Debate and Law School Forum

[gwuorbust]

I debated policy 4 years in high school. It was a lot of fun, and it taught me how to think critically and analyze arguments. I hoped to parlay all of this into attending a top-notch law school.

So I studied really hard for the LSAT and rocked it.

Moral of the story: Fuck debate, study for the LSAT in the library. Alone. Because that actually will make a difference in your life.

[Patriot1208]

Despite what most people on here will tell you, mentioning debate actually can help your application (assuming you have national awards and what not). Two admissions deans mentioned my debate achievements in handwritten notes on my acceptance letters.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but the way those things work is that they pick something from your resume/PS and put on the acceptance letter that they were "impressed". It's there to make you feel special and want to attend their school. It's not a commentary on their admissions process.

One of the schools I was talking about was a reach for me. LSP <25% chance, median LSAT, 0.4 below 25th GPA. Doesn't it seem like something other than numbers was at play in their decision, given my sub-par numbers for that school? Don't you think that the soft they picked from my resume to include in the handwritten note would probably be one of my best softs (the vast majority of applicants didn't get a note BTW)? I'm not saying that my debate experience alone was the reason for my acceptance, but it clearly caught the dean's eye.

No, LSP is completely unreliable and the LSAT is worth far more than GPA. You'll find plenty of people at NU or UVA with 170 LSAT's and shit gpa's.

[fatduck]

I debated policy 4 years in high school. It was a lot of fun, and it taught me how to think critically and analyze arguments. I hoped to parlay all of this into attending a top-notch law school.

So I studied really hard for the LSAT and rocked it.

Moral of the story: Fuck debate, study for the LSAT in the library. Alone. Because that actually will make a difference in your life.

Don't you mean that you should do debate, not study for the LSAT, and not go to law school?

[gwuorbust]

Don't you mean that you should do debate, not study for the LSAT, and not go to law school?

no, BIGDEBATECOACH positions are only available for HYS, whereas I heard that last year 1 guy from gtown got BIGLAW. therefore, BIGLAW > BIGDEBATECOACH... at least until that mystical 1 job dries up, then they are about equal.