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Which law schools should I apply to?
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Date: July 10th, 2020 11:05 PM Author: ;..;.;;;.;;.;.;.;;;.;;;.;.;;;....;. 167 LSAT GPA 3.77 Top 50 undergrad college |
Date: July 10th, 2020 11:08 PM Author: ..,.,.,.,,.;;;,;...;:;:;..;..;,,,,;:,...;.;,;.;:.. Lol (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4581563&forum_id=2#40584171) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 11:08 PM Author: vonoskar Did you take any pre-law courses in undergrad? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4581563&forum_id=2#40584177) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 11:10 PM Author: ;..;.;;;.;;.;.;.;;;.;;;.;.;;;....;. I took a "Business Law" course which I found really interesting. I majored in English. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4581563&forum_id=2#40584182) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 11:14 PM Author: vonoskar Look, I want to be supportive of your dreams & aspirations--this is why people come here, to get a good word and some friendly advice--but in this climate especially, given how intensely competitive law schools & then law firms have become, it's hard to recommend you even try applying to ls without at least a full year of preparatory pre-law coursework. Most of the students within the T17 (top 17 best law schools) have done at least a year of pre-law, sometimes as a gap year between UG and ls, other times as part of a combined program during UG. I'm at a reputable law firm in Idaho and I can tell you that even when we're considering candidates for jobs, one of the factors we'll look at is how much pre-law training they've had. Is there any chance you can re-enlist in your UG to get a year or two of pre-law work in? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4581563&forum_id=2#40584207) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 11:17 PM Author: ;..;.;;;.;;.;.;.;;;.;;;.;.;;;....;. Ty for the thoughtful advice. I'm not sure what pre-law is exactly? Is that something I take in college? Or, is this some kind of apprenticeship with a law firm? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4581563&forum_id=2#40584214) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 11:28 PM Author: vonoskar np that's what we're here for. Pre-law involves a mixture of coursework (think like etiquette, dressing, rhetoric, grooming &c) and "field" experience where you'll apprentice yourself to a strong attorney in an area of practice you're interested in. As an apprentice, you're expected to care for the attorney however he needs as he engages in litigation as well as the administration of the firm. It allows for an upfront preview of the practice of law under the careful hand of a generous mentor. Many of the attorneys at our firm report that some of their fondest memories came from the time spent as a young apprentice in the care of their "guide" as they're called in the industry.
As far as how to pull this off, most reputable undergrad schools will have an undergrad law center which will coordinate the program, both in terms of the coursework and the apprenticeship, though at certain lower tier schools like Cornell you may have to pursue the pre-law course on your own through independent learning, but you can still get the work certified by the ABA at the end of the period. |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 11:37 PM Author: ;..;.;;;.;;.;.;.;;;.;;;.;.;;;....;. Awesome. There's just so much information on the web and I'm going crazy! So I really appreciate you simplifying things for me.
As far as your experience goes, what would you recommend me majoring in law school? For instance, I'm really interested in business law (I mentioned above that I really enjoyed taking a business law course in college). Is this major difficult? |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 11:48 PM Author: vonoskar I had a really hard time back when I was applying for law school. I wish XO had existed as a resource back then. It took me three or four application cycles to finally land a spot in the T17 and I feel like if I had had a community like this one I might have had a smoother process. So ask away! (And sorry for that venting!)
Law schools don't typically have "majors." It's not like undergrad. Instead, they rely on a system called "guilds," which is a holdover from the english system of legal education back in the 13th century. Anyway, in the modern sense, a guild will be a concentration of practitioners and teachers within the law school who focus on a particular area of elite legal practice. So, for example, you'll have the "drafting guild" and the "binder guild" and the "dial-in guild" and so forth. The idea is that, by joining a guild, you'll build up a set of skills through practical exercises and coursework that will ready you to practice the particular legal trade that the guild is devoted toward.
Your average student will join a single guild, but if you're ambitious, you might cross-guild yourself (so, take on both the binder guild and the document guild)--it's a lot of work but it can be done. If you enjoy the business aspects of law, you're probably going to want to look into a guild known as in the lingo as the "GS" or "guilde sodomie" which is a french term (many of the most common business law terms are derived from french given the signifiance of french law to the practice).
Happy to answer any other questions you might have. |
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Date: July 11th, 2020 12:16 AM Author: ;..;.;;;.;;.;.;.;;;.;;;.;.;;;....;. This is all so overwhelming, to be honest. When would I need to select a guild? I hope I don't need to select one when applying...I just don't know if I am ready to commit myself to a particular guild. I know I enjoy business law now, so that guilde sodomie sounds really interesting. But my tastes may change, right? I might want to find a guild that focuses on civil rights, which I think would be especially useful in today's climate.
Also, how do you go about paying for law school? I looked up tuition fees at a few of my choice schools and I don't know how I would be able to afford $70k a year, and I am really afraid to borrow that much money. |
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Date: July 11th, 2020 12:27 AM Author: vonoskar These are all great questions. Don't be overwhelmed. Although I will say that this points to one of the reasons you're going to want a strong, practiced attorney mentor to groom you during your pre-law period; he'll be able to field these sort of questions, and do more than that with you, with aplomb.
You typically select a guild at the conclusion of your first semester. The first semester will be a veritable Movable Feast of legal sights and sounds and experiences as you go from wardroom to trial practice session to combat training &c. It's all designed to expose you to as much of the law school, including its various guild systems, as possible, to enable you to make an informed designation when it comes time for your "Guild Day" (ceremony that takes place at the beginning of the second semester and involves declaring your selection into a guild with a pronouncement).
There's some flexibility about reneging on your original guild selection but, in my experience, it's not looked kindly upon. We had a couple cadets wash out after they tried to "guild hop" their 2L year and ended up in front of the Global Review Committee of the school who yanked their clearances and basically told them they'd either have to re-start the entire curriculum or else get out. That's why it's so important to hit the books hard and take your first semester seriously, because it's going to give you the information you need to make the right decision that will set you on the path that you'll have to follow for the next 40-60 years of your life.
As far as paying for law school, most biglaw firms will have a loan forgiveness program where, if you work for them for at least five years, they'll pay off all of your school / educational debt. It's a great deal and it's something that motivates a lot of young graduates to join the ranks of big law (they then get sucked into it and become lifers because of the intensity of the experience--there's a certain adrenaline high you get from it that you can't really find anywhere else in the practice, akin to being in combat alongside a band of brothers; but we can talk about that more down the road--let's not get ahead of ourselves).
Finally, not sure what today's climate has to do with civil rights, not following that one. |
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Date: July 11th, 2020 12:09 AM Author: north atlantid (luis) (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4581563&forum_id=2#40584389) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 11:14 PM Author: .,.,,..,.,,.,.,:,,:,..,,:::,...,:,.,.:...:.,:.::,. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4581563&forum_id=2#40584205) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 11:34 PM Author: which other dad enjoy vanderbilt (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4581563&forum_id=2#40584274) |
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Date: July 11th, 2020 12:23 AM Author: ;..;.;;;.;;.;.;.;;;.;;;.;.;;;....;. Is this true? I would not mind this outcome one bit, although I'm really trying to shoot more for UCLA, UVA, Emory, or Northwestern. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4581563&forum_id=2#40584462) |
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Date: July 11th, 2020 12:32 AM Author: ,,;;..::,..;;..,.:,,,;:..,:;.,,.;.. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4581563&forum_id=2#40584513) |