Top Law Schools

Hello Everyone,

I am currently a Communications major at Sonoma State University graduating with the class of 2011. I am planning to take the LSAT in October/December (if advised) and would like some advice on whether or not I should wait a year to take my LSAT. I graduated High School in 2009 and last year was my first year of college. I have been taking overload courses (20 units in fall, 8 over winter, 20 over spring, 21 units this summer, etc.) in order to graduate in two years. I currently have a 4.0 (expected 3.9+ when I graduate) and desperately want to go to Standford Law. Since I am taking so many courses and units I am not sure if I will be able to study effectively for my LSAT (my study guide: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/3- ... edule.html). Since I really only want to go to Stanford, should I take a year off (after I graduate of course), study for my LSAT, and have a solid shot for SLS? Or is 3 months enough time to study for the LSAT (I will be enrolled in 23 units over fall)? I hear it is a crap shoot for Stanford sometimes (but I am pretty sure I can get a recommendation from one of the professors at Sonoma who got her PHD from Stanford, I am working on my senior thesis, have an internship at Comcast entertainment this summer, and have 5 years of employment history at a local Animal Hospital). I am not a URM.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Rae

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Raeina wrote:Hello Everyone,

I am currently a Communications major at Sonoma State University graduating with the class of 2011. I am planning to take the LSAT in October/December (if advised) and would like some advice on whether or not I should wait a year to take my LSAT. I graduated High School in 2009 and last year was my first year of college. I have been taking overload courses (20 units in fall, 8 over winter, 20 over spring, 21 units this summer, etc.) in order to graduate in two years. I currently have a 4.0 (expected 3.9+ when I graduate) and desperately want to go to Standford Law. Since I am taking so many courses and units I am not sure if I will be able to study effectively for my LSAT (my study guide: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/3- ... edule.html). Since I really only want to go to Stanford, should I take a year off (after I graduate of course), study for my LSAT, and have a solid shot for SLS? Or is 3 months enough time to study for the LSAT (I will be enrolled in 23 units over fall)? I hear it is a crap shoot for Stanford sometimes (but I am pretty sure I can get a recommendation from one of the professors at Sonoma who got her PHD from Stanford, I am working on my senior thesis, have an internship at Comcast entertainment this summer, and have 5 years of employment history at a local Animal Hospital). I am not a URM.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Rae

I would say calm down and do not graduate in under 3 years. Use that extra year to build up your softs, and develop relationships with professors. After you graduate, concentrate full time on the LSAT and rock it with a 170+. SLS is one of the few schools that you kind of almost need strong softs to get into, on top of top shelf GPA/LSAT. Above all keep that GPA up.

Edit: I say to not graduate in under 3 because being only 2 years removed from high school might actually hurt you with adcomms (maturity questions, etc.).

Thanks for the advice! I am 18 right now and will be 19 when I graduate. Unfortunately I am an out of state student at Sonoma so my parents can only afford two years and FASFA isn't giving us any grants or loans. It would be more beneficial for me to graduate next year financially (I don't mind paying a lot for Stanford since I will be independent then and most likely will get more aid). Are my softs good enough now? 5 years of work experience, founder of the SAFE program, intern at Comcast Entertainment (was chosen out of 250 applicants), website designer for several websites, lifeguard, PR specialist for the animal hospital, volunteer at a local emergency clinic and I am also working on my senior thesis for honors degree. I am also going to see if I can be a research assistant in the psychology depertment and am in a program called Hutchins which consists of small lecture classes (ratio 1:16) that focus on all GE areas of study.

-Rae

Set aside 3 full hours one of these days and do a diagnostic. Some people are just naturally gifted at taking tests, or at least, the LSAT. You sound like a smart person, perhaps you'll take it and nail a 165+ on your first test. If thats the case, fitting in a few hours of study a week may not be unreasonable. If you take it and your first score is sub-160, then you will need more concentrated tactics that will require you to invest more free time.

I was going to say, stop killing yourself on softs because outside HYSB no one gives a shit....


...then I realized this was a SLS thread

I'd say cut back on those some, work on your LSAT. Honest thoughts, all the softs in the world can be compensated for by a well-written personal statement. The point of softs is to develop you as a person to the admissions committee and you can do that yourself in 500 words with a little practice.

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You should also consider that, even if you get in to Stanford, OCI might be a bit rough, as firms might have reservations about someone so young...there are several threads similar to yours that you may want to check out.

