Starting early: mold me into the perfect applicant Forum

[lisjjen]

Stop being a fucking moron and get drunk; I'm drunk. lol @ you.

This Rad Law seems to be quite the social fellow

[Veyron]

[/quote]Majoring in hard science, though great for employablity, seriously fucks with your GPA. Is a 4.0 in hard science better than a 4.0 in Philosophy. . . sure. Is a 3.8 in hard science better than a 4.0 in Philosophy, hells no.[/quote]

Agreed, but if dude wants to be perfect, dude needs to man-up and pull the perfect GPA in a tough (patent-eligible) major.[/quote]

Ok, fuck perfect, OP should settle for "highest" [sic] chance of getting one of HYS.[/quote]

Haha, fair enough. I'd still probably err on the side of employable majors (Accounting? Finance?); a lot can happen in 3 years.[/quote]

Fair enough, I take OP at his word that having backup options is not a consideration.

[Grizz]

Stop being a fucking moron and get drunk; I'm drunk. lol @ you.

This Rad Law seems to be quite the social fellow

Nope drinking alone. Joke on you (me?).

[beachbum]

Stop being a fucking moron and get drunk; I'm drunk. lol @ you.

This Rad Law seems to be quite the social fellow

Nope drinking alone. Joke on you (me?).

[lisjjen]

Stop being a fucking moron and get drunk; I'm drunk. lol @ you.

This Rad Law seems to be quite the social fellow

Nope drinking alone. Joke on you (me?).

Both. I'm drinking alone tonight too. With a cigar.

[Cupidity]

Stop being a fucking moron and get drunk; I'm drunk. lol @ you.

This Rad Law seems to be quite the social fellow

Nope drinking alone. Joke on you (me?).

Both. I'm drinking alone tonight too. With a cigar.

Isn't life grand? Welcome to our futures gentlemen.

[bk1]

Stop being a fucking moron and get drunk; I'm drunk. lol @ you.

This Rad Law seems to be quite the social fellow

Nope drinking alone. Joke on you (me?).

Fucking lol'ed at this.

[Grizz]

Isn't life grand? Welcome to our futures gentlemen.

Welcome to the now duder.

[emmbar53]

The reason I'm on the boards is that I'm looking for your long-term guidance in the application process. Right now I'm a freshman in my second semester at Rice, and for the next three years, I'll document my application process here by posting updates and such.

Wow. You're a second semester freshman and you're only now starting to think seriously about this???

I had my 15 year plan established in the fourth grade.

[glewz]

If you want patent law, go electrical engineering.


If not, make Sure you get at least a 3.8 GPA, regardless of the major you pursue.

Law school, above probably any other type of graduate program, is all about the GPA and LSAT. Most undergrads don't realize this until it's too late - they tend to overload in extracurriculars or # of majors, which brings down their GPA.

Yes, do what you enjoy, but not at the expense of your grades.

[Hoot]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies -- I enjoyed reading them. Re: elec/hard science major -- no way. I'm not a math/science kind of guy, and there's no way I can graduate with a BS in 3 years from Rice with a 3.8+. Plus, I don't want to do patent law. So this is my plan: I'll do philosophy in 3 years, get to know some profs in the department very well for the LOR, and hopefully graduate with a 3.8+ (although grade inflation at Rice is nonexistent, A+'s count as 4.3). This summer I have something amazing (albeit academic) planned out, and next year I hope to be a staff member for a student publication on campus which should help my softs (?) plus get a fellowship with a philosophy prof.

Some lingering questions: should I pursue learning languages? Would knowing an Asian and Middle Eastern language boost my application? If my summer plans fall through, any recommendations? Do my summer activities (and ECs for that matter) have to tie in with my major... or law?

Thanks again for all your help so far!

[rman1201]

It'd probably be best your summer activities don't tie in with law.
Just focus 95% of your efforts on GPA and do whatever over summer, something interesting. Research, work, internship, travel, etc.

[lolschool2011]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies -- I enjoyed reading them. Re: elec/hard science major -- no way. I'm not a math/science kind of guy, and there's no way I can graduate with a BS in 3 years from Rice with a 3.8+. Plus, I don't want to do patent law. So this is my plan: I'll do philosophy in 3 years, get to know some profs in the department very well for the LOR, and hopefully graduate with a 3.8+ (although grade inflation at Rice is nonexistent, A+'s count as 4.3). This summer I have something amazing (albeit academic) planned out, and next year I hope to be a staff member for a student publication on campus which should help my softs (?) plus get a fellowship with a philosophy prof.

Some lingering questions: should I pursue learning languages? Would knowing an Asian and Middle Eastern language boost my application? If my summer plans fall through, any recommendations? Do my summer activities (and ECs for that matter) have to tie in with my major... or law?

Thanks again for all your help so far!

lol @ this ALT/trolling attempt - I grant you another honorary BS degree, "freshman."

[TurtlesAllTheWayDown]

Don't graduate early. I did and I am not seeing any boost from it. Why risk one of the best years of your life for the sole purpose of gaining a soft? If you know you want to go to law school now, you have 5 years to make yourself into a baller candidate. This is the time on your life where there are relatively few consequences for your actions. Study hard, get wasted, take some illicit drugs, and get laid. There's time to do all 4. I certainly regret not having the extra year to do all of them.

I feel like Billy Madison when the fat kid tells Billy that he can't wait until he gets to go to high school.

[emmbar53]

I feel like Billy Madison when the fat kid tells Billy that he can't wait until he gets to go to high school.

