Top Law Schools

Canterticle wrote:[strike]Hello all. I am a Junior undergraduate, applying for law schools in the fall pending some difficult choices. I did well on the LSAT, getting a 175. I also have a strong GPA: 3.8 (edit: the 8 ) turned into a smiley!).

Despite these positive factors, I am worried that I am not intelligent enough for Law School. Looking at class breakdowns, 30-40% of HYS and a sizable portion of CCN are from Ivy League schools or top liberal arts colleges. I attend a large state school and am double majoring in two liberal arts (English and economics).

As part of a research job I have read a wide variety of assignments and essays from students from Ivy League schools, and I can honestly say they are at a much higher level than my work, or the work of my peers. Perhaps this is due to the teachers, perhaps the competition to excel, or perhaps the students are simply more intelligent. Whatever the reason, I am worried that, if accepted to a top law school, I will inevitably fall below the median GPA due to this disparity.

Although I have done well in my courses, so have many of my friends and peers. Even when taking demanding courses, the class curve often ensures that I get a solid grade on exams.

I don't read voraciously in my spare time. I don't discuss Foucauldian theory with my roommates. I certainly don't have any remarkable mathematics or writing abilities. I'm just a good student who does well on tests like the LSAT.

Do others have this experience of attending a top law school from a mediocre University? How difficult is the transition? Are you performing above or below your expectations?

The last thing I want to do is pay a lot of money to find out I am outclassed and outmatched, only allowed in due to deceptively high stats and admissions policies which remove the difference between universities, and that I will get poor grades and poor opportunities.

Thanks for your help![/strike] I am either a terrible flame or tooting my own horn.

labyrinth wrote:Apply and use this as your personal statement.

You'll definitely get in.

rad law wrote:You sound like an egregious dumbass to me.

Bangalmafia wrote:I really doubt this is a flame....

Because, I also go to a big school, where I'm often doubting whether or not I'm getting a real education. I've got decent grades too (not like the OP), but I honestly feel like my time would have been better spent reading in the library some of that time.... I mean, I have literally sat through a class where I've heard the same lecture twice.

That said, even if you haven't read widely (just yet) or speak in the occult tongue of some academics--I really think that at long as you have enough of the drive to do so when the time comes, you'll be fine. I sat next to a guy in my calc. class who had spent most of his life as a butcher, came back to school and was pretty much killing the weed-out physics and calculus classes. You'll catch up, learn the ropes, and all that jazz.

I remember reading that Obama mentioned that he never made good grades in undergrad but the thing that really helped him in law school was that he felt time off helped him build a barrier. As he put it, "By the time I got to law school all my wild oats were sown."

Anyways. Hope my efforts to take you seriously weren't wasted too much.

Rock Chalk wrote:I'll bite.

If you got a 175 your first time taking the LSAT, and you have the work ethic you seem to have, you'll be fine.

Canterticle wrote: Although I have done well in my courses, so have many of my friends and peers. Even when taking demanding courses, the class curve often ensures that I get a solid grade on exams, even if I don't know the material that well.

Canterticle wrote: I don't read voraciously in my spare time. I don't discuss Foucauldian theory with my roommates. I certainly don't have any remarkable mathematics or writing abilities.

byunbee wrote:

Canterticle wrote: I don't read voraciously in my spare time. I don't discuss Foucauldian theory with my roommates. I certainly don't have any remarkable mathematics or writing abilities.

How are you so sure Ivy League students are sitting around talking about philosophy with their roommates and reading voraciously on their spare time? And again, I think this has been said many times before on this website. Law school students suck at math.

Despite these positive factors, I am worried that I am not intelligent enough for Law School. Looking at class breakdowns, 30-40% of HYS and a sizable portion of CCN are from Ivy League schools or top liberal arts colleges. I attend a large state school and am double majoring in two liberal arts (English and economics).

That being said, you are clearly very bright and should have no issue getting into a T-14, just apply early and apply liberally.

MeechiganBoy wrote:The LSAT is the one thing that worries me though considering I only got a 26 on my ACT

MeechiganBoy wrote:I'm also wondering the same. I'll be a Freshman next year and law school is my ultimate goal. I didn't do the hottest in high school so I'm planning on woking my tail off to get a 3.8+. The LSAT is the one thing that worries me though considering I only got a 26 on my ACT