<p>I just finished my Freshman year. So far my GPA is 3.96 (I've taken 27 credits with one W) I'm currently taking 13 credits in the summer). I feel like I'm going to get all As in the summer. My fall schedule is a bit challenging, but I think I can get 4/5 As. </p>
<p>If I maintain a GPA over 3.8, what score should I aim for on the LSAT? Also, I'm not really an internship/summer job guy, and I will eventually run out of filler classes to take in the summer. Do law schools care if I do nothing two-three summers in a row?</p>
<p>Top schools that I will probably apply to (in order of preference):
Columbia
NYU
Yale
Georgetown</p>
<p>It appears that I will need at least a 168 to be comeptitive (Yale a bit more—but that’s pretty much a reach for all applicants, no?). I’ll try to take a practice LSAT in the next few weeks. I still have two years to practice.</p>
<p>I’m keeping my GPA up to compensate for the act that I have no extracurriculars :-)</p>
<p>Your LSAT will be what drives your law school acceptances (provided that your GPA is good).</p>
<p>Question: if you aren’t “into” interning or working a summer job, why do you want to be a lawyer? Law students need to intern over the summer, and being a lawyer requries a tremendous amount of work, long hours, and stress.</p>
<p>I understand that in the context of becoming a lawyer I will have to participate in internships etc. But as an undergrad, there aren’t many attractive internships related to law, and if there are, those positions are even more competitive than top law schools. I have no skills outside of my education. In fact, I’ve never worked a day in my life.</p>
<p>And do A+'s get factored in to LSAC’s calculation? So I might actually have a 4.0 now since I have 1 A+ and 1 A-. Every other grades is an A (except for one W–which has now weight on GPA)</p>
If you become a lawyer, you will be working almost every day for the rest of your life. </p>
<p>It’s your life, not mine, but my suggestion is for you to find out whether or not you like working before you go into a profession that requires more work than almost any other profession out there. You may be happier in something that is forty hours a week, punching a clock in and out, rather than a profession in which work may be your life.</p>
<p>Rather not deviate too much from the topic—but I think I can handle work. I have no intention of having a family of my own. I’ll be bored without work!</p>
<p>Well, without an LSAT score, we can’t tell if you’re going to get into a Top 6 law school or a second-tier law school. I will point out, however, that going to law school with zero work experience is a really poor idea, for several reasons.</p>
<p>IMO, you’d be expecting any employer to take a huge leap of faith based on your word that you grasp what is involved with a job if you’ve never worked a day in your life. </p>
<p>Internships can produce strong references and networking opportunities in various industries. Their value should not be discounted. </p>
<p>You can expect that your competition is going to be using college to develop well-rounded applications, with everything from volunteer work, political activism, jobs/internships, leadership positions in student government or clubs, scientific research, etc. You won’t be the only one with a good GPA and a high LSAT score.</p>
<p>Since when do law firms not hire you if you haven’t worked prior to summer associate positions? There are plenty of associates at law firms whose only real jobs were as summer associates.</p>
<p>Jonri — I understand that I will need internships in law school. I’m a full-time undergraduate student. If an employer is skeptical because I didn’t work at 18, then I’m afraid that their pretentiousness will prevent them from tapping into my potential.</p>
<p>@cartera45: There are definitely K-JD students who get hired. I expect there are fewer that haven’t even worked part-time over the summer. I expect of those who do, the burn-out rate is disproportionately high.</p>
<p>@1994NYC: A lesson you could have learned by working: No one cares about your potential. Hiring you is not a gift to them, it is a gift to you. They hire you because they think you will add more value than your competitors. And you will have a lot of competitors, likely dozens at the least. If those competitors can show they have the maturity to handle work, even if it is just summer work, they will be favored over you. </p>
<p>Luckily, you still have plenty of time to address this. Go take a temp job for the summer, or intern somewhere that takes 9-5. Legal aid, District Attorney’s offices, and Public Defender’s offices all love taking free labor. I’m sure there are plenty of social justice organizations that would happily take a college student as a summer intern.</p>
<p>Cartera: My mention of employability related to the fact that OP claims never to have worked a day in his/her life, and that internships were being dismissed IMO, that could weaken his/her application for a position and possibly even his/her application to law school when weighed against competitors with more well-rounded or interesting applications. I’d guess that Demosthenes’ speculation about burn-out is also spot-on. </p>
<p>I think most of us (especially the parents and employers who post) know that jobs teach invaluable lessons and the successful performance of a job – any job, even lifeguarding or flipping burgers for hours a day, can say a lot about an applicant. Heck, one of my kid’s friends saved a child lifeguarding, and another friend paid for a summer abroad by cutting lawns during the summer. A different friend worked for a film production company during the summer as a student, working on a movie that received critical acclaim. One of their buddies was in ROTC, and learned parachuting over the summer. </p>
<p>On the other hand, OP is only going to be a sophomore in college, has never needed to work for spending money, and is very self-assured about being on target for a top law school and future opportunities. Life is good. </p>
<p>Of course an internship can be valuable, and I will apply for ones that I think are. However, I recognize that they are very competitive and there’s a good chance I won’t get it. Being denied a job in law because you didn’t have a job during undergrad (!) is virtually unheard of. And for the third time, I will attempt to participate in internships in law school. </p>
<p>And “self-assured?” Would I be posting here if I was self-assured?</p>
<p>@1994NYC: Unheard of for you, perhaps. I know for a fact I was denied a job at a firm because I had less college work experience than a competitor. I know several other students who lost out on opportunities because they competed with those with better work experience. Many of those, like myself, found work elsewhere, but that’s a hell of a gamble to take just because you’re afraid you might get denied. If the state of the legal job market should teach you anything, it’s that getting denied is no big deal. Go sign up for everything; get something. Then rock the LSAT and walk into a T14 with enough work experience to tell a story.</p>