Ever consider applying to law school? The prospect of law school is definitely appealing to a lot of people who have graduated. While, on a realistic note, the job market is definitely saturated (way too many people are graduating with a law school degree), the potential for not only great financial stability but a good job with tons of benefits is possible through law school. This appeal is especially applicable to the people out there that are lost and confused after graduating and have absolutely no direction.
First of all, I want to quickly address this issue right away: you are not too old to go to law school. As a matter of fact, some people go to law school even at the upper ages of 50 or 60. At the end of the day, that probably is not the wisest career and life decision at that stage of your life. It would be ideal to go somewhere between 30-40. At the same time, the possibility always exists, and that’s my point.
With that being said, here are some things you will have to do if you seriously want to apply to law school. I’m writing this assuming that you have already graduated from, or will graduate from an accredited 4 year university. It goes without saying that if you have any desire to attend law school, you need a diploma from some university.
1. Prepare for your LSAT. Most Universities, although it is definitely not systematic across the board, value your LSAT score a lot more than your GPA. A safe scaled estimate would be something along the lines of 70-30. The test is scored on a 120-180 scale, and a good LSAT score is above 160, while the average lies somewhere in the 150′s. An excellent LSAT score is anything from 170-180, and scoring such pretty much guarantees that you will gain admittance into at least one of the schools that you apply to. Needless to say, the LSAT is very important if you are seriously considering law school. A good way to find out if law school makes any sense for you is to take a practice LSAT and see how you do.
2. Collect Letters of Recommendation. If you are like me and have been graduated for a while, you can either take some junior college courses and get an A in the class, or contact old professors from undergrad and ask them for a huge favor. Generally speaking, when you go and ask them for a letter of recommendation, prepare all the documents they would need in order to write a favorable letter of rec for you. Bring them a sample of your class work, a portfolio with some of your writings/accomplishments, your resume…give them every and all information that will help them write you a good letter of rec. You should also give them a little “thank you” gift card from Starbucks, or the equivalent. It’s not bribery, it’s a little thank you nudge that will help ensure that you get a positive letter of rec that the professor completes in a timely manner.
Before asking for a letter of recommendation, go to www.lsac.org, sign up for an account, and direct your inform your professors where they should submit their letter of recommendation to (through LSAC). LSAC is very convenient, and they will send out your general letter of recommendations to all of the law schools you apply to with your LSAT score as well.
3. Research schools online to see what your options are, and what they expect from you before you apply. Websites like Top Law Schools will help you a lot in your endeavor to apply to law school. The idea is, you want to know what schools you can realistically apply to (based on your LSAT and GPA performance), and furthermore, what the law schools you want to apply to require from you in terms of pre-admission. Every law school is different, and because of that, you should research each school you plan on applying to. For example, some schools expect more than 2 letter of recs, although 2 is the generally accepted minimum number. Doing a good amount of research will greatly improve your chances of finding a good law school program for you.
Remember, the school you go to is very important, when it comes to practicing law. Not only should you consider location (where you study is generally where you should practice), but you should also consider the school’s ranking. School ranking will play a big part in determining what kind of jobs are available to you once you graduate.
This is a really life changing/defining decision, and you should definitely make it with a lot of thinking/weighing the options. However, if you do decide to pursue a career in law, good luck! It’s definitely going to be a lot of work, but honestly, everything in life takes work. Not all of us have the fortune of winning the lottery, or having multi-millionaire parents that can help alleviate certain stresses of life. For the rest of us, work hard, play hard.
