<p>So here is my story.</p>
<p>Ever since high school, I have always wanted to go to law school and become a lawyer. Thinking it was set in stone and nothing could stop me as long as I put in my earnest effort, I revolved my college career around this aspiration and consequently mutually excluded all other alternative prospect as a long term career.</p>
<p>Here is my great frustration: I have recently become aware of a learning disability I have -- which makes it virtually impossible to get a good enough score on the LSAT to get into the specific schools that I want to go to (I don't want to settle for others, please don't question why or persuade me otherwise). With no medical insurance or the money to treat the disability (though I will try through online research), nor a few thousand dollars laying around to try to get accommodated testing by paying for psychological battery tests, I am very distraught (and even then I've heard stories of LSAT rejecting disability accommodation requests). I have a short term memory disability that makes it uncomprehendingly difficult for me to read quickly enough to do well on the LSAT under timed conditions. Please refrain from responding with comments saying blindingly hopeful things, "Just study harder and you'll do fine!" It will only be an insult, seeing as you have misconstrued my legitimate disability with being simply lazy.</p>
<p>The reason for my post is to ask you all the following question:</p>
<p>In any even, most of my undergraduate experience has been circulating around my obsession for a high GPA (I have a 4.0 from a top 10 university, even higher if you community college courses I took in HS), as I was determined to get into law school before. So my question is, since I stressed out much for undergrad GPA, what else can it be useful for if I decide not to go to law school? What other post-graduate programs revere a high GPA, aside from law and medical school?</p>
<p>All grad programs prefer a high GPA, but many also look for coursework in that specific discipline. Social sciences will probably be the easiest/most feasible for you, especially as a last minute effort (for example, many poli sci programs aren't too picky about undergrad major).</p>
<p>Take the GRE--you'll need it for just about any grad program. And don't worry if you're a poor test taker--it's not a make-or-break test like the LSAT is. </p>
<p>Ultimately though, the best advice anyone can give you is to find out what you want to do. Grad school is pretty grueling, and you should only go if you love what you'll be doing.</p>
<p>It strikes me as odd to choose one's profession, and future life, based upon an admissions test. If you have always wanted to become a lawyer, then why let a poor LSAT score get in the way of that? You can still attend a lower ranked law school and end up practicing law. Perhaps you won't have the opportunities that would have been afforded to you if you had attended a better law school, but then again, maybe you will graduate towards the top of your class and end up landing a job comparable to the job that you would had expected of yourself had you attended a better law school. That you should graduate high in your class seems likely, given your outstanding record at a difficult university. Obviously you can perform at a very high level at taking tests within the university. Unless law schools don't make exceptions for disabilities that your undergrad did, but I operating from the assumption that they do. </p>
<p>So, it seems odd to me to let the LSAT dictate your future like that. If you are passionate about a subject, and seriously want to pursue a graduate degree in that subject, then I could understand your choice to give up law school in favor of grad school on the basis of a poor LSAT score. If, however, you freak out at the thought of attending a lower ranked law school (or the countless other alternatives) and, therefore, force yourself into grad school into a subject you aren't passionate about, then I don't get it.</p>
<p>Demitriden -- No one says that you have to go directly from college to law school or grad school. You have no money for your health (so how can you pay for grad school?). </p>
<p>How about taking a year or two off to save money, get the medical help you need, and then reapply? Taking time to work is completely acceptable in graduate schools -- that's why they tell you their average age, which you'll note is seldom 21 or 22.</p>
<p>Also, consider reexamining your approach to life. Life constantly throws us unplanned curves (a disability, a divorce, losing a job or career, etc.). It's important to be able to be flexible and keep moving, or we lose our perspective and can stagnate. </p>
<p>Your posting says that your choice of law schools is limited and you don't want any advice telling you otherwise. Is your choice of grad schools going to be equally limited? Are you going to be able to do grad school work with your disability? It's unclear whether you're claiming your disability will keep you from getting a 170+ on the lSAT or from doing the intense reading and reasoning work required by law school. It's unclear whether your choice is driven by location, ranking, cost or some other factor, but you might consider reexamining those factors when you're weighing your career and educational alternatives. Blazer makes very good points. If your life's goal was to be a lawyer and you handled a demanding curiculum in undergrad, then you should not give up your life's goal because your LSAT score can keep you out of certain schools.</p>
