providing sage advice Forum

[Qtc]

I applied to law school many years ago. I had a very high GPA. I was young. I choose to have fun instead of study for the LSAT. TLS did not exist at the time. I had no idea schools would offer me money, even with my score. Had I spent time studying I could have gone to a top law school, possibly one for free. This was a mistake - fortunately one that did not significantly hurt me. But it certainly made my life much harder than it had to be. I would urge everyone to study for the LSAT like you mean it. I expected to do better without actually putting in any work. This was dumb. Do not make my mistake. Feel free to ask questions.

[QContinuum]

Thanks very much for sharing your experience and advice, Qtc. The 0Ls who visit this board would be wise to heed your counsel.

[BrainsyK]

I'll start things off I guess.

1. What school (or tier of school to maintain anonymity) did you go to?
2. What school do you think that you could have gone to if you exhausted your efforts on the LSAT?
3. What do you do now?
4. Do you think that you should be relieved of much of the liability for making your own life harder b/c resources like MyLSN/TLS weren't around when you applied?
5. Assuming someone is already in law school and past the stage where they can retake and reapply, how can they make their lives easier (besides having super awesome grades)?

[Qtc]

1. School rank T100
2. I have no idea really but I think probably 165-170 range, possibly higher
3. Left blank
4. I don’t think there is a liability question. I think I was too quick to jump into law school. I thought my grades would carry me. I should have spent a summer studying.
5. You should network like crazy. You should take any and all opportunities that offer you substantive work experience. Think about what you want to do with your legal career. Litigation, transactional? Neither? Develop a plan for your post-grad career. Don’t be afraid to change course. Experience is the coin of the realm, so try to get that. Finally, take a wide variety of classes. I think business orgs, civ pro, etc are incredibly valuable. You need a broad and solid base from which you can work. Everyone says you don’t learn anything in law school. They are wrong. The courses are important

[Qtc]

Also, I think my law school was great. Faculty were engaged and helpful. I don’t regret going l, only that I didn’t make things easier for me. If you attend T14, you have to do much less fighting for opportunities.