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I just decided I want to go to law school. I'm 4 years out of college with a low GPA of 3.2 from an Ivy league school (if that counts for anything). Part of my GPA drop was a pretty bad bout of depression. I was in therapy for part of my junior and all of senior year, sometimes as much as three times a week. I am sure I could get a letter verifying this if it would help. I've been working in an entirely different field this whole time--I've worked on socially conscious projects, but there's no direct link between any of my work and law school as far as I can tell, especially because I've been working abroad. I'm applying to law school because, now that I'm back in the US, I know there's no way to make the kinds of change I want at the scale I want without a law degree. I'd just never considered the possibility because I thought my GPA was too low. Then I googled it and realized I might have a shot at going somewhere good if I did the rest of my application right. I haven't taken the LSAT yet. Here are some questions:

1. I would like to get some work experience in the field somehow, but I'm not sure how or where. Someone on this forum said paralegal work wouldn't help me, but I'm not sure if working at a non profit that worked on the kinds of issues i'm interested in would help a) understand the field and narrow in on what I'll get out of law school and b) my application. Does my four years of non profit work help? Would it help to do another year or two as a paralegal/law related internship or non-legal work?
2. I know my best hope is to do really well on the LSAT and apply to splitter friendly schools. How else do I research the kind of law school I should go to? Are there any good books out there? Is hiring a consultant worth it?
3. What are some important threads on this forum I should definitely check out?

Thanks!

bns212 wrote:I just decided I want to go to law school. I'm 4 years out of college with a low GPA of 3.2 from an Ivy league school (if that counts for anything). Part of my GPA drop was a pretty bad bout of depression. I was in therapy for part of my junior and all of senior year, sometimes as much as three times a week. I am sure I could get a letter verifying this if it would help. I've been working in an entirely different field this whole time--I've worked on socially conscious projects, but there's no direct link between any of my work and law school as far as I can tell, especially because I've been working abroad. I'm applying to law school because, now that I'm back in the US, I know there's no way to make the kinds of change I want at the scale I want without a law degree. I'd just never considered the possibility because I thought my GPA was too low. Then I googled it and realized I might have a shot at going somewhere good if I did the rest of my application right. I haven't taken the LSAT yet. Here are some questions:

1. I would like to get some work experience in the field somehow, but I'm not sure how or where. Someone on this forum said paralegal work wouldn't help me, but I'm not sure if working at a non profit that worked on the kinds of issues i'm interested in would help a) understand the field and narrow in on what I'll get out of law school and b) my application. Does my four years of non profit work help? Would it help to do another year or two as a paralegal/law related internship or non-legal work?
2. I know my best hope is to do really well on the LSAT and apply to splitter friendly schools. How else do I research the kind of law school I should go to? Are there any good books out there? Is hiring a consultant worth it?
3. What are some important threads on this forum I should definitely check out?

Thanks!

study for the LSAT as best as you can and see what you get before addressing any of these questions. You will probably have to get a very high score (170 +) to make law school a worthwhile endeavor given your GPA. Schools won't care about your undergrad pedigree + mediocre WE, except at the absolute margins. By the way, paralegal work won't help at all. I am sorry to hear about your mental health struggles as well, but they are not necessarily something you would want to bring up to admissions officers given the intense mental health and alcoholism problems plaguing the profession.

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No one cares about addenda.

First Offense wrote:No one cares about addenda.

This is right. Don't hire a consultant when TLS can do a better job for free.