GRE application and University of New Hampshire Forum

[hoylej18]

Hi everyone,

I am interested in applying to the University of New Hampshire's law program. I recently graduated from Marshall University's Journalism Program with a Master's in Journalism. After deciding that this job market just isn't working out for me, I decided to try my hand at something a little more practical. To that end, UNH's law program looks like a good fit for me. I am going to take the LSAT next Saturday, but I am wondering since I don't know how good I will do on it if applying with the GRE is a good idea. I did a conversion of my score on ETS' website and got a 159 based on my score. Full disclosure: in my undergrad my GPA was 3.48 and my graduate school GPA was 4.00. I have a Bachelor's in English from Concord University. I have everything they need, got letters of recommendation set out already. I was just wondering if all that would be good enough for them? Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

[cavalier1138]

1. If you take the LSAT, there's no point in taking the GRE.

2. This is a horrible reason to go to law school:

After deciding that this job market just isn't working out for me, I decided to try my hand at something a little more practical.

Go to law school if you want to be a lawyer, full stop. Don't go on a whim.

3. Why do you thin UNH's program is a good fit? What are your career goals?

[antelope]

Have you looked at UNH's historic employment numbers? You can see them at Law School Transparency, and they're not very promising. Also, have you read news about the law school being at financial risk? Attending UNH law to improve job prospects doesn't add up

Like cavalier mentioned, once you have a LSAT score on file, the GRE score won't matter for admissions.

How can you not know have an idea on how you'll do on the test? Have you taken practice tests at all? You shouldn't take the LSAT just because. It would be better to cancel the test and spend time preparing before taking it. If UNH is your choice because you really want to stay local in NH and you have connections there, you should focus on getting a full ride there, which is possible based on LSN with a low 160s lsat.
Also, just so you know, your undergrad GPA is the one that matters for LSAC, and it might change, have you received your summary report from LSAC yet?

[hoylej18]

Have you looked at UNH's historic employment numbers? You can see them at Law School Transparency, and they're not very promising. Also, have you read news about the law school being at financial risk? Attending UNH law to improve job prospects doesn't add up

Like cavalier mentioned, once you have a LSAT score on file, the GRE score won't matter for admissions.

How can you not know have an idea on how you'll do on the test? Have you taken practice tests at all? You shouldn't take the LSAT just because. It would be better to cancel the test and spend time preparing before taking it. If UNH is your choice because you really want to stay local in NH and you have connections there, you should focus on getting a full ride there, which is possible based on LSN with a low 160s lsat.
Also, just so you know, your undergrad GPA is the one that matters for LSAC, and it might change, have you received your summary report from LSAC yet?

Well, I posted this last night. Let me explain my situation a little more. I am a graduate of Marshall University. I have a master's in journalism from them as well as a Bachelor's in English from Concord University. I was born and raised in West Virginia. I also busted my butt through undergrad and grad. Graduated cum laude from Concord and earned The James B. Shrewsberry Award for Academic Excellence. That award is given to the person with the highest major related GPA of that year. I had a job lined up for after graduation. However, they cancelled on me at the last second. That left me scrambling for other work. I did find work in a call center. I am good at it, but it's not enough money to sustain in the long term.I'll be blunt: it's enough to support myself in a three room apartment. We're talking about roughly 23-24k a year. Been looking for other work ever since. Been at this for almost a year. Despite my very best efforts and almost nailing a job with the state bar and the state police, I am still at this call center.

I was willing to put up with it until the job market improved. Until I found something better. However, I got pulled aside by my supervisor and was informed that my bathroom time was too high and if I wanted to keep my PLP, I would need to cut it down. It was at that point that I had enough. I am sick and tired of being hassled by these people. And if I can help those that are in my situation not have to deal with such draconian things, then more's the better.

Journalists do not make much money. Barely more than what I make now in this part of the world. It was then that I put two and two together and I realized that I might be able to make the impact I want to make if I were able to represent people that have no voice. Especially even after internships in radio and working all the other jobs I've done, they still either want me to freelance or intern for free. So I applied for the LSAT. My initial hope was to get into WVU here.

I have practiced the LSAT before. I got a 151 without much studying, and consistently get about 152-155. That's enough to get into WVU just fine. More than enough actually. I had hoped to try for better than WVU. But if what you're telling me is accurate, then WVU might be the best I can hope for. I'm fine with that.

