Tips for somebody transitioning from MCAT to LSAT? Forum

[Rooster Cogburn]

Long time reader, first time poster here. Please... be gentle.

My brief life story is that I went to a pretty esteemed undergrad and was ostensibly pre-med for the time being while there. I wanted to take some time off before applying to medical school, so I waited until then to take the MCAT. I did pretty well, but I was working in a lab at that point, so I stayed settled. I ended up getting a job at a startup in LA, and I've been there for about a year and a half now. Work is great, or at least you make decent money, but I still want to go back to school. I've spent some time working with attorneys, and while they're not all the jolliest of sorts, I think I might be interested in a JD and then a return to industry, or maybe even a JD/MBA.

So it's a pretty basic question, but does anybody have any experience with both? Or at least any opinions on my dilemma? Will law schools view my past as a suspicious signal?

... am I screwed?

[bonsai]

I had a similar situation...feel free to PM me!

[arklaw13]

What you did before law school largely doesn't matter but how bad did pre-med wreck your gpa?

[swampman]

What's your question exactly?

Law schools care about your GPA and LSAT, period. As for the career move, sounds like you don't have a very good reason for wanting to be a lawyer. Law school is expensive, in tuition and opportunity cost. Make sure you have a real reason to do it, sounds like you have a pretty good gig now.

[Rooster Cogburn]

What you did before law school largely doesn't matter but how bad did pre-med wreck your gpa?

I mean... it wasn't ideal. Fortunately, my school is renowned for, you know, a bit of grade inflation (which is super overrated, when you're a pre-med, by the way). Suffice to say, I'm swinging for the fences on the LSAT. I don't really lack for confidence when it comes to standardized tests, I'm just wondering how feasible it is to break like a 170. Sure, I probably(?) can't do it in the next six weeks, but if I'm working full time, maybe October?

[Rooster Cogburn]

What's your question exactly?

Law schools care about your GPA and LSAT, period. As for the career move, sounds like you don't have a very good reason for wanting to be a lawyer. Law school is expensive, in tuition and opportunity cost. Make sure you have a real reason to do it, sounds like you have a pretty good gig now.

The gig is fine, but there are some more exciting opportunities that I think my experience combined with a JD could afford me in venture capital or private equity, or even in terms of staying in the startup community as a consultant/counsel/entrepreneur-not-in-residence, I guess, for other parties looking to start companies.

[juzam_djinn]

How'd you do on the verbal section? That's the closest analogue to the lsat. I've looked at the reading comp before for mcat and, as you'd expect, lsat RC and logical reasoning sections are a lot more intense

in general, lsat should take less time to prep though, as you don't need to know any concrete knowledge or facts like you would need for the mcat

[arklaw13]

What you did before law school largely doesn't matter but how bad did pre-med wreck your gpa?

I mean... it wasn't ideal. Fortunately, my school is renowned for, you know, a bit of grade inflation (which is super overrated, when you're a pre-med, by the way). Suffice to say, I'm swinging for the fences on the LSAT. I don't really lack for confidence when it comes to standardized tests, I'm just wondering how feasible it is to break like a 170. Sure, I probably(?) can't do it in the next six weeks, but if I'm working full time, maybe October?

The question isn't whether you can do well on the LSAT, because just about anyone can with enough studying. The question is even if you get a 170 will it be worth it. How bad is "not ideal"? Are we talking lower than 3.5?

[Rooster Cogburn]

What you did before law school largely doesn't matter but how bad did pre-med wreck your gpa?

I mean... it wasn't ideal. Fortunately, my school is renowned for, you know, a bit of grade inflation (which is super overrated, when you're a pre-med, by the way). Suffice to say, I'm swinging for the fences on the LSAT. I don't really lack for confidence when it comes to standardized tests, I'm just wondering how feasible it is to break like a 170. Sure, I probably(?) can't do it in the next six weeks, but if I'm working full time, maybe October?

The question isn't whether you can do well on the LSAT, because just about anyone can with enough studying. The question is even if you get a 170 will it be worth it. How bad is "not ideal"? Are we talking lower than 3.5?

Ah, fair question. Yeah, I've got a 3.7 (-ish? I can check out my transcript is the hundredth decimals are necessary). Granted, that's five years old now, don't know how that would count. I was hoping that the interesting work experience would win me some points, but apparently not?

[Rooster Cogburn]

How'd you do on the verbal section? That's the closest analogue to the lsat. I've looked at the reading comp before for mcat and, as you'd expect, lsat RC and logical reasoning sections are a lot more intense

in general, lsat should take less time to prep though, as you don't need to know any concrete knowledge or facts like you would need for the mcat

I guess that's pretty much what I was asking. I've always done well on reading comp. I took the MCAT twice and got 13's on the verbal each time... which is POSSIBLY a perfect, or maybe one wrong, depending on the administration.

[arklaw13]

What you did before law school largely doesn't matter but how bad did pre-med wreck your gpa?

I mean... it wasn't ideal. Fortunately, my school is renowned for, you know, a bit of grade inflation (which is super overrated, when you're a pre-med, by the way). Suffice to say, I'm swinging for the fences on the LSAT. I don't really lack for confidence when it comes to standardized tests, I'm just wondering how feasible it is to break like a 170. Sure, I probably(?) can't do it in the next six weeks, but if I'm working full time, maybe October?

The question isn't whether you can do well on the LSAT, because just about anyone can with enough studying. The question is even if you get a 170 will it be worth it. How bad is "not ideal"? Are we talking lower than 3.5?

Ah, fair question. Yeah, I've got a 3.7 (-ish? I can check out my transcript is the hundredth decimals are necessary). Granted, that's five years old now, don't know how that would count. I was hoping that the interesting work experience would win me some points, but apparently not?

Over a 3.7 is fine. You won't really know for sure until LSAC calculates your GPA, which could differ from what your transcript says. If you can pull a 170 you'll get good offers.

[Shakawkaw]

What's your question exactly?

Law schools care about your GPA and LSAT, period. As for the career move, sounds like you don't have a very good reason for wanting to be a lawyer. Law school is expensive, in tuition and opportunity cost. Make sure you have a real reason to do it, sounds like you have a pretty good gig now.

The gig is fine, but there are some more exciting opportunities that I think my experience combined with a JD could afford me in venture capital or private equity, or even in terms of staying in the startup community as a consultant/counsel/entrepreneur-not-in-residence, I guess, for other parties looking to start companies.

Get an MBA.

[RZ5646]

MCAT = knowledge test, LSAT = skills test

Apples and oranges.

[Broncos15]

in general, lsat should take less time to prep though, as you don't need to know any concrete knowledge or facts like you would need for the mcat

Dangerous assumption there: You can miss 12 ( and in some cases even 14) questions and get a 170 which is the top 2% of all test takers.

To further the point 9 points are used ( 172-180) to split hairs of the top 1% , so no its not easy

[juzam_djinn]

in general, lsat should take less time to prep though, as you don't need to know any concrete knowledge or facts like you would need for the mcat

Dangerous assumption there: You can miss 12 ( and in some cases even 14) questions and get a 170 which is the top 2% of all test takers.

To further the point 9 points are used ( 172-180) to split hairs of the top 1% , so no its not easy

That the lsat is easy was never assumed. i don't think anyone outside of trolls would argue that it's an easy test. The point made was that for most people, the mcat requires more time to prepare for because you must memorize formulas and facts before you can do well. In theory, a very smart person can do well on the lsat with little to no preparation because all you need to know is the english language