When to start Forum

[ls1995]

Although I am only a freshmen, I am interested in attending law school as of now. I understand a lot can change over the course of years, but as of now I would like to go to Law School. With that being said, When should I start preparing for the LSAT. Is this summer too early to begin to look at stuff, or take a diagnostic practice LSAT? what Diagnostic Practice LSAT should I take?

[mindarmed]

Enjoy UG, pursue STEM, don't be a lawyer. HTH

[Clearly]

The problem with starting now, is that there is only a limited amount of prep material. The benefit you get from that would be better off if you waited a few years. If you start now, you run the risk of running out of study material well before you need to take the test.

[hephaestus]

The problem with starting now, is that there is only a limited amount of prep material. The benefit you get from that would be better off if you waited a few years. If you start now, you run the risk of running out of study material well before you need to take the test.

This. Don't prep until the summer before your junior year, at the earliest. And major in something useful so you can do something else if you change your mind.

[JustHawkin]

The problem with starting now, is that there is only a limited amount of prep material. The benefit you get from that would be better off if you waited a few years. If you start now, you run the risk of running out of study material well before you need to take the test.

This. Don't prep until the summer before your junior year, at the earliest. And major in something useful so you can do something else if you change your mind.

This. take courses that 1) you have a chance at getting good grades in and 2) also challenge your mind.

[ls1995]

I am double majoring in economics and finance. Would it be bad to take a diagnostic this summer just to get a feel for what the LSAT is like so when I do start to prepare for it, I am familiar with it?

[drevo]

I am double majoring in economics and finance. Would it be bad to take a diagnostic this summer just to get a feel for what the LSAT is like so when I do start to prepare for it, I am familiar with it?

First off, solid major choices. I'm a finance major and kick myself constantly for not doing the double major with economics. Now it wouldn't be bad by any means but it is kind of pointless. Might as well just wait more until the time starts coming because if you take that diagnostic chances are you will be intrigued into how to get better and you will end up studying far before you need to and using prep material that would be better saved.

Also the response of "Enjoy UG" CANNOT be overstated. Seriously UG is absolutely amazing. Especially freshman/sophomore year. I'm now a senior and while I still love every second of college, nothing compares to those first two years in terms of doing new things and having life changing experiences. Basically shutting off a huge part of my social life to study for the Oct. LSAT was hard as hell for me and that is with an already established group of friends, a girlfriend, etc. I couldn't imagine trying to juggle the social life of being a freshman and studying for the LSAT.

[iamgeorgebush]

Agreed with the other posters; don't touch LSAT prep material until the summer before your junior year.

In the meantime...

1. Take classes that involve reading dense passages, criticizing arguments, and determining which articles of clothing in which colors must be worn by various sets of mannequins (costume design?). (Nb: these courses should also get you good grades.)

2. Take a logic course and start doing daily sudoku and other logic puzzles.

3. Talk to lawyers and/or intern at a law firm or other place where lawyers work to make sure you really want to go to law school.

[drevo]

Agreed with the other posters; don't touch LSAT prep material until the summer before your junior year.
3. Talk to lawyers and/or intern at a law firm or other place where lawyers work to make sure you really want to go to law school.

This is another piece of advice that I think is said so often that people may overlook it but is probably up there with the best of them. A double major in finance and economics is prime. Hell for me just having a major in finance from a decent state school would basically allow me (and you with your degree and assuming good grades) to graduate next spring and walk straight into a $60,000+/year job. Couple that with the fact that for me I will have 0 debt leaving UG makes it so even though I am putting in all my effort into law school apps and I expect I did well on the LSAT it will still be a tough decision for me to forgo the debt free life to take on a lot of debt.

That said, I completely understand that if you want to take a shot at law then you should by all means at least see where you can get in and make your decision from there. Unlike you I didn't seriously entertain the law route that early but I would suggest finding some sort of legal internship now or in the summer between freshman and sophomore year because for the most part there won't be many, if any, solid financial internships for incoming sophomores. At least not where I go to school.

Take my advice with a grain of salt as I am applying to law schools this cycle but I have a similar major to you and I have been looking into this by reading countless articles, talking to professors, message boards etc.

Again, enjoy UG. There is nothing that can really compare to the very low level of responsibility you have and the extremely high level of fun shit there is to do.

[jordan15]

Take a symbolic logic course and if possible, advanced logic courses. Take writing intensive courses. If at all possible, take a course on constitutional law or something that requires you to actually read through supreme court cases to see if you actually like reading through lots of boring text. But don't major in legal studies. Focus on building a few strong relationships with professors by taking multiple classes with them. All of these things will personally benefit you if you decide not to go to law school later as well as benefit you for law school apps.

Save the LSAT studying for junior year.

[JustHawkin]

Take a symbolic logic course and if possible, advanced logic courses. Take writing intensive courses. If at all possible, take a course on constitutional law or something that requires you to actually read through supreme court cases to see if you actually like reading through lots of boring text. But don't major in legal studies. Focus on building a few strong relationships with professors by taking multiple classes with them. All of these things will personally benefit you if you decide not to go to law school later as well as benefit you for law school apps.

Save the LSAT studying for junior year.

Just curious as to why majoring in legal studies has a bad rep?

[jordan15]

Take a symbolic logic course and if possible, advanced logic courses. Take writing intensive courses. If at all possible, take a course on constitutional law or something that requires you to actually read through supreme court cases to see if you actually like reading through lots of boring text. But don't major in legal studies. Focus on building a few strong relationships with professors by taking multiple classes with them. All of these things will personally benefit you if you decide not to go to law school later as well as benefit you for law school apps.

Save the LSAT studying for junior year.

Just curious as to why majoring in legal studies has a bad rep?

Various reasons, but I suppose law schools prefer students to come in with a fresh mind, instead of tainted by UG.

Legal studies majors also do the worst (or almost the worst) on average on the LSAT. The LSAT is extremely important so you would be wise to take classes that encourage critical and logical thinking (hence, why I recommended symbolic logic).

Lastly, you want to be a well rounded person, not someone who only knows basic legal stuff. If the latter is what you want, just get a paralegal certificate. Your UG is also likely to help shape your law career- a finance major would have an advantage and passion for tax law, computer science for patent law, sociology for family law or public interest.

Feel free to join mock trial or a pre-law club and spend your entire 4 years interning for an attorney but please major in something other than legal studies.

[iamgeorgebush]

This is going off-topic, but I just wanted to +1 jordan. This is something I've heard from multiple lawyers; major in something different from the law that could add to your practice in a special way. Environmental studies, chemistry, or biology if you're interested in environmental law, finance or economics if you're interested in securities, computer science if you're interested in patents, etc.