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Raeina wrote:Thanks for the advice! I am 18 right now and will be 19 when I graduate. Unfortunately I am an out of state student at Sonoma so my parents can only afford two years and FASFA isn't giving us any grants or loans. It would be more beneficial for me to graduate next year financially (I don't mind paying a lot for Stanford since I will be independent then and most likely will get more aid). Are my softs good enough now? 5 years of work experience, founder of the SAFE program, intern at Comcast Entertainment (was chosen out of 250 applicants), website designer for several websites, lifeguard, PR specialist for the animal hospital, volunteer at a local emergency clinic and I am also working on my senior thesis for honors degree. I am also going to see if I can be a research assistant in the psychology depertment and am in a program called Hutchins which consists of small lecture classes (ratio 1:16) that focus on all GE areas of study.

-Rae

I don't know if you are real. However, if you are you need to CALM down. What's the point of college if you are going 100 mph and not enjoying the ride?

unless you're one of those naturally gifted test takers,
LSAT combined with 20+ units isn't going to happen. i did 20+ units too while i was trying to study for the LSAT, and trust me, it didn't work out too well.

don't do it --- you definitely won't be able to give your all to the LSAT, and the LSAT is one of those things where you really want to devote your entire attention to doing your very best

ESPECIALLY since it's Stanford we're talking about, and not a tier 2 school

good luck man!

FYI you will NOT be considered independent by Stanford or any other law school for that matter. Your parents will be considered the full time you are in school. Unless you qualify for aid with their support, you're going to have to take out loans for the full cost of attendance. If money is an issue you really are going to have to set your sights elsewhere then HYS as the give no merit aid. Get a grerat LSAT and you might have full ride possibilities as C (hamilton), Michigan (Darrow), NYU (Root or another scholly). Duke UCLA are other full ride possibilities.

Other than money issue, I'd strongly recommend at least a year off- for the money, maturity, and general improvement in your resume. And second the vote for taking time to get to know profs for strong recs.

Oh yeah, try to enjoy college, you only ge 1 UG experience.Mellow out dude- date a little.

To the guy who suggested adding peace corps as a time-killing soft.

stfu.

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YCrevolution wrote:I don't know if you're interesting in this sort of thing, but it might make sense to do Peace Corps for a few years if you're interested in it. It's a great soft and lets you get a few more years of life experience (but, obviously, don't do Peace Corps if you aren't enthusiatic about it/only doing it for the resume line).

Sounds like a good enough disclaimer to me, Cupidity...

YCrevolution wrote:

Cupidity wrote:To the guy who suggested adding peace corps as a time-killing soft.

stfu.

That wasn't very nice. Besides which, I said don't do it if you're doing it for the soft/resume.

Haha, said that before I realized it was you! I have many peace corps friends, and I just get tired of people talking like "yeah i'll do peace corps to pad my resume" on tls. I've heard horror stories out of latin america and africa about some of the shit they go through, and its not something 99% of the population can handle. Fortunately the rigorous screening process they have seems to weed out that 99%

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I don't care how good of a student OP is, maturity and life experience matter a lot when talking about a career in law. And while OP obviously has a work ethic and maturity that belies his/her age, I am not in favor of anyone becoming a law student before they have had a chance to live a little. I think the adcoms are with me on that. Being a good lawyer requires a lot more than academic skills; in fact, academics matter less and less as one progresses in one's career.

Law is about life experience, street smarts and people skills. There are too many lawyers in the profession who don't have any of the three; all they can offer you when you bring them a case is that they graduated from a top-10 school, which they got into because of stellar grades and a great LSAT score. Trust me, judges and juries don't care about your grades and scores or what school you went to.

As a 177/3.9ish applicant from last cycle who graduated in 3 years to save money as an OOS student and was waitlisted at SLS, I can tell you from personal experience that despite your strong academic credentials you may be disappointed with the results if you rush this process. Things turned out fine for me, but if I had been set on SLS specifically it would have been a rude awakening to the fact that they STRONGLY prefer older/more experienced applicants, in addition to valuing softs more than just about every school outside of YLS. There's a reason 70% of their incoming students are 1 or more years out of undergrad.

Long story short, if SLS is your dream and no other HYS will do, strongly consider getting a job (or doing PC/TFA) after graduation. You'll be richer, more mature and a better future law student for it, and your chances of landing SLS will increase exponentially.

