Advice for a Sophomore Undergrad Forum

[Sammie190]

Hey everyone,

I am currently a second-semester sophomore at a small private college in RI and looking for some advice/feedback.

About Me/Stats:
Hispanic female (Puerto Rican)
Double majoring in poli sci/english lit
Current GPA - about 3.1 (hopefully it'll be higher after this semester & junior year, definitely something I'm working on)

I plan on going straight from undergrad to law school. Although I am on track to graduate in May of 2014, I might be able to graduate a semester earlier since I've been taking 18 credits each semester and I'm going to do either a study abroad program or a washington internship next summer (not set in stone yet.) Would it be best if I take the LSATs next June (after my junior year) and then apply to law schools in the fall of 2013? Or should I take the LSATs earlier? Also, I want to start studying for the LSATs this summer - is this too early? I tend to be an extremely nervous test taker even though I perform well academically, whis is one of the reasons I would prefer to start studying sooner rather than later. Some of the schools that I'm interested in attending are Columbia, Cornell, NYU, and USC. What can I do to maximize my chances of being accepted to these schools and possibly getting some scholarship money?

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Samantha

[EMZE]

Raise your GPA about .7. That would be the single best thing you can do for those schools with money.

[johansantana21]

Switch to communications major and get that GPA up. If you can't keep it up as a double liberal arts major, maybe find easier courses within your major or try to find like underwater basketweaving to get your gpa up.

[Sammie190]

Thanks for the advice. I am definitely working on raising my GPA - most of my grades so far have been A's and B's, with the exception of three core classes that I got a C+ in freshman year. I'm pretty confident that I can get all A's this semester, so hopefully that'll give my GPA a nice boost.

[splbagel]

Don't go straight through. A couple of years of work experience will:

1. Prevent academic burnout,
2. Strengthen your application,
3. Help you decide if law is really what you want to do (if you get some law-related experience),
3.a. Help you decide what field of law you might be interested in (if you get some law-related experience),
4. Make your first legal job application stronger once you graduate from law school,
4.a. Make you stronger at your first legal job once you graduate from law school.

[franklyscarlet]

1) do not graduate early. Take easy classes to raise your GPA.
2) do not go straight through.

[quiver]

Don't go straight through. A couple of years of work experience will:

1. Prevent academic burnout,
2. Strengthen your application,
3. Help you decide if law is really what you want to do (if you get some law-related experience),
3.a. Help you decide what field of law you might be interested in (if you get some law-related experience),
4. Make your first legal job application stronger once you graduate from law school,
4.a. Make you stronger at your first legal job once you graduate from law school.

Not trying to derail this thread at all, but I seriously dispute the truth of 4a.

OP, raise your GPA as much as you can (as others have said) and spend a lot of time studying for the LSAT. If that means to using that extra semester to take a light load and study for it, then do that. Hopefully you can raise that GPA a lot because your current GPA will require a fairly good LSAT to get you into the schools you want.

[Mr. Pancakes]

do whatever it takes to get your GPA up. Drop down to 12 hours if that's what it takes. You MUST get that GPA up. All A's from here on out.

[Weez]

Study the crap out of the LSAT. Taking it after your junior year is fine, just make sure you've gotten to a point where your scores have pretty much plateaued.

[Sammie190]

Okay so graduating early is definitely not a good idea, got it! About the not going straight through to law school - I really don't think that I will be able to take a year or two off. Plus, knowing how I am it would be a lot more challenging for me to get back in the school mode if I take some time off. Since my GPA needs a lot of improvement, where should I aim to get my LSAT score so that I have some shot at getting in to the schools on my list?

[Samara]

Okay so graduating early is definitely not a good idea, got it! About the not going straight through to law school - I really don't think that I will be able to take a year or two off. Plus, knowing how I am it would be a lot more challenging for me to get back in the school mode if I take some time off. Since my GPA needs a lot of improvement, where should I aim to get my LSAT score so that I have some shot at getting in to the schools on my list?

Why can't you take some time off? Have you ever been out of school for longer than a few months? How do you know you won't want to go back to law school? (And if it turns out you don't want to go back, is that really such a bad thing?)

You should take some time off to work. It will help you grow as a person and help you get a good job as a lawyer.

[094320]

..