International Student Looking For A School Forum

[LeFreak]

Hello,

I'm a foreign student from Europe. I'm a D1 athlete, history major and philosophy minor. I speak 3 different languages and I already played pro in my sport. Now, after years of education, I realized that I want to be a lawyer. My GPA is going to be around 3.2 and my first try on LSAT was 149. I'm not retarded, I do not have time to study for it at all. To get a better score I'd have to take a year off, and that isn't something that I want.

Now, as I believe you have bigger knowledge than I do, please let me know what school would be the best choice for me. I met a lawyer from a T4 school, who is now retired, but made a huge career as a lawyer. So I don't believe the stuff that T4 schools are a total horse shit. I believe that if you are not retarded you'll do well no matter where you are, am I wrong?

I was thinking about schools in California, such as USF, Pacific, Southwestern. But the school that interest me the most is Duquesne, it is a catholic school and I'm a catholic as well. I went to the east coast a few times and I like it, people seem to be nicer than here in the Wild West, especially from my european perspective.

I visited more than 20 countries and lived in 3, so I have no problems with adaptation. I could do law anywhere in the US as long as it has a potential of getting me a good, stable job. I also think about a specialization. What specialization would potentially let me practice law, in one way or another, in Europe?

Thank you guys,
LeFreak

[cavalier1138]

Literally everything about your post is wrong. But literally everything about your post also screams that you're going to religiously reject any advice that isn't "follow your dreams."

So follow your dreams.

[LeFreak]

Literally everything about your post is wrong. But literally everything about your post also screams that you're going to religiously reject any advice that isn't "follow your dreams."

So follow your dreams.

Well, this is what everyone says. If I'd follow my dreams I'd prolly end up at my little house by the lake back in Europe and try to write philosophy and seek for an international recognition, so I can make money out of it.

But that's not the point. I wanted to go to a law school, so I can do whatever ordinary people do. And even if I don't end up doing it, then hey I have a JD. Wherever it takes me, I'd be happy. Now the thing is I can go to New York and study at Touro Law School, or I can stay in Cali and study at the Pacific school. One I can regret to the end of my life, second could make me happy. Then hmm, having your advice on what school to choose, it probably would help me!

But hey thanks!

[nixy]

I met a lawyer from a T4 school, who is now retired, but made a huge career as a lawyer. So I don't believe the stuff that T4 schools are a total horse shit. I believe that if you are not retarded you'll do well no matter where you are, am I wrong?

Yes.

First, don't use the term "retarded."

Second, people who are now retired went to law school in an entirely different universe than now applies. Law is an incredibly glutted profession and the schools you've identified offer you terrible odds at getting you a good, stable job. What you need to do is look at lawschooltransparency.com and compare the employment statistics for the schools you're considering, as well as other schools to see what the range of options are (in terms of location and salary).

Third, the most viable ways to practice law in Europe are to 1) get a law degree in Europe, 2) work for a US firm with an international office, which is largely restricted to students from the top 14-ish schools (and top students from some just under that/top regionals, which are not the ones you're referencing), or 3) work in "international law," which as is popularly understood (e.g. international human rights or the like) is extremely competitive even for students from top schools.

Why do you want to be a lawyer? What kind of law do you want to practice, besides something that will get you a good, stable job? (Those are actually fairly hard to get.) Your languages and pro sport experience may help make you a more attractive candidate than the average, but the schools you've identified are still going to be poor choices, especially because your stats are unlikely to get you significant scholarships and they're all really expensive.

Edited to add: your chances at Duquesne are not that good. You're below their LSAT 25th percentile and below their median GPA, which isn't a great prospect for admission.

[LeFreak]

Hey,

Thanks for letting me know about the website, I'll check it out.

Studying law in Europe is sketchy. You guys are lucky that you live in America, where with a bit of work you can do much more than in Europe. Law in Europe is dominated by the law families, which try to close the possibility of practicing law for the novus homo. Many prestigious jobs are not available simply because you attended the best school or had best grades, all what matters is who you know and how influential the people you know are.

