, with tuition rates soaring in recent years, graduating early may even be beneficial for someone planning on going to law school. And I never asked for a law school that allowed candidates to apply after three years. Perhaps a basic reading course would do you some good.

It is going to hurt your resume and job search later, but otherwise there is no problem with it.

Enlighten me please.

[soj]

I doubt it'll hurt that much, but employers might ask why you don't have a degree or major listed on your resume, and then you'd have to explain why you didn't actually graduate from UG rather than spending that time discussing your strengths.

I don't think applying in three years has anything to do with being desperate. In fact, with tuition rates soaring in recent years, graduating early may even be beneficial for someone planning on going to law school. And I never asked for a law school that allowed candidates to apply after three years. Perhaps a basic reading course would do you some good.

Tone down the bitchiness. People are trying to help.

[EvilClinton]

I don't think applying in three years has anything to do with being desperate. In fact, with tuition rates soaring in recent years, graduating early may even be beneficial for someone planning on going to law school. And I never asked for a law school that allowed candidates to apply after three years. Perhaps a basic reading course would do you some good.

It is going to hurt your resume and job search later, but otherwise there is no problem with it.

Enlighten me please.

W/E is a huge plus in the legal hiring process. Being straight through does not necessarily hurt you but there are always questions about maturity and whether or not you will do well in a professional environment (which is nothing like an academic environment). Graduating in 3 years and then not doing anything between UG and law school will only exacerbate those concerns.

[Joeshan520]

Ok, please don't toy with this kid's mind and you are a kid at 19-20 years old. I'm not trying to demean you or sound condescending but you need to go live your life a little bit and worry about the LSAT later. Go to a party or two, study hard and develop good working relationships with professors (they may just be your referees in a few years). Go get experience in the profession and make sure this is what you want to do before you kill yourself over this exam. Take an unpaid internship with a law office, carry around briefcases do whatever you have to do to get some hands on exposure. Law schools are starting to encourage (not require) people to go get a few years of work experience AFTER undergrad and I would suggest the same to you. I know at 19 I had the same thoughts as you and everything was geared around a law school acceptance but things change and had I known then what I know now at 24 I would of enjoyed myself a bit more. Law school will always be there, this time in your life won't so enjoy it and worry about this test in the future. You'll thank me later.

[CCN-S Transfer]

I graduated in 3 years and went straight to law school. As I went to a private UG, it saved me a ton of money and was well worth it. There are advantages and disadvantages to doing what I did. On the positive side, you'll be so young when you finish law school that you'll have tons of time to do whatever you want in your career (or multiple careers, for that matter) and (assuming you get a solid job) you'll be making good $$$ for longer.

Disadvantages: you miss out on a few years of just bumming around and living life. Law school is hard and being a lawyer is hard. It also can hurt you in the job search, although I found that it could cut both ways, depending on who I was talking to- some people were impressed and assumed I was really smart (even though I'm not any smarter than my classmates who graduated in 4 years or took time off), and others would've preferred more work experience. In the end, I think as long as you do well in law school you'll get the benefit of the doubt with employers. If you struggle, I could see employers assuming that you're immature and not ready for real work.

Important note: only grad in 3 years and go straight to law school if you can get into a really solid law school. If you can't right off the bat, work for a few years to try to improve your application- that'll help you get into a better school and it'll probably help you in a competitive OCI/job market. There's no reason to be in a rush to pay tons of money for mediocre (or even decent, but not great) job prospects.

[Borg]

I highly recommend not doing this. If you want to graduate in three years, fine. Don't apply to law school straight from undergrad though. As someone said above, it will be detrimental to your employment prospects, and you will also have a limited perspective on life. I promise law school will be there in a few years, and there are really good reasons not to do this.

