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Hey I am new to all of this, so I hope I posted this in the right place. I just had a few questions that I was hoping some more experienced people could answer and hopefully help me out some. I will be a Junior this fall and so far have just been keeping my grades high (3.98) and am planning to take the LSAT next June. The problem I think that I am facing is the amount of extracurricular that I have and leadership positions in them. I am involved in a fraternity and am on a few of the committees but nothing like President, also just a regular DJ at the college radio station, and lastly just part of a pre-grad school preparation program.

First, I really don't have much of a timeline for preparing for law school (I am the first in my family, so it is new to them too) and I was wondering what a good general plan is?

I know there is no perfect extracurricular activity list but what are some good ones that I could join this late in the game and hopefully get involved with?

What is a good way to start making connections to help out when you need letters of recommendations written later on?

I am 100% proud of the university I go to (Appalachian State University), but one of my biggest fears is the fact that it does not hold a lot of prestige and I am afraid that this will solely hold me back from getting into a good school? Is this true?

Looking forward to next summer, I hope to receive some type of internship where I can start getting a foot in the door with law firms, does anyone have any advise about when/where/how to apply for something along those lines? I did some just simple shadowing this summer.

Lastly, what else are some good things to start doing that will help my chances that I haven't already mentioned?

Any and all help is appreciated, thanks!!

Most important thing is your GPA and your LSAT.

The prestige of your UG or your extracurriculars have a VERY minor role if any on pure admissions.

So study hard this semester, keep your GPA up.

Spend part of next semester and the beginning of the summer studying for the LSAT, if you aren't practice testing where you want to be, wait until October, then take it. Rock it. Get in wherever you want.

The above posted nailed it w/ extracurriculars and UG prestige. They will hardly matter unless they are truly rare/unique.

However, for k-jd's especially, having solid, reputable summer internship experience after your junior year can be a critical boost for firm hiring, and also will help if you want to work after graduation. Blank spaces in summers on your resume can also serve as a mild negative soft in law school admissions. I would definitely look for work or a paid internship, doesnt have to be in law it can be any professional field, for that summer, and spend the rest of your time studying for the LSAT.

It's probably not worth the trouble if you're only doing it for law school, But the following things would fluff you up pretty well. You might even get an essay topic out of one of them.

Organize a letter writing campaign to your local newspaper or public official concerning a community issue

Conduct an oral history of a veteran for the Library of Congress

Organize a food and clothing drive and recruit people to distribute items directly to those in need

Letters of rec: figure out who your best teachers are. Go to their office hours to ask questions and show a genuine interest in the material. Ask them about their careers / research and how they got to where they are. Stay in touch.

Good luck.

erik the viking wrote: Letters of rec: figure out who your best teachers are. Go to their office hours to ask questions and show a genuine interest in the material. Ask them about their careers / research and how they got to where they are. Stay in touch.

This may seem silly, but do it. Also if your school has any honors projects where you work with a professor..That's a good way to get to know a professor or 2.