your law school experience, need some advice Forum

[adam.123]

Since you are all in law school and have experience with it. I would like some advice, recommendation before i get my feet into it. My lsat prep is going great, I see myself getting 155-160 range. Since, I am esl student. Went to high school outside US (still English was instructional language in class), but did my undergraduate degree in usa. cumulative 3.55 gpa, BS business major, graduate with honor.
LSAT prep is going great! hope to get 160.
Since i know my reading skills and writing skills are not that good, but i think it is just average. Regarding my undergrad, I never cared about reading or writing, unless it was absolutely required. Just read a day or two before exam, did decent in all my classses mostly my grade are B+,A and very few C maybe 2 or 3.

Need some advice.will I do fine in law school looking at by background? By fine, i mean passing all my law school classes. Should i get mysellf into some master that will sharpen my reading and writing skills, like say philosophy, pol scie or any related. Or should I just get into habit reading dense material, magazine, economist, and then will just adjust to law school once i get there?

Any advice is higly apprecaited!

[Sean1269]

You will do fine. Read a couple of books before you get to law school, any english books will suffice, preferably things that interest you. That will increase your reading speed, while being a fast reader is not in any way essential, it helps. Learn to type fast, people who type quickly (i.e. 75+ wpm) have large advantages on tests, provided they actually know what they're typing. If you can't read fast, you will learn to do so, if you suck at analyzing things then you will learn. Long story short, people come from a variety of backgrounds in law school, and most people pass their classes, save the few lazy ones who spend a little too much time at bar review.

[stayway]

You will do fine. Read a couple of books before you get to law school, any english books will suffice, preferably things that interest you. That will increase your reading speed, while being a fast reader is not in any way essential, it helps. Learn to type fast, people who type quickly (i.e. 75+ wpm) have large advantages on tests, provided they actually know what they're typing. If you can't read fast, you will learn to do so, if you suck at analyzing things then you will learn. Long story short, people come from a variety of backgrounds in law school, and most people pass their classes, save the few lazy ones who spend a little too much time at bar review.

+1, but I'm not sure if you want to go to law school just to pass. Unless you can afford law school without any debt, just "passing" law school can be a negative rather than a positive.

[Miniver]

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[justadude55]

Your undergraduate GPA is not impressive. Your target LSAT score is not impressive. Your reading and writing abilities do not appear to be impressive.

You are taking a big gamble, and I do not think it will be worth it unless you have money to burn.

a 3.55 is well above average, and on pace for a tier 1. if she brings her LSAT up to the 170s, it can well be good for a top 10.

i agree that depending on where she starts, she might want to rethink law school (if she starts at a 140 for example) unless she really believes she'll love it. but no matter what field shes in, a law degree will likely help more than it will hurt.

[Mickey Quicknumbers]

Old thread is old

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 0&t=132197

[Tsispilos]

Your undergraduate GPA is not impressive. Your target LSAT score is not impressive. Your reading and writing abilities do not appear to be impressive.

You are taking a big gamble, and I do not think it will be worth it unless you have money to burn.I'm a big douche, so it's okay not to listen to me. Nobody likes me except my mother.

[beachbum]

Your undergraduate GPA is not impressive. Your target LSAT score is not impressive. Your reading and writing abilities do not appear to be impressive.

You are taking a big gamble, and I do not think it will be worth it unless you have money to burn.I'm a big douche, so it's okay not to listen to me. Nobody likes me except my mother.

No, he made a good point. Average stats paired with a somewhat lacking command of the English language put the OP at a major disadvantage.

OP, the best course of action is to work on your mastery of both the LSAT and the English language, in whichever order you feel most comfortable with. Practice makes perfect.

[Miniver]

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[JazzOne]

if she brings her LSAT up to the 170s, it can well be good for a top 10.

If ifs and ands were pots and pans, the world would be a kitchen.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

but no matter what field shes in, a law degree will likely help more than it will hurt.

Wrong.

[Teoeo]

but no matter what field shes in, a law degree will likely help more than it will hurt.

Wrong.

I approve +1

[adam.123]

Thank you sean1296, beachbum and justadude55 for your encouragement and advice. I know Law school is not anything like undergrad. I appreciate all your reply.
After looking and doing some research at other option that I have, MBA, PHD-business, PHD-pol sci and law school. I think for me personally, law school would give me something more than MBA,phd-business-pol sci would. looks like JD beat all. Also, I can always go back to get those degrees say 10-15 years down the road if still interested.

Thanks.