I worked prior to starting a JD/MBA and I found it to be immensely helpful. You learn how to live as an adult, you get to know what it feels like to go into work every day and what it takes to succeed in the corporate world (big adjustment from college), and you get a better sense of what you really want to do with your life. You might decide that there are things you would rather do than law and not want to go after all. Much better to know that before applying rather than midway through. Also, you WILL make mistakes and the learning experience is very important. Much better to make your rookie mistakes at a job you won't be at forever than at a firm post law school.

I've also found that having work experience was a huge advantage in recruiting and on the job during the summer. In interviews, I had a lot of substantive things to talk about, and employers were impressed by my experience. My grades were largely irrelevant because of my resume. Also, K-JD kids tend to make a lot of beginner mistakes during summers because they don't know any better, and it can hurt them both in terms of getting an offer and having people trust them when they start. When I summered I had a real advantage over the people who had never worked before.

My only caveat is that you shouldn't take a job as a paralegal. Go work as a consultant or in a large company or at a startup. Paralegal work won't really show you anything other than law.

[Tom Joad]

I doubt it'll hurt that much, but employers might ask why you don't have a degree or major listed on your resume, and then you'd have to explain why you didn't actually graduate from UG rather than spending that time discussing your strengths.

I don't think applying in three years has anything to do with being desperate. In fact, with tuition rates soaring in recent years, graduating early may even be beneficial for someone planning on going to law school. And I never asked for a law school that allowed candidates to apply after three years. Perhaps a basic reading course would do you some good.

Tone down the bitchiness. People are trying to help.

To be fair, his screenname is AspieLaw. I would just take my time to graduate UG though, kid. You only get to do college once and if you do it right it is the best years of your life.

[Joeshan520]

My only caveat is that you shouldn't take a job as a paralegal. Go work as a consultant or in a large company or at a startup. Paralegal work won't really show you anything other than law.

I agreed with everything you said up until this last sentence. I've been working at a V10 post UG and it has definitely shaped my perspective on the way big corporate firms operate. Not to mention I've developed a number of relationships with associates and partners that could help me down the road. If law is the end goal for OP, having legal experience definitely won't hurt in terms of defining his/her career interests and it gives OP a practical framework to draw from when learning about the law from a theoretical perspective in school. In the end, post UG work experience prior to law school or any professional school for that matter should really be called "post graduate learning how to be a grown up before making huge financial decisions", not necessarily " post graduate working at a consultancy because it will good on a resume".

[Borg]

My only caveat is that you shouldn't take a job as a paralegal. Go work as a consultant or in a large company or at a startup. Paralegal work won't really show you anything other than law.

I agreed with everything you said up until this last sentence. I've been working at a V10 post UG and it has definitely shaped my perspective on the way big corporate firms operate. Not to mention I've developed a number of relationships with associates and partners that could help me down the road. If law is the end goal for OP, having legal experience definitely won't hurt in terms of defining his/her career interests and it gives OP a practical framework to draw from when learning about the law from a theoretical perspective in school. In the end, post UG work experience prior to law school or any professional school for that matter should really be called "post graduate learning how to be a grown up before making huge financial decisions", not necessarily " post graduate working at a consultancy because it will good on a resume".

First, please let me make it clear that I don't mean to belittle anyone who is working as a paralegal because it's a fine job. Also, working as a paralegal will most definitely be helpful when applying for summer associate positions. The point I was trying to make is that working as a paralegal doesn't give you any perspective outside of the law. I guess it's one thing if you're absolutely sure that law is what you want to do, but few people are, and I think it's better to work in a different field and broaden your perspective and skill set.

[Joeshan520]

On second glance, I figured your post meant that and was indeed very insightful. I also think that while working in the profession might not broaden your perspective outside of the law, it certainly could save you from throwing your money away on a law degree. So many people mindlessly attend law school and have no idea how much work it actually entails. I am going to bill about 2300 hours as a paralegal at a big firm this year and certainly know what I'm getting myself into. I think OP has a lot of time and necessary maturation before making that leap. Very few 19 year olds in this country have had to shoulder that much responsibility for their work or put in those kind of hours.