Alot of questions about law school. I'd really apreciate it.

Graduate School Law School
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<p>First off, I'm a junior in high school, 11th grade; and I still haven't taken my SATs. I have all A's in all of my classes, except for history, its been my only downfall, it feels really bad with that being my only downfall from a 4.0, but chem, english, Pre Calc are all A's.(just a little background). -Forgot to add that i live in los angeles california.</p>

<p>Through out this year i have been thinking what i want to do with my life, and i see that the two future job intrests for me seem to be eaither a dentist or a lawyer. I really would rather to get into a lawyer than a dentist. Dentist just doesnt seem right for me. I'm the type of guy that thinks logically and knows whats what. That's why ive also looked into being a manager, but thats getting off topic here.</p>

<p>Now i think that you guys have a good background of me, im hoping that you can answer of couple of my questions.</p>

<p>My most important question.</p>

<p>I'm am no good at history, at all! You could ask me about world war 1, ww2, or any of them, and i cant tell you a thing. I hate history with a passion. I'm wondering does becoming a lawyer involve taking courses in history. I know that when i go to college, i have to take those core classes, but im talking about after that. Would i need to take any more history classes? And can you be specific? I know that its 4 years of college, then 3 more to become a lawyer, so the classes shouldnt be too hard to list.</p>

<p>Next is that besides harvard, yale, and stanford, are there any other law schools? Like are there any in california, or atleast somewhere on the west side of the us. I tried looking on collegeboard.com, but i couldnt find what i tried looking for.</p>

<p>Another thing is that i want to know the price. Starting from college, after highschool, just average, i know it varies depending on where you go for college, how much does it cost to become a lawyer, are we talking over $300,000?</p>

<p>One more thing. Im intrested about being a lawyer, not going into other professions in law, for example being a judge or police.</p>

<p>Another question is that can i go to community college for the first 2 years of college since i hear that the first two years that you do in college really dont matter where you go. (I'm saying this in a money point of view because my family is living in a apartment right now)</p>

<p>Last but not least, i hear the hardest exam i will take on my journey of becoming a lawyer is the bar exam, is this correct, and can you guys shine some light on this topic for me, i want to know whats the big deal about it.</p>

<p>If any of you guys have any extra knowledge that would be helpful to me, id greatly apreciate it.</p>

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<p>I have 1 more question. I have heard that many people that go to become a lawyer, actually dont evnd up becoming one even after their credentials, can anyone explain this. Is it because its too hard to find the job, or something else.</p>

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<p>doctor123 - i hope you are reading the many other threads here - -they’ll answer a lot of your questions.</p>

<p>there are law schools all over the country of very varying quality and reputation. and law school is incredibly expensive and financial aid is not available anywhere near what is available for undergraduate. see this thread – <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/842801-any-advice-undergrad-freshman.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/842801-any-advice-undergrad-freshman.html&lt;/a&gt; --which also addresses other general issues.</p>

<p>please remember – as a junior in hs you have very limited exposure to possible careers – dentistry and law may be ones you think you know about, but there are many others out there that you probably can’t even imagine now. don’t narrow your search too early or feel pressured to plan out your life before you’ve even applied to college.</p>

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<p>Get used to doing your best in classes in which you have no interest - you will have them in college and law school. Do your best to change your attitude about history. You do not want to be ignorant about history. You will come across as - ummm - ignorant. Understanding law involves understanding history.</p>

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<p>As a junior in high school, it is way too early to be worrying about being a lawyer. Dentistry, however, is a different question. I believe John’s Hopkins has a combined fast-track BA DDS program. Check it out. No college courses are NECESSARY for law school, or for becoming a good lawyer. If you hate history and do not want to take any history courses in college and from there go to law school, fine. I did that, but now 20+ years later, I am much more interested in history and read lots of non-fiction and frequent the history station on TV, to the annoyance of my HS Senior daughter, who like you, hates history. The bar exam is an ordeal – 3 days of exams (it was 2 when I took it). Two days of 6 hours each, and one 3 hour day. But by the time you take it, you will be prepared since you will certainly have taken, shortly before the test, a bar review course. There are plenty of law schools around the country, of varying reputations. When you are up to that point, consider going to a law school near where you expect to work, or else get into a nationally recognized law school (like Harvahd and old Ely (good luck theres)). Expect little financial aid for law school since law schools are typically profit centers of the affiliated universities and thus do not want to give away any money. Most law students eventually get summer or part time jobs to pay or partially pay for law school tuition. In any case, salaries thereafter will pay back loans fairly fast. As an overly seasoned attorney (dry rubbed - ouch :0), I warn you that most attorney work requires dealing with other attorneys who live up to their reputations as being slippery, untrustworthy and rude. Most everything is a fight. If you like that, fine, go for it. You certainly won’t get nastiness if you become a dentist (a few bites, though). However, my dentist retired extremely early (at age 50 +/-) because he developed a bad back. As an attorney, you’ll only get paper cuts and carpel tunnel syndrome. :slight_smile: It does matter which college you go to, because to get a good job as a lawyer, employers look at your resume, and also law schools consider your college in their admissions decisions. (If you didn’t go to the right pre-school, and the right grade school, you are likely in the wrong high school and are now doomed for life — just joking … sort of). The best advice is to continue where ever you are – high school, college, law school – and get good grades. Good grades are the entry ticket to a good college, a good law school and a good job. Doing well on the SAT and LSAT also helps a great deal. But really, law and dentistry are not your only futures. Many have taken a single course or did a job in college that changed their life focus and career objectives. It happened to me.</p>

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<p>My advice to you, is if you really are interested in law:</p>

<ul>
<li>Graduate high school first. </li>
<li>Get into an undergraduate college. </li>
<li>After you get out of high school, spend some time going through this board, just reading posts, and picking up the basics. This is in no way an insult, but the fact that you don’t know about law schools outside of HYS and that you don’t know what the LSAT is means you are very, very, very far away from applying to law school, or even thinking about law (as you should be, since you are a high school junior).</li>
</ul>