FYI you will NOT be considered independent by Stanford or any other law school for that matter. Your parents will be considered the full time you are in school. Unless you qualify for aid with their support, you're going to have to take out loans for the full cost of attendance. If money is an issue you really are going to have to set your sights elsewhere then HYS as the give no merit aid. Get a grerat LSAT and you might have full ride possibilities as C (hamilton), Michigan (Darrow), NYU (Root or another scholly). Duke UCLA are other full ride possibilities.

First off, thank you everyone for your advice! I really means a lot to me. It is kind of in my character to want to work all the time, but it makes me happy PS. I date and manage to have fun too! Benefits of working ahead

Second, I am currently employed in California, registered to vote, hold a drivers license, have a registered car in California (which I pay the bills for) have maintained residency, and just recently started rent on a condo (under my name only). In the Fall of 2011 I will be a permanent independent resident of California defined by law. 

After reading everyone's posts I think it may be in my best interest to pursue graduate study? Possibly applying into Stanford's Communication Master, studying abroad, becoming fluent again in Japanese or looking into FBI/CIA if not. I may also stay a few years and do my prerequisites for medical school as that used to be an interest of mine. Financial aid should be better after this year, but I really do not want to put anymore stress on my family so I am going to have to bank on it.

It seems like getting into SLS for 2011 at this point would be impossible no matter how much drive I have :/

Thank you everyone!
-Rae

Raeina wrote:

FYI you will NOT be considered independent by Stanford or any other law school for that matter. Your parents will be considered the full time you are in school. Unless you qualify for aid with their support, you're going to have to take out loans for the full cost of attendance. If money is an issue you really are going to have to set your sights elsewhere then HYS as the give no merit aid. Get a grerat LSAT and you might have full ride possibilities as C (hamilton), Michigan (Darrow), NYU (Root or another scholly). Duke UCLA are other full ride possibilities.

First off, thank you everyone for your advice! I really means a lot to me. It is kind of in my character to want to work all the time, but it makes me happy PS. I date and manage to have fun too! Benefits of working ahead

Second, I am currently employed in California, registered to vote, hold a drivers license, have a registered car in California (which I pay the bills for) have maintained residency, and just recently started rent on a condo (under my name only). In the Fall of 2011 I will be a permanent independent resident of California defined by law.

After reading everyone's posts I think it may be in my best interest to pursue graduate study? Possibly applying into Stanford's Communication Master, studding abroad, becoming fluent again in Japanese or looking into FBI/CIA if not. I may also stay a few years and do my prerequisites for medical school as that used to be an interest of mine. Financial aid should be better after this year, but I really do not want to put anymore stress on my family so I am going to have to bank on it.

It seems like getting into SLS for 2011 at this point would be impossible no matter how much drive I have :/

Thank you everyone!
-Rae

Graduate study can help, but it can be costly and it isn't a huge benefit (a PhD helps more, but they are very long commitments and for their own purpose)--not anymore help than, say, a decent job for a couple years. For instance, a CIA/FBI gig would likely be of more benefit than an MA in Communications. So I'd say only consider an MA if you really want to do it for your own sake and you aren't going into debt to do it.

Studying abroad and/or being fluent in Japanese will help a bit, you just want to make sure you are doing something in the intervening years, and you'll be a very competitive applicant. And make sure you do well on the LSAT--173+ will be ideal.

Also, at 99% of the schools, this wouldn't matter, but you should know that Communications majors might have a slightly harder time of it for Stanford/Yale admissions. I suspect the effect will be less, though, if you have other experiences you can bring to the table, such as good employment experience.

"Studding abroad"? How's that for some life experience.

"Studding abroad"? How's that for some life experience.

I'm sorry I'm on my iPhone, didn't really have the time to proof this crucial discussion post. I will most definately fix the error of my ways!

Anyway, thank you for your advice. I understand that top tier law schools are very difficult to get into and being essentially flawless, full of personality, and life experiences are important qualities.

Thank you for being so helpful.
-Rae

Raeina wrote:

"Studding abroad"? How's that for some life experience.

I'm sorry I'm on my iPhone, didn't really have the time to proof edit this crucial discussion post.

I wasn't mocking your spelling... it was a sexual joke.

Cupidity wrote:

Raeina wrote:

"Studding abroad"? How's that for some life experience.

I'm sorry I'm on my iPhone, didn't really have the time to proof edit this crucial discussion post.

I wasn't mocking your spelling... it was a sexual joke.

And I killed it...Jesus I definately need to get on top of these things XD