Considerations Forum

[nathdep]

Hello everyone!

I need some advice in terms of applying to law schools. Right now, I am a junior in undergrad (Hartwick College) majoring in French, Spanish and minoring in piano. My anticipated GPA by the time I graduate will be somewhere between 3.5-3.6. I've spent a semester in France studying the language and I hope to go the the Dominican Republic next year to study the Spanish language.

I recently became intrigued by the idea of being an international lawyer or just going into law in general. I've actually had this idea for a while but I never acted upon it because I thought they only accepted students in a pre-law program and because I thought it was impossible to get accepted to law school. I did more research and found out that I was wrong.

I'm a little confused at what my timeline should look like at this point. I plan on taking the LSAT (during this next summer most likely) and sending out my applications during the fall of next year.

Considering my GPA and my majors, which law schools do you think would be the most fitting? (assuming that my LSAT scores are halfway decent)

Also, I want to note that I don't have very much money. I'm living off FAFSA and the loans that come with it.

I also saw that there were some school that don't require LSAT scores (Iowa School of Law and Massachusetts School of Law). Should I avoid these colleges? I know Iowa School of Law has a free application so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to apply there.

Thanks for your help!

[kevgogators]

Hello everyone!

I need some advice in terms of applying to law schools. Right now, I am a junior in undergrad (Hartwick College) majoring in French, Spanish and minoring in piano. My anticipated GPA by the time I graduate will be somewhere between 3.5-3.6. I've spent a semester in France studying the language and I hope to go the the Dominican Republic next year to study the Spanish language.

I recently became intrigued by the idea of being an international lawyer or just going into law in general. I've actually had this idea for a while but I never acted upon it because I thought they only accepted students in a pre-law program and because I thought it was impossible to get accepted to law school. I did more research and found out that I was wrong.

I'm a little confused at what my timeline should look like at this point. I plan on taking the LSAT (during this next summer most likely) and sending out my applications during the fall of next year.

Considering my GPA and my majors, which law schools do you think would be the most fitting? (assuming that my LSAT scores are halfway decent)

Also, I want to note that I don't have very much money. I'm living off FAFSA and the loans that come with it.

I also saw that there were some school that don't require LSAT scores (Iowa School of Law and Massachusetts School of Law). Should I avoid these colleges? I know Iowa School of Law has a free application so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to apply there.

Thanks for your help!

Why do you want to go to law school? Don't bother if its due to expectations of grandeur or because you think you'll be rich.

General run down:
Law school and the legal profession in general is very heavily based on prestige. It is rarely worth going to a law school outside of the t14 or a very strong regional if you're okay with staying in the area. Your GPA is mediocre and already puts you at a disadvantage for acceptance to the higher ranked schools. You'll have to kill the LSAT to make this worth it for you. Avoid any dumpster fire that does not require an LSAT. They'll charge you $200k-300k and give you no job in return.

[nathdep]

Hello everyone!

I need some advice in terms of applying to law schools. Right now, I am a junior in undergrad (Hartwick College) majoring in French, Spanish and minoring in piano. My anticipated GPA by the time I graduate will be somewhere between 3.5-3.6. I've spent a semester in France studying the language and I hope to go the the Dominican Republic next year to study the Spanish language.

I recently became intrigued by the idea of being an international lawyer or just going into law in general. I've actually had this idea for a while but I never acted upon it because I thought they only accepted students in a pre-law program and because I thought it was impossible to get accepted to law school. I did more research and found out that I was wrong.

I'm a little confused at what my timeline should look like at this point. I plan on taking the LSAT (during this next summer most likely) and sending out my applications during the fall of next year.

Considering my GPA and my majors, which law schools do you think would be the most fitting? (assuming that my LSAT scores are halfway decent)

Also, I want to note that I don't have very much money. I'm living off FAFSA and the loans that come with it.

I also saw that there were some school that don't require LSAT scores (Iowa School of Law and Massachusetts School of Law). Should I avoid these colleges? I know Iowa School of Law has a free application so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to apply there.

Thanks for your help!

Why do you want to go to law school? Don't bother if its due to expectations of grandeur or because you think you'll be rich.

General run down:
Law school and the legal profession in general is very heavily based on prestige. It is rarely worth going to a law school outside of the t14 or a very strong regional if you're okay with staying in the area. Your GPA is mediocre and already puts you at a disadvantage for acceptance to the higher ranked schools. You'll have to kill the LSAT to make this worth it for you. Avoid any dumpster fire that does not require an LSAT. They'll charge you $200k-300k and give you no job in return.

So are you saying I have no chance with my GPA? Is it that nobody gets into law school with those kind of numbers? And with the LSAT, does that mean that I have to get 175+ in order to have a chance?

