Top Law Schools

prelawTN wrote:By the fall of 2016, the year I'll be attending law school, I'll have about 3 years of work experience at various law firms. I'm just curious as to whether that will help or not. Right now, my GPA is rather low (I didn't start seriously considering law school until this past semester) but I'm hoping to get it into the low to mid 3's by graduation. Given that this may be easier said than done, schools like Wash U and Alabama will still look at me given my LSAT score will be rather high (I'm practicing in the mid 170's, tentatively taking it officially in February). Info on the various schools I have a chance at given my numbers is fairly widespread so I don't need advice on that in particular, nor do I need reminding that I shot myself in the foot with my first few semesters. What I'm looking for is anyone with genuine knowledge of whether real world law firm experience is actually very beneficial or not and if so, is it beneficial enough that schools like Vandy or Texas or even UVA will give me a look even though my GPA is likely to be at each of their floors.

Dirigo wrote:Unfortunately, the work experience you have is not that beneficial in regards to admissions.
The best you can do is get that awesome LSAT score and work as hard as you can to bring your GPA up.

Dirigo wrote:the work experience you have is not that beneficial in regards to admissions.

Dirigo wrote:I encourage you to take only easy classes whenever you have a choice. Start collecting those A's.

prelawTN wrote: Spanish my GPA getting into the mid-3's would require repeating several courses I did poorly in and replacing with A's...on that note, does anyone know exactly how the LSAC considers repeated grades? The info I've read was somewhat dubious and seemed to say that of the school throws out the first grade on determining GPA that so too will the LSAC but I'm unsure

laurvb that's an interesting angle. I will likely have rec's from the attorney's I worked for (both firms are small, only 2/3 attorneys each so the name on each front door will be writing the rec's) as well as a former State SC Justice that's a friend of the family.

Thanks to all involved for the help. I've kind of immersed myself in law school info since really buckling down to see what I'm capable of doing. Any bit of knowledge helps

prelawTN wrote: Spanish my GPA getting into the mid-3's would require repeating several courses I did poorly in and replacing with A's...on that note, does anyone know exactly how the LSAC considers repeated grades? The info I've read was somewhat dubious and seemed to say that of the school throws out the first grade on determining GPA that so too will the LSAC but I'm unsure

laurvb that's an interesting angle. I will likely have rec's from the attorney's I worked for (both firms are small, only 2/3 attorneys each so the name on each front door will be writing the rec's) as well as a former State SC Justice that's a friend of the family.

Thanks to all involved for the help. I've kind of immersed myself in law school info since really buckling down to see what I'm capable of doing. Any bit of knowledge helps

prelawTN wrote: Spanish my GPA getting into the mid-3's would require repeating several courses I did poorly in and replacing with A's...on that note, does anyone know exactly how the LSAC considers repeated grades? The info I've read was somewhat dubious and seemed to say that of the school throws out the first grade on determining GPA that so too will the LSAC but I'm unsure

laurvb that's an interesting angle. I will likely have rec's from the attorney's I worked for (both firms are small, only 2/3 attorneys each so the name on each front door will be writing the rec's) as well as a former State SC Justice that's a friend of the family.

Thanks to all involved for the help. I've kind of immersed myself in law school info since really buckling down to see what I'm capable of doing. Any bit of knowledge helps

prelawTN wrote: Spanish my GPA getting into the mid-3's would require repeating several courses I did poorly in and replacing with A's...on that note, does anyone know exactly how the LSAC considers repeated grades? The info I've read was somewhat dubious and seemed to say that of the school throws out the first grade on determining GPA that so too will the LSAC but I'm unsure

andreewop wrote:hello
you are welcome to top-law schools forums

.....................

prelawTN wrote:So I've gathered that having rec's from, say my poli sci professors (there's only 2 whose courses I take regularly) would be more beneficial than from my bosses at the firms I've worked for?

Also, re the state SC Justice, he's also an adjunct prof at Vandy so I'd imagine it'd be of some help regardless of his inability to speak to what I've done in the classroom, correct or no?

MistakenGenius wrote: I apologize OP, I just hate people who shoot their mouths off when they don't have a clue what they're talking about. Bad advice is very damaging. As far as your question, no, that kind of work experience is not going to help you if you don't have the numbers. Right now, your law school chances are going to entirely depend on your GPA and LSAT. Work on getting your GPA up as high as possible. If you get your GPA up into the 3.3 range and hit that 170, you'll still have some very nice offers and will probably land all three of the schools you mentioned.

prelawTN wrote:And to clarify, I reference Vandy a lot because I really want to stay in Tennessee for school and want to do judicial clerkships after so Vandy is the de facto choice and more than that, I love Nashville and have lived there before and when I did, I worked on 16th ave, about 2/3 blocks from Vandy's campus and just absolute love the West End/Music Row/Gulch area. So Vandy is not only the logical choice but also in the best area of my dream city and by virtue of that, my dream school.

MistakenGenius wrote:
You're a fucking idiot. Work experience is any time you've worked full-time. It doesn't matter if you've graduated or not. In my experience, schools and firms are more impressed by full-time work experience done alongside a full academic workload. Why run your mouth if you are just going to spout bullshit?

MistakenGenius wrote:

zoomzoom88 wrote:

prelawTN wrote:By the fall of 2016, the year I'll be attending law school, I'll have about 3 years of work experience at various law firms. I'm just curious as to whether that will help or not. Right now, my GPA is rather low (I didn't start seriously considering law school until this past semester) but I'm hoping to get it into the low to mid 3's by graduation. Given that this may be easier said than done, schools like Wash U and Alabama will still look at me given my LSAT score will be rather high (I'm practicing in the mid 170's, tentatively taking it officially in February). Info on the various schools I have a chance at given my numbers is fairly widespread so I don't need advice on that in particular, nor do I need reminding that I shot myself in the foot with my first few semesters. What I'm looking for is anyone with genuine knowledge of whether real world law firm experience is actually very beneficial or not and if so, is it beneficial enough that schools like Vandy or Texas or even UVA will give me a look even though my GPA is likely to be at each of their floors.

it is not considered true WE if it isn't post graduation.

You're a fucking idiot. Work experience is any time you've worked full-time. It doesn't matter if you've graduated or not. In my experience, schools and firms are more impressed by full-time work experience done alongside a full academic workload. Why run your mouth if you are just going to spout bullshit?

I apologize OP, I just hate people who shoot their mouths off when they don't have a clue what they're talking about. Bad advice is very damaging. As far as your question, no, that kind of work experience is not going to help you if you don't have the numbers. Right now, your law school chances are going to entirely depend on your GPA and LSAT. Work on getting your GPA up as high as possible. If you get your GPA up into the 3.3 range and hit that 170, you'll still have some very nice offers and will probably land all three of the schools you mentioned.

MistakenGenius wrote:
You're a fucking idiot. Work experience is any time you've worked full-time. It doesn't matter if you've graduated or not. In my experience, schools and firms are more impressed by full-time work experience done alongside a full academic workload. Why run your mouth if you are just going to spout bullshit?

I apologize OP, I just hate people who shoot their mouths off when they don't have a clue what they're talking about. Bad advice is very damaging. As far as your question, no, that kind of work experience is not going to help you if you don't have the numbers. Right now, your law school chances are going to entirely depend on your GPA and LSAT. Work on getting your GPA up as high as possible. If you get your GPA up into the 3.3 range and hit that 170, you'll still have some very nice offers and will probably land all three of the schools you mentioned.