<p>I agree with Geoff_Blainey, that grad school (as well as law school) is grueling and you should really want to continue your education before putting yourself through it -- not to mention the cost.</p>
<p>As a possible suggestion for a grad program career, you might want to consider something in the human resources or labor relations field if employment law is something you might want to consider later. In the meantime, potentially this would be marketable and I've always felt those positions can be quasi-legal. </p>
<p>I've suggested to my own kids that they get the Sunday NY Times and go through the job postings to identify careers. I guess Monster Board is another alternative. If you're still in college, your school or job placement office may offer some career testing to see where your interests are, which may also help you find an alternative path.</p>
<p>Not sure what your learning disability is, but here are some things you need to consider. It is against the law to discriminate against you because of your disability... the educational system must make "reasonable accommodation" for your situation. That includes taking standardized tests like the GRE and LSAT. So next, how do you document your learning disability so the system can help you out? Your school should be able to get you a professional evaluation at minimal to zero cost. You need to go to your counseling center and get evaluated. Even if you need to pay a professional to evaluate you, the costs are not that great. Once you have the documentation, you apply to the testing providers to make accommodation for you (extra time, use of assistive devices, verbal assistance... there are lots of strategies to assist you). That same documentation goes to your law schools and they will work with you to make your education a success.</p>
<p>None of this is easy, you will need to fight for you rights, but it can make the difference. I know someone who scored poorly on standardized tests prior to securing accommodation. They ended up in the 97% for scores after accommodation.</p>
<p>To the OP:</p>
<p>You mentioned that you attend a top college, so I assume that you did reasonably well on your SAT. Did you have accommodations then? If so, I imagine that the process would be similar to get accommodations for the LSAT. If not, then perhaps you would do just fine without accommodations on the LSAT. </p>
<p>Just a thought . . .</p>
<p>dude what kind of a college are you going to that doesn't have health insurance? or what kind of a job did you get with a 4.0 from a top 10 school that doesn't give you health insurance?
dude you clearly did well enough on the SAT, as sally said above.
if anything, berkeley loves GPA, cares less about LSAT. people with low 160s get in all the time.</p>
<p>You should try visiting this link: Accommodated</a> Testing
The one thing I can't help but wonder is this: if you claim your passion was so strong, why give it up at the sign of the first hardship?</p>
<p>Something isn't right here. </p>
<p>How did you get into a top 10 school and maintain a 4.0 but can't write the LSAT and didn't need time accomodation for the SAT to get into the top 10? </p>
<p>One would not know they have an LD without psychological assessment (supposedly they can not afford such an assessment). </p>
<p>Asking for advice on future career options but no information whatsoever about major or interests or abilities? </p>
<p>Supposedly it's a life long dream, but can't be bothered at looking at less than a subset of schools? </p>
<p>One post. Hmmm</p>
<p>If you have an LD, I think the best thing is to go see a doctor and get tested and then to get extra time for the LSAT.</p>
<p>And I absolutely understand your desire to never settle for a lesser school. The law school you graduate from is very important in the legal market especially the first time you interview for jobs, so it's naturally important that you go to the best school you can. If I were you I wouldn't settle either.</p>
<p>
[quote]
... a good enough score on the LSAT to get into the specific schools that I want to go to (I don't want to settle for others, please don't question why or persuade me otherwise)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Tell-tale sign of prestige obsession. He wants to get into an elite law school for the sake of eliteness. Most pre-law students have this disease. The reason I am considering giving up law is that I don't want to be around these diseased individuals and accidentally catch it. It drags your life into a meaningless hole.</p>
<p>Think what you want, but the reality is that I dramatically improve my chances of being employed after I finish school if I go to a top20 or whatever arbitrary group of law schools than if I don't. It's not just for the sake of eliteness or because I'm a snob, or whatever. And for me, being able to earn a living after I finish school is important to me and factors into the very decision to go to law school in the first place. The elite law schools have better connections, better programs, better opportunities that a third or fourth tier school simply can't or doesn't offer.</p>
<p>this has to be a joke..</p>