There's nothing I can do about my GPA. I don't have enough time to bring it up that much. Does this mean I should just give up now?

I'm definitely willing to put in the effort but not if it is going to be a waste.

[Clemenceau]

"Intrigued" by being an international lawyer or going into law in general is a god awful reason to go to law school. Forget about the lsat for now, do some more research and come back with a realistic game plan for your career as an attorney (assuming you still want to be an atty after doing the proper research, which should not be an easy decision).

Edit to add the last bit

[nathdep]

I guess I'm sorry for coming here. I'm just looking for a good place to get some advice for a starting point but if I'm not allowed to ask such questions I'll just leave now.

[lymenheimer]

I guess I'm sorry for coming here. I'm just looking for a good place to get some advice for a starting point but if I'm not allowed to ask such questions I'll just leave now.

Look around the site a bit more. Your gpa is not mediocre, but there are plenty of resources here about the lives of attorneys and how to get where you want to go

[kevgogators]

Your 3.5 definitely does not prohibit you from attending a good law school, but it definitely is on the lower(est) end that most good schools take. Puts you in a position where you'll have to pick up the slack on the LSAT - so you'll have more pressure to perform there. A 175 would be great, but not a necessity - a 170 will open doors.

To echo what others have said, going to law school isn't a decision that should be taken lightly. It attracts a lot of people because of its social reputation as being prestigious, aswell as people who have relatively useless undergrad degrees. These people often attend on a whim because they quite frankly don't know what else to do with their lives, but after going $300k in debt realize that they are miserable.

Your post gives me the impression that you may be one of those aforementioned people. Just make sure you really research the intricacies of the profession and think hard before you commit.

If you wanted the best advice available, you've found the right site - even if it isn't what you were hoping to hear.

[A. Nony Mouse]

To be clear, you are allowed to ask the questions you're asking here. Regular posters see a lot of the same kinds of questions asked repeatedly, so sometimes get a little short with their answers.

You may want to read around the Legal Employment forum (however, don't post questions there at this point), as there are a couple of threads about international law. The problem is that international law is ill-defined and a difficult field to enter. If you do end up fluent in French and Spanish, that will be a helpful start. But often people say they want to go into "international law" when they mean they want to work abroad in some way that will help people, and the range of international law jobs that allow this is very small and very competitive.

Your GPA is fine except for at the very tip top schools. Even with a terrible LSAT, you'd find a law school that would accept you. You shouldn't go to that school, probably, but finding one that will let you in isn't going to be the problem. You want to research employment statistics and cost for schools you might consider. Take a look at the Law School Transparency site and MyLSN.info for some more info about realistic prospects.

[lymenheimer]

Pretty much scooped by Nony. Nvm.

[PoopyPants]

Also, if a few less-than warm responses on here are enough to offend you and scare you off, you may want to rethink law school (or grow some thicker skin).

[nathdep]

I'll do some more research definitely. There might some other options that I haven't even thought of yet.

I want to be clear that pursuing law is not my "I don't know what I'm going to do with my life" option. I actually have some other options too such as teaching, translating, interpreting, or going into linguistic research. In no way do I view my degrees as relatively useless.

My GPA would have been a lot higher but due to a few courses I took with the music department while it was falling apart, those courses lowered my GPA by at least 0.1. I don't know if I would be able to explain that because all of my language grades and general electives have been A-s/As.

If this isn't the case and my chances of getting into T14 schools are slim, is it even worth considering other law schools I can get into in terms of employment? I think that it would be worth more finding that out before researching law positions.

Thanks!

[lymenheimer]

Your gpa is fine. Go to mylsn.info and play with lsat+gpa combinations. You can get into plenty of t14 with your gpa and a strong LSAT (doesn't have to be 170+ even)

[Tiago Splitter]

If you do decide to go the lsat is priority number one and you need to study for it with everything you have, but it would also be a good idea to not apply unail after you graduate so that you can get excellent grades your senior year and apply with a stronger gpa. The difference between a 3.5 and a 3.7 can be huge for both admission and money. A year of work experience can also help when you go through the job interview process even if you've done something totally unrelated to law.

[ManoftheHour]

Be more specific. Have a plan. Talk to people who actually work in those jobs. See if it's realistic for you to pursue it. As a poster above said, being "intrigued by the idea of being an international lawyer or just going into law in general" is a terrible plan.

Depending on your goals, you don't need a T-14. EX: Alabama is a perfectly fine law school to go to if you want to work at a small firm/public defender (or DA's office) in Alabama.

Even with solid regional schools, it's best to get a high enough LSAT score to land that full scholly.

[TheRealSantaClaus]

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