Now, as you may know, universities in Europe are ranked as worse than those here. Some of the schools in Europe offer studying American law, and those graduates usually become very successful, often doing politics and arguing in Brussels. Imagine, how much of an advantage over those guys would have a person who educated himself in the US for 7 years. A person who would get a JD from an American school not a European. A person who probably speaks much better English than most of the other guys from the 'elite'.

Certainly, studying law for an international student is a different thing than for you guys. So yeah, any advice on what schools in my range are worth applying, and what schools I should avoid at all cost would definitely help.

Thank you dear Americans,
LeFreak

[QContinuum]

Some of the schools in Europe offer studying American law, and those graduates usually become very successful, often doing politics and arguing in Brussels. Imagine, how much of an advantage over those guys would have a person who educated himself in the US for 7 years. A person who would get a JD from an American school not a European. A person who probably speaks much better English than most of the other guys from the 'elite'.

I don't think it's at all true that there is a strong demand in Brussels for U.S. J.D.s. Some European lawyers, after practicing for a few years in Europe (generally between 3-7 years), come to the U.S. and get a LL.M. from a top U.S. law school - Columbia is particularly popular, with its humongous LL.M. classes. The top LL.M. grads get to stay in the U.S. - typically in NYC - for a year of optional practical training post-graduation. (A small fraction of those manage to convince their firms to let them stay in the U.S. and sponsor them for visas after their OPT runs out.) In any case, for those lawyers there is some benefit to getting that U.S. degree. But keep in mind 1) they are already licensed to practice law in one or more European countries, 2) they have actual work experience as lawyers in Europe, and 3) they are getting LL.M.s from top U.S. law schools, not T4 law schools.

I cannot recall ever hearing of a high demand for U.S. J.D.s without any European legal credentials in Europe. To the extent such jobs exist, they are what nixy describes above (T13 J.D.s doing capital markets work in European offices of U.S. BigLaw firms - mostly located in London; and a very small handful of Yale/Stanford/Harvard J.D.s doing "international human rights" work for the UN and a select few NGOs).

[albanach]

Hello,

I'm a foreign student from Europe. I'm a D1 athlete, history major and philosophy minor. I speak 3 different languages and I already played pro in my sport. Now, after years of education, I realized that I want to be a lawyer. My GPA is going to be around 3.2 and my first try on LSAT was 149. I'm not retarded, I do not have time to study for it at all. To get a better score I'd have to take a year off, and that isn't something that I want.

Now, as I believe you have bigger knowledge than I do, please let me know what school would be the best choice for me. I met a lawyer from a T4 school, who is now retired, but made a huge career as a lawyer. So I don't believe the stuff that T4 schools are a total horse shit. I believe that if you are not retarded you'll do well no matter where you are, am I wrong?

I was thinking about schools in California, such as USF, Pacific, Southwestern. But the school that interest me the most is Duquesne, it is a catholic school and I'm a catholic as well. I went to the east coast a few times and I like it, people seem to be nicer than here in the Wild West, especially from my european perspective.

I visited more than 20 countries and lived in 3, so I have no problems with adaptation. I could do law anywhere in the US as long as it has a potential of getting me a good, stable job. I also think about a specialization. What specialization would potentially let me practice law, in one way or another, in Europe?

Thank you guys,
LeFreak

Everything about this post screams troll. Duquesne is at least an ABA accredited schoool so it has that going for it. Still, your LSAT is below their 25th percentile and your GPA is below median. So you're facing a battle for acceptance at the law school tied for 122nd place in the United States.

How do you intend to fund this law school dream? Are you sitting on $200k?

As for practicing in Europe, the other posters have identified the most common routes - graduate from a top school and work in finance or, much more rarely, international human rights.

For other work on the continent, you face an additional challenge. You'd be practicing civil law but would be learning common law. The only other option I could see would be to qualify as a foreign lawyer in England and go practice there, maybe as a solo or something doing criminal cases and family law stuff. Of course, if that's your goal, it's probably easier to just go there and do a conversion course to qualify much more quickly though you'd still need to secure a traineeship for graduation.