[cavalier1138]

I just want to reiterate that if your reason for wanting to go to law school is to have a better chance at getting hired into a decent job or to not be treated like crap by clients/supervisors, don't go to law school.

But can you be more specific on this point:

I realized that I might be able to make the impact I want to make if I were able to represent people that have no voice.

What practice area are you thinking of?

[hoylej18]

I just want to reiterate that if your reason for wanting to go to law school is to have a better chance at getting hired into a decent job or to not be treated like crap by clients/supervisors, don't go to law school.

But can you be more specific on this point:

I realized that I might be able to make the impact I want to make if I were able to represent people that have no voice.

What practice area are you thinking of?

Sure. You see, how my pay works is that there's a base pay of $9.50. You get an extra two dollars if you show up on time and do your job. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, what they don't factor in is you need to be on the phones 90% of the time. That means holding it in until your break times (which is 10 minutes). That's not nearly enough time. The health insurance offered here exists, but at the rate they pay, no one can really afford it. Morale is often low as a result of this. Rent can be tricky when you don't make that PLP. You only get 10 occurrences before you're fired. Doctor's visits count toward them, even when you have a note. Between all this, I know I'm getting a raw deal. There's really not much room for growth or for improvement. I'd quit, but starvation is its own motivator. So basically, I know I'm getting screwed by the system. If I can help other people be screwed less by the system, be it through unfair labor practices or other things, then that would mean a great deal. I wanted to become a journalist out of a desire to help society. Instead, I'm doing this. Working in law, to me, would be a way to help society better than I ever could as a journalist. That's why I wanna be a lawyer.

[Libya]

You gotta do more research, for your own benefit. How exactly do you plan to help society by the practice of law? How will you “give a voice” to the voiceless? You need to answer that question before you decide to enroll. Are you ok being a state or local government employee or working for a small firm, quite possibly doing worker’s comp or insurance defense, making like 50-60K a year? As to employment law, most firms represent employers—so are you ok with that? Those are your most likely outcomes from those schools so keep that in mind.

[hoylej18]

You gotta do more research, for your own benefit. How exactly do you plan to help society by the practice of law? How will you “give a voice” to the voiceless? You need to answer that question before you decide to enroll. Are you ok being a state or local government employee or working for a small firm, quite possibly doing worker’s comp or insurance defense, making like 50-60K a year? As to employment law, most firms represent employers—so are you ok with that? Those are your most likely outcomes from those schools so keep that in mind.

Actually, 50k to 60k a year sounds perfectly fine when my job prospects before were less than half that.

[nixy]

I don't have an issue with you wanting to go to law school, but if you're from WV and were hoping to get into WVU, why are you talking about UNH? UNH will get you a job (if anywhere) in NH. WVU will get you a job (if anywhere) in WV. They're not interchangeable in that respect.

[hoylej18]

I don't have an issue with you wanting to go to law school, but if you're from WV and were hoping to get into WVU, why are you talking about UNH? UNH will get you a job (if anywhere) in NH. WVU will get you a job (if anywhere) in WV. They're not interchangeable in that respect.

I was interested in UNH because I thought I might be interested in doing IP law. they've got one of the best programs for that. But I also really wanted to do public interest law, which WVU is excellent for. I also thought maybe UNH would be nice because my family is near around that area, and maybe a change of scenery would have done me some good. But the more I talk my way through this, the more I realize that WVU would actually probably be better for me given what I want to do.

[cavalier1138]

I'm just going to keep harping on this point: Don't go to law school just because you're dissatisfied with your current situation.

Your job sucks. Fine. That doesn't mean that law school is a great option for you. And your descriptions of why you want to be a lawyer are a collection of red flags that indicate you haven't done enough research into the field. You don't have to know exactly what you want to do after law school, but you need to have a better idea than "help people fight the system."

[hoylej18]

I'm just going to keep harping on this point: Don't go to law school just because you're dissatisfied with your current situation.

Your job sucks. Fine. That doesn't mean that law school is a great option for you. And your descriptions of why you want to be a lawyer are a collection of red flags that indicate you haven't done enough research into the field. You don't have to know exactly what you want to do after law school, but you need to have a better idea than "help people fight the system."

