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hokie wrote:Hello everyone, I am new to posting but have been lurking around on the site for a few months now. First, I would like to thank everybody who have taken the time to post such great information online (such as Pithypike's study guide); it has helped me tremendously in my decision/preparation for attending law school. I am a recent college graduate (May 2009) and plan on applying to the law school for the Fall 2011. In my preparation of my applications (as my current job makes it impossible to do anything for the summer), I had several questions that I am hoping some of you could chime in on:

1. Ideally I would like to have two academic recommendations and 1 professional recommendation. I do not feel completely comfortable asking my current employer for a recommendation (as I have been working less than a year and I feel it would create tension in the workplace). Would you guys recommend getting a recommendation from a colleague? We are essentially equal in position but he has seniority and has been with the organization 6+ years.

hokie wrote:2. I have several "notable" pre-UG accomplishments that I feel could potentially spice up my resume. More specifically, I earned my black belt in taekwondo when I was fifth grade (and have not been active in nearly 10 years) and won a somewhat well-known regional golf tournament during high school. Should I included any of these at all or would it just look foolish?

hokie wrote:3. My first semester at UG was horrendous (1.9 ), mainly due to immaturity (some partying involved) as well as disinterest in my current major at the time. In addition, my last semester of senior year was pretty bad as well (2. due to my parents separating and I was caring for my mother while attending school (did fairly well in between; ended up with a 3.3 overall). Should I add an addendum at all explaining one/both of my low GPA instances? I feel that my reasoning senior year is something that I should explain but did not want if explaining the first instance hurts me more than it helps me.

hokie wrote:thank you very much for all of your replies. The answers were pretty much what I had suspected....I just wanted to confirm my suspicions. I'm hoping to get all of my application "paperwork" done so that I can strictly focus on the LSAT after the summer. I am just hoping that I can truly cram-study for the LSAT in one month while working...

xyzzzzzzzz wrote:

hokie wrote:I am just hoping that I can truly cram-study for the LSAT in one month while working...

really, don't do that to yourself. it will not end well.