A few questions about law school

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>I just finished my first semester of college (but I have ~50 credits) and have a 3.7 GPA. I'm starting to seriously think about what I want to do after college, and law school has been something I've been considering since high school.</p>

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<li>I am obviously not making any decisions right now, and this is just a hypothetical because I probably won't get into any of the top ranked law schools, but I wanted to hear some opinions. I want to study animal law - I have since I discovered the field a few years ago, and I highly doubt it is something I will ever lose interest in. Also, the field has grown rapidly over the past few years and I'm pretty sure I could find a job. I'm having a hard time deciding which would path would be more beneficial overall:</li>
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<p>Lewis & Clark law school in Portland, Oregon
Pros: the best/only comprehensive animal law program in the US, easier to get in to, cheaper ($27000 but would require moving)
Cons: lower ranked, probably won't pass NY bar exam, have to move across the country</p>

<p>Any of the high ranked NY schools (Columbia, NYU, Cornell, Fordham)
Pros: prestige, better chance of job offering, most have Student Animal Legal Defense Fund and one Animal Law class, better chance of passing bar, don't have to relocate
Cons: only one class pertaining to what I want to study, expensive</p>

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<li><p>Even with the top law schools, are GPA and LSAT scores the only things really considered? Should I forgo internships to study for the LSATS or take summer classes?</p></li>
<li><p>I've read that some admissions committees frown upon students who take only classes related to law/political science. Is there any truth to this? I am a political science major (fulfilling all the reqs with law classes) with a minor in American history (again mostly law classes) and I'm considering adding a minor in philosophy in the subarea of moral, political, and legal issues. I'm not doing this because I want to look appealing to law schools, I'm doing it because this is the area I do well in and love to study - but I don't want this to hurt my chances. </p></li>
<li><p>This is going to sound stupid, but is there any way to really evaluate if law school is the right path for you? I love to study government and law, but I'm seriously doubting my ability to memorize and comprehend what I read. I have a very poor long term memory and I take a long time to read anything (like 25 pages max in an hour).</p></li>
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2

<p>1 - There’s obviously not much value in fretting over which school to attend when you’re years from having any idea where you could get in. But I will say that the classes you take in law school generally don’t prepare you for practice (or help/hurt your ability to get a job in that a particular area), though I suppose that it may be different for such a niche practice. </p>

<p>2 - GPA and LSAT are by a wide margin the most important factors, but I wouldn’t waste a summer studying for the LSAT. </p>

<p>3 - I’m sure they’d like to see a broader selection of courses, though they probably won’t pay much attention to what you took. Law school admissions aside, it’s a waste to go to college and only take classes in a narrow area.</p>

<p>4 - Speed reading isn’t really a big part of law school. I guarantee that you won’t comprehend any of the cases you read if you try to read them at 25 pages an hour. I would also be much more concerned with figuring out if you actually want to be a lawyer. You should consider finding someone who practices animal law (try martindale.com if google doesn’t turn up anything) and see if you could intern for/shadow them. Because, to be honest, it wouldn’t be unprecedented for someone to lose interest in something they were sure they’d always care about when they were a teenager.</p>