Lawyer CAGs and CAGs in law school.

Hey speed, I'm from Houston, too. In my case, I should have stayed in Houston for law school. I realized too late the intern/networking opportunities for someone like me (going to school on my own dime) in Lubbock were mostly non-existent. Just one of the lessons I've had to learn on my own since I don't come from family with professional background.

I'll add some constructive advice: one reason you have to bust your ass like never before is because how retarded the grade curving in law school is. You're not just trying to do well on the exams, you're trying to do better than everyone else, or you'll end up with Cs or even Ds with just 1 or 2 points different in your exam grades from the "upper ranks."
 
[quote name='Gentlegamer']Hey speed, I'm from Houston, too. In my case, I should have stayed in Houston for law school. I realized too late the intern/networking opportunities for someone like me (going to school on my own dime) in Lubbock were mostly non-existent. Just one of the lessons I've had to learn on my own since I don't come from family with professional background.

I'll add some constructive advice: one reason you have to bust your ass like never before is because how retarded the grade curving in law school is. You're not just trying to do well on the exams, you're trying to do better than everyone else, or you'll end up with Cs or even Ds with just 1 or 2 points different in your exam grades from the "upper ranks."[/QUOTE]

Fortunately, I've been well versed in curves in my undergrad experience. Gotta love a grade deflating school! That dalliance I had with computer science as a major really fucked me over, but hopefully I can overcome it.

Law school looks like a pain in the ass, but from my internships it doesn't look like being a lawyer is much more miserable* than being any other kind of professional.

*that is, if you're doing it solely for the money. I'm not, so I hope that it'll remain a passion for years to come (but who knows that far).
 
Meh, grades. Law school grades don't mean much. I'd advise no one delude themselves into thinking they'll be vindicated by "hard work." As was hinted at above, you'll be much better off putting the lion's share of effort towards schmoozing and staying out of the bottom third of your class than you would be living like a monk and acing everything. That or just go to Harvard and solve all of your problems in advance.

But in the interest of total candor, I hate law school with a deathless passion so it's probably just sour grapes from me. My grades are good, though. :)
 
[quote name='irishsoccermbw']Sorry to burst your bubble, but that is not going to happen. I'm not one of those "well I have nothing else to do, might as well go to grad/law school", I've been wanting to go since I was like 5. I've shadowed people in class, and know what to expect. I also scored a 172 on the LSAT and 3.92 from the University of Michigan, so a decent school is in the realm of possibilities...but keep being a downer, life must be great that way.[/QUOTE]

172? If you're telling the truth, I hate you.
 
I'm a current student at a top ten law school. If anyone has any questions about admissions, job prospects (which are pretty abysmal right now), or anything else related to law school, I'd be glad to help my fellow CAGs.
 
[quote name='RedvsBlue']172? If you're telling the truth, I hate you.[/QUOTE]

Yeah its the truth, took it June 9th of this year, I'm thinking about taking it again in Feb. due to potential scholarships if I score a bit higher.

[quote name='IvanHood']I'm a current student at a top ten law school. If anyone has any questions about admissions, job prospects (which are pretty abysmal right now), or anything else related to law school, I'd be glad to help my fellow CAGs.[/QUOTE]

I don't do well in the cold/snow, should I try to suffer through 3 more years in the North (aka north east) or would I have similar job prospects if I went to a school out West? Also what specialty are you leaning towards and how is it at your school? (if that one is too personal, disregard it) Thanks
 
Unless your practice tests are consistently 175+, which would be pretty incredible, retaking after a 172 would be a mistake IMO... scoring lower on a retake would hurt you more than scoring higher would help you, it's just not worth the risk. A lot of people score lower on their retake, and that's out of a self-selected group who all felt they could improve on a retake. Just something to keep in mind.

Top-Law-Schools.com has a great forum with a ton of info, check it out if you haven't yet.
 
[quote name='irishsoccermbw']
I don't do well in the cold/snow, should I try to suffer through 3 more years in the North (aka north east) or would I have similar job prospects if I went to a school out West? Also what specialty are you leaning towards and how is it at your school? (if that one is too personal, disregard it) Thanks[/QUOTE]

First, I agree that it would probably not help you very much to retake a 172. With that score and your grades, you already have a really good shot at some solid scholarships at middle and lower T14 schools. That being said, it's my impression that most schools now only look at the higher LSAT score. US News used to average multiple LSAT scores in computing their rankings, but now they only look at the highest, so it probably won't hurt you too much if you decide to retake and get a lower score. Law schools want to improve their rankings, so if US News doesn't care about something, law school admissions offices typically don't either.

Weather played a role in deciding where I wanted to go to law school, but it depends on what your options are. Obviously, choosing Berkeley over Michigan is easier to justify than choosing Berkeley over Harvard. Another thing to consider is that it is probably easier to get a job in California from Berkeley than from Michigan (and, vice versa, easier to get a job in Chicago from Michigan than Berkeley). In this economy, though, I think I would prioritize scholarship money over location, especially if you're not dead set on being in a specific geographic region after law school.

I don't really want to out my school, but I am going into IP. I have really enjoyed all of my IP classes, but it is such a common field that I would think that the IP programs at most good schools would be pretty similar.
 
Its funny to hear about the "no jobs" stuff from people at T14s, T50, or even T100 schools.

Yeah, for the T14s, not everyone gets to walk out with their B+ curve average and walk into a $100K/yr job at a huge firm. They *MAY* have to settle with jobs and small or regional practices, only making a measly $80k a year or something until the market recovers and they can move back over to big law.

Just think about those at the schools at the end of the T100 list or even the lower tier schools - the majority of them were never gunning for those big law jobs outside those in the top 10%. While employment prospects for them were always going to be harder, now they're really hard with the shit economy and an influx of lawyers looking for work that wouldn't normally be dipping down to positions that lower ranked school grads commonly shot for.

I mean, really, if you want to be rolling around in big money, go to a T14. If you want to practice law and don't care about being paid out the ass to do so, go to any decent school (as long as its not one of those for-profit ones) thats in the region you want to practice in that has a good bar passage rate - just be sure to do it on a substantial scholarship.

It's not like memorizing rules of Civil Procedure and applicable case holdings and knowing when to apply them varies from school to school. It's all the same. And besides, you'll relearn all that stuff two months before the bar anyway and that's all you really need to cap off your degree. The rest of learning about being a lawyer will come from outside the classroom, if you can find an internship that's about more than making photocopies for other attorneys and tabbing or highlighting them where they ask.
 
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