[justadude55]

but yeah, you do have to improve your english. law is funny in that if you're diverse, people love you but if you're diverse and can't speak english right, you're not as popular. if you can't speak great, you gotta be able to write great. other than that, a lot of it is logic (anyone can have a great work ethic.) i'd say your LSAT score and english skills would be a decent prediction of your natural ability in law, but all can be learned and these don't guarantee success.

[adam.123]

Thank everyone!
Would you think reading magazine: the economist, the nation, scientific american 2-3 hours everyday will be enough for sharpening reading skills, while at the same time picking writing skills from those magazine, plus maybe grammar book. I appreciate most of your encouragement, some people here on tls offer discourage big time. You know, it is not like I do not know English. In fact, I did well compared to a lot of my classmate who were all native.
So regarding reading, would reading those magazine be enough?

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Thank everyone!
Would you think reading magazine: the economist, the nation, scientific american 2-3 hours everyday will be enough for sharpening reading skills, while at the same time picking writing skills from those magazine, plus maybe grammar book. I appreciate most of your encouragement, some people here on tls offer discourage big time. You know, it is not like I do not know English. In fact, I did well compared to a lot of my classmate who were all native.
So regarding reading, would reading those magazine be enough?

You need to be doing more than reading. If this thread is in anyway indicative of your writing ability in English, you need some significant improvement. My suggestion would be to practice writing as much as possible, preferably through an outlet where you get a lot of grammatical feedback.

I would also encourage not going to law school unless it's a strong regional school with a scholarship or full cost at the very least a T14 school. But plenty of people will disagree with that and that's a whole different discussion. At the very least, try to see if it's possible to get in the mid 160's on the LSAT.

[adam.123]

Someone here on tls said "If you got into law school, you're competent enough for them to teach you how to write their way."
Is that true? I think I should be working on reading skills, reviewing grammar book and typing speed.

[kalvano]

You're going to be expected to be fairly proficient at writing and grammar already.

Also, you're going to be reading dense material not written in a way that is easily understood. Some of the cases date back to the 19th century, and the diction and style is completely different. You're going to have to make inferences and draw conclusions that are not readily apparent.

Whatever you can do to bring both reading skills and writing skills up to par will be immensely helpful.

[Veyron]

You can't spell flame without LAME.

[justadude55]

You're going to be expected to be fairly proficient at writing and grammar already.

Also, you're going to be reading dense material not written in a way that is easily understood. Some of the cases date back to the 19th century, and the diction and style is completely different. You're going to have to make inferences and draw conclusions that are not readily apparent.

Whatever you can do to bring both reading skills and writing skills up to par will be immensely helpful.

idk i know some people at t-14 law schools who aren't even in their 1st year and write terribly. i think you're going to be expected to have kicked butt in undergrad and have a 170 lsat score.

[kalvano]

You're going to be expected to be fairly proficient at writing and grammar already.

Also, you're going to be reading dense material not written in a way that is easily understood. Some of the cases date back to the 19th century, and the diction and style is completely different. You're going to have to make inferences and draw conclusions that are not readily apparent.

Whatever you can do to bring both reading skills and writing skills up to par will be immensely helpful.

idk i know some people at t-14 law schools who aren't even in their 1st year and write terribly. i think you're going to be expected to have kicked butt in undergrad and have a 170 lsat score.

And how well are they going to do?

I don't mean pretty prose, I mean understand the basics of grammar and how to form a sentence.

[justadude55]

You're going to be expected to be fairly proficient at writing and grammar already.

Also, you're going to be reading dense material not written in a way that is easily understood. Some of the cases date back to the 19th century, and the diction and style is completely different. You're going to have to make inferences and draw conclusions that are not readily apparent.

Whatever you can do to bring both reading skills and writing skills up to par will be immensely helpful.

idk i know some people at t-14 law schools who aren't even in their 1st year and write terribly. i think you're going to be expected to have kicked butt in undergrad and have a 170 lsat score.

And how well are they going to do?

I don't mean pretty prose, I mean understand the basics of grammar and how to form a sentence.

i mean im applying now, but do you really think they care?

will they take a white guy with 25th percentile #'s just because he can write impeccably? i know they talk about it mattering, but i guess i'll believe it when i see it.

[kalvano]

i mean im applying now, but do you really think they care?

will they take a white guy with 25th percentile #'s just because he can write impeccably? i know they talk about it mattering, but i guess i'll believe it when i see it.

Not for application purposes. Once you actually start school.