<p>I originally posted this in the admissions forum and was advised to post in the Parents Form:</p>
<p>My brother is turning 24 this August and has never really been on the right track school wise. After high school he tried his hand at a community college and ended up dropping out. Now he’s older and says he’s serious about school and wants to be a lawyer.</p>
<p>He plans to start at either a community college or a local university (with low admission standards), then he aspires to transfer to the University of Illinois at Chicago (though he says UIC this may change) to major in political science.</p>
<p>I wanted to know:</p>
<li><p>Will he have to take the SAT’s to transfer (he can’t remember if he ever took them in the first place)? Looking at UIC’s website they only mention a min. GPA and never mention SAT’s.</p></li>
<li><p>Any advice for someone who is embarking on their college career and intending to head to law school a little later in their life?</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve also told him he could probably finish school in 3 years. I’m not sure if this is the best route or if he should focus on internships during his summers (however I’m worried the intern hosts might want the traditional age student) or if he should do both school and inter.</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve heard it’s a good idea to take a gap year. Would that be advisable considering my brother is already older. I figured the gap year was to show you’re mature and resolute in your decision not just some senior who is going to law school as the “next step.”</p></li>
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<p>How did he decide he wants to be a lawyer? Does he have real-world experience in the legal field is or it just a vague dream?</p>
<p>Also as far as Q#1 about the SATs, a thought occured to me after reading your other post and then this. It's admirable that you're trying to help out your brother get his footing back educationally. However I want to add a note of caution. Sometimes people feel pressured to do something and so they give half-hearted responses aimed more at calming things down then in enacting real change. I of course have no idea if that's what's happening here. However I do want to point out that your brother can take a few steps to help himself, such as in answering the question about SATs. He could simply call the school and ask. He could go into a local CC and make an appt. with a counselor to ask about a plan that gets him ready to transfer to UIC. </p>
<p>As for a law career, there have been threads in the Parents Forum in the past about pluses/minuses of a legal career. And my advice for law (or any other career) is to get real-world exposure as soon as possible to make sure the actual job matches expectations.</p>
<p>Are you Illinois residents? Almost every Illinois HS student has to take the ACT - it may be on his HS transcript. If he has a decent score, he doesn't need the SAT.</p>
<p>mikemac: So true about the Law career stuff. As of now it seems he's reaching for something prestigious to do and as for now it's law. This may change but if it doesn't it wouldn't help to gather as much info as possible.</p>
<p>midwesterner: We actually went to highschool in Indiana though we live in Illinois (we're on the border). I took the SAT's but never considered the ACT's since I knew I wouldn't attend college in Illinois.</p>