Rethinking Law School Forum

[helpmeplss]

So after doing abysmally on the Oct LSAT (having to guess on basically a whole LG section) and the overall state of the law field etc etc. I've started to rethink going to law school. The problem is I'm not really sure what my options are. I'm a 3.95+ GPA guy from a top 20 school, but with a polisci degree I'm not sure where exactly to look. My first choice would be something business related, but I'm not sure what sort of things are possible in my situation. Should I try to do some sort of business related post bacc or masters? Or maybe some sort of thing random people with high GPAs do like Teach for America? If anyone has any experience in this situation or ideas about what to do post graduation it would be greatly appreciated.

Note: I will be retaking in december, but I would definitely like some other options

[bizzybone1313]

It sounds like you are directly out of undergrad. You absolutely made the right decision taking the LSAT before embarking on another career. I wish I would have had the foresight to make the decision you made. I started working in a demanding career track and thought I could balance LSAT prep with this. Whatever you do don't do what I did. You should retake in February or June and see if you have what it takes to score high on this test. If you don't score high, you should move on with your life and do something else.

You have a sky high GPA. I graduated with a high GPA too, but not quite that high. There is no way I would go to a shitty ass school with that GPA. You would essentially be getting scammed by the vast majority of law schools. They don't care about your future. They just want your tuition money. You either can score a respectable number on the LSAT or you can't. It is that simple.

[snagglepuss]

It sounds like you are directly out of undergrad. You absolutely made the right decision taking the LSAT before embarking on another career. I wish I would have had the foresight to make the decision you made. I started working in a demanding career track and thought I could balance LSAT prep with this. Whatever you do don't do what I did. You should retake in February or June and see if you have what it takes to score high on this test. If you don't score high, you should move on with your life and do something else.

You have a sky high GPA. I graduated with a high GPA too, but not quite that high. There is no way I would go to a shitty ass school with that GPA. You would essentially be getting scammed by the vast majority of law schools. They don't care about your future. They just want your tuition money. You either can score a respectable number on the LSAT or you can't. It is that simple.

I disagree with this aside from putting in the effort to get a high LSAT^
If you're having doubts, law school probably isn't a smart play this application cycle. Don't apply this year. I would make sure I have full-time employment lined up (if you crush the LSAT you can always leave a job). If you're truly interested in law, work at a firm for a year or two before applying. If you're not sure try working in a corporate environment of some kind (finance, banking, consulting, insurance, marketing, whatever), maybe you'll like it and find that an MBA is a better option years down the road than law. Or maybe you'll talk to some attorneys - yes, you'll have to reach out to them - along the way and decide law school is actually what you want. Just know that you don't have to go graduate school (especially straight out of undergrad); only go if it makes sense and moves you towards a very specific career goal (e.g. law school -> BIGlaw or MBA -> Big 3, PE, IB).

[BruinRegents]

You sound like you have massive doubts. Don't apply this cycle. Plenty of people work in business with humanities or social science degrees.

[20141023]

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[bp shinners]

a lot of schools nowadays like applicants who have at least a little bit of real-world experience.

That number is increasing quickly, and pretty much every law firm prefers people with work experience. Go get some of that instead of sailing straight through into law school. You'll be happy you did (I went straight through - one of the bigger regrets I have).

[RoaringMice]

So after doing abysmally on the Oct LSAT (having to guess on basically a whole LG section) and the overall state of the law field etc etc. I've started to rethink going to law school. The problem is I'm not really sure what my options are. I'm a 3.95+ GPA guy from a top 20 school, but with a polisci degree I'm not sure where exactly to look. My first choice would be something business related, but I'm not sure what sort of things are possible in my situation. Should I try to do some sort of business related post bacc or masters? Or maybe some sort of thing random people with high GPAs do like Teach for America? If anyone has any experience in this situation or ideas about what to do post graduation it would be greatly appreciated.

Note: I will be retaking in december, but I would definitely like some other options

Do something like Teach for America, or go directly to work in business. Most good MBA programs require/strongly prefer you to have 1-2 years of work experience before you apply, and most MBA employers want that as well. So this is a perfect opportunity for you to take a step back, work for a bit, and think through your options.

Do formal prep on LG for the LSAT (I like the Powerscore Logic Games Bible for this, but that's just one example of the books you could use.) Retake the LSAT before you graduate, so you can "bank" those scores and use them in a year or so should you decide that law school is a fit for you.

[DrStudMuffin]

So after doing abysmally on the Oct LSAT (having to guess on basically a whole LG section) and the overall state of the law field etc etc. I've started to rethink going to law school. The problem is I'm not really sure what my options are. I'm a 3.95+ GPA guy from a top 20 school, but with a polisci degree I'm not sure where exactly to look. My first choice would be something business related, but I'm not sure what sort of things are possible in my situation. Should I try to do some sort of business related post bacc or masters? Or maybe some sort of thing random people with high GPAs do like Teach for America? If anyone has any experience in this situation or ideas about what to do post graduation it would be greatly appreciated.

Note: I will be retaking in december, but I would definitely like some other options

I didn't go this route, but some friends of mine got paralegal jobs at large firms to test the law waters and see if it was for them. They pay well, and with your GPA you should definitely be able to get some looks.

I also agree with putting max effort into the LSAT before you start working full time.

[Quan292]

Don't do TFA. From the looks of things you are not passionate about addressing the issues that plague minority communities (which is who your students will be) and they really don't need a teacher that is doing is not passionate about their job.

[magickware]

Go work at McDonalds or somewhere that is perceived socially low for a couple of months.

I'm being dead serious here. The time you spend there is not a waste of time, as it will get your mind set straight and reaffirm (or possibly affirm if you never felt it before) your knowledge that education is the key to success.

If you got a 3.9 GPA at a top 20 UG, there's no reason why you should have such a low performance on the LSAT, or why you should have such self doubts after bombing it.

Either you didn't spent enough time studying and were overconfident, completely understandable since everyone moves at a different rate when it comes to learning the LSAT and getting good at it, or you weren't motivated enough.

Doing the above will fix both.

Once you hopefully have a fire lit under your ass, you'll either take the LSAT seriously, or go onto another career path seriously.

But none of that will happen unless you get said fire lit under your ass.

[Dr. Dre]

what were was your PT range?

[iamgeorgebush]

I concur with the others that you should not apply this cycle. As to what you should do after UG, what kinds of internships and extracurriculars have you done?

Also, you could always go meet with your Career Services office.