This.

[helloperson]

Major in Engineering, at least you'll have options if you decide not to do law school (and since you're a freshman, odds are you'll change your mind).

As someone who actually did this:

If you are confident you want to go to law school, do not do engineering. I know one person in my entire major with a 4.0; the median is at or around 3.0. I have taken classes at other schools, and I can say with certainty that I could easily have phoned in a 4.0 at a different school taking a different major. Do this. An engineering major means you will get, tops, a 3.7, and you will work your ass off to do it. Hell, last semester I put in around 50-60 hours/week every single week and I only got a 3.4 (well, I was also taking the maximum number of courses allowed so that I could graduate on time; don't do this either). On the one hand, I am completely prepared for the amount of work that I will have to do to be successful in law school. On the other hand, life has kind of sucked more than it needed to if I had picked something easy.

That being said, if you are not confident you want to go to law school, an engineering major gives you a backup plan. I'm looking at a starting salary between 65k and 75k if I went straight into the work force. I don't plan to go to law school unless I get into a school where I think I can reasonably compete for big law. Also, take all the weed out courses (physics ii, calc 2 + 3) at DIFFERENT SCHOOLS. Your engineering school gives lower grades than your local X state college that you can take summer classes at, and an A at that school is worth the same as an A at the other school.

Further, not everyone can do engineering. If you aren't cut out to be an engineer, and most people aren't, you will end up with a GPA in the <3.0 range, which will fuck you over for law school and engineering jobs.

[parsi]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies -- I enjoyed reading them. Re: elec/hard science major -- no way. I'm not a math/science kind of guy, and there's no way I can graduate with a BS in 3 years from Rice with a 3.8+. Plus, I don't want to do patent law. So this is my plan: I'll do philosophy in 3 years, get to know some profs in the department very well for the LOR, and hopefully graduate with a 3.8+ (although grade inflation at Rice is nonexistent, A+'s count as 4.3). This summer I have something amazing (albeit academic) planned out, and next year I hope to be a staff member for a student publication on campus which should help my softs (?) plus get a fellowship with a philosophy prof.

Some lingering questions: should I pursue learning languages? Would knowing an Asian and Middle Eastern language boost my application? If my summer plans fall through, any recommendations? Do my summer activities (and ECs for that matter) have to tie in with my major... or law?

Thanks again for all your help so far!

No, do not pursue a language. They are some of the hardest classes at most universities and will hurt your GPA.

To be completely honest, I dont have a whole buttload of softs...I worked through the last 3 years of undergrad and applied with a 3.9/171 and have already been accepted to T6.

Just keep your grades up and clown on the LSAT and you should be fine

[FeelTheHeat]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies -- I enjoyed reading them. Re: elec/hard science major -- no way. I'm not a math/science kind of guy, and there's no way I can graduate with a BS in 3 years from Rice with a 3.8+. Plus, I don't want to do patent law. So this is my plan: I'll do philosophy in 3 years, get to know some profs in the department very well for the LOR, and hopefully graduate with a 3.8+ (although grade inflation at Rice is nonexistent, A+'s count as 4.3). This summer I have something amazing (albeit academic) planned out, and next year I hope to be a staff member for a student publication on campus which should help my softs (?) plus get a fellowship with a philosophy prof.

Some lingering questions: should I pursue learning languages? Would knowing an Asian and Middle Eastern language boost my application? If my summer plans fall through, any recommendations? Do my summer activities (and ECs for that matter) have to tie in with my major... or law?

Thanks again for all your help so far!

I wish I could trade places with you and have known this is what I wanted to do that early lol.

I may be wrong, but I'm almost certain you need to major in engineering to do patent law. There are others far more qualified to answer that.

To echo other posters, graduating early does next to nothing. Enjoy college. If you have a relatively easy major like philosophy (my major), you have plenty of time to socialize and even work.

I keep trying to convince myself otherwise, but it seems that unless you have won a nobel peace prize or cured cancer, the only things that will matter to admissions are GPA and the LSAT (and work experience if you want NW, which I would have loved to have gone to). Utilize TLS; there is some great information on here once you cut through all the bullshit. I really wish I had known about it prior to taking the LSAT, there is a lot of good stuff on there.

Learn a language if you want, but not at the expense of your GPA. Do whatever you want during the summer. If it happens to be charity work or an internship so you can begin making connections (what I did), knock yourself out. Coach a youth basketball team.

Do you want to practice in New York? Have you put any thought into that?

[leopardRAWR]

Graduate early. It is the best decision I ever made.

You will save thousands. If someone else is paying for your undergrad and would be willing to pay for a 4th year, you may be able to talk them into contributing that money toward your law school expenses.

It is also one less year to potentially screw up your GPA. Plan your first two years as if you are going to graduate in 3 years. If after your 2nd year, you are not happy with your GPA, you can stay the full 4 years to bring your GPA up. If your GPA is good after your first 2 years, then get the heck out of school before you accidentally mess it up.

As far as softs go, honestly my softs are pretty run of the mill and I still managed to get into a T6. Do make sure you have something to put on your resume, but realize no matter how good your resume is, it most likely won't let you overcome a low GPA or LSAT.

For now, enjoy college as much as you can while still maintaining a high GPA. Even if you decide law school is not for you, a high GPA will open doors to other great opportunities. Good luck!

[SoPro]

[bartleby]

Drop the philosophy major.

[glewz]

btw, 3.8 is considered low for harvard, yale, or stanford...