One of my posts got lost in the shuffle somewhere. I said I wanted to help people, because this job has made feel what it's like to have no way out. To that end, I was hoping to get into public interest law. I wanted to become an attorney with the state of west virginia or perhaps with the federal government. Or maybe even with a small law firm that deals in such matters. "Fight the system" was probably not the best choice of words. I know it doesn't pay as much as some of the other things I could do with a law degree, but that was what my idea was. Now, WVU has a really good public interest program and clinic. That was why I was interested in them. I was also interested in intellectual property law, simply because I'm a copyright holder myself. Which is why I thought about University of New Hampshire. They also have a good program for that. Plus that's where my Dad went and it's close to where my family is. if I was going to move out of state, I wanted at least some kind of family support system.

So my intention was to get in, work my butt off in class, get the internships/externships that I can get, network, and earn enough credibility to break into that line of field through my deeds, be it with public interest or with intellectual property.

[LSATWiz.com]

Have you looked at UNH's historic employment numbers? You can see them at Law School Transparency, and they're not very promising. Also, have you read news about the law school being at financial risk? Attending UNH law to improve job prospects doesn't add up

Like cavalier mentioned, once you have a LSAT score on file, the GRE score won't matter for admissions.

How can you not know have an idea on how you'll do on the test? Have you taken practice tests at all? You shouldn't take the LSAT just because. It would be better to cancel the test and spend time preparing before taking it. If UNH is your choice because you really want to stay local in NH and you have connections there, you should focus on getting a full ride there, which is possible based on LSN with a low 160s lsat.
Also, just so you know, your undergrad GPA is the one that matters for LSAC, and it might change, have you received your summary report from LSAC yet?

Well, I posted this last night. Let me explain my situation a little more. I am a graduate of Marshall University. I have a master's in journalism from them as well as a Bachelor's in English from Concord University. I was born and raised in West Virginia. I also busted my butt through undergrad and grad. Graduated cum laude from Concord and earned The James B. Shrewsberry Award for Academic Excellence. That award is given to the person with the highest major related GPA of that year. I had a job lined up for after graduation. However, they cancelled on me at the last second. That left me scrambling for other work. I did find work in a call center. I am good at it, but it's not enough money to sustain in the long term.I'll be blunt: it's enough to support myself in a three room apartment. We're talking about roughly 23-24k a year. Been looking for other work ever since. Been at this for almost a year. Despite my very best efforts and almost nailing a job with the state bar and the state police, I am still at this call center.

I was willing to put up with it until the job market improved. Until I found something better. However, I got pulled aside by my supervisor and was informed that my bathroom time was too high and if I wanted to keep my PLP, I would need to cut it down. It was at that point that I had enough. I am sick and tired of being hassled by these people. And if I can help those that are in my situation not have to deal with such draconian things, then more's the better.

Journalists do not make much money. Barely more than what I make now in this part of the world. It was then that I put two and two together and I realized that I might be able to make the impact I want to make if I were able to represent people that have no voice. Especially even after internships in radio and working all the other jobs I've done, they still either want me to freelance or intern for free. So I applied for the LSAT. My initial hope was to get into WVU here.

I have practiced the LSAT before. I got a 151 without much studying, and consistently get about 152-155. That's enough to get into WVU just fine. More than enough actually. I had hoped to try for better than WVU. But if what you're telling me is accurate, then WVU might be the best I can hope for. I'm fine with that.

Oy vey. If you think your supervisor is treating you badly, just wait until you go to work from a school like WVU who would accept you with a 152-155 LSAT. Read Areyouinsane's archived posts. They may be a little over the top, but they're not dramatically out of touch.

Insecure managers will try to exert their power over their underlings just to show they have that power. That can happen in any industry, including law. If your reason for going to law school is lawyering seems like an adult job and your boss yelled at you, you're going to have a bad time. Lawyering is a service-based industry. While clients typically treat lawyers with more respect than a waiter, it is not a position of power. You can have shitty clients.

[antelope]

OP, while your desire to leave your job's understandable, betting on things getting better by attending law school isn't the best. I'm not familiar with WVU law school, but there's a fair share of students who don't get bar passage required jobs per the numbers on law school transparency. I think you should try working in a law firm first, so you get to see the day to day and find out if you would be comfortable with it. You can also look up grads on LinkedIn, try reaching out to them and find out more about their work and if the school offered resources, try to meet with some of them if you can, too