<p>So what makes a strong/competitive applicant? Is it just the GPA and the LSAT scores or do you need extracurricular activities?</p>
<p>When does each application cycle start and is it on a rolling basis?</p>
<p>Do you need rec letters and interviews?</p>
<p>Are there specific prereq courses you must take?</p>
<p>Anything else?</p>
<p>Sorry for the basic questions...I just have no idea about the process at all.</p>
<p>I’m not an expert, but I’ve read a few law school admissions guides, How to get into the Top Law Schools by Montauk, The Best Law Schools’ Admissions Secrets: The Essential Guide from Harvard’s Former Admissions Dean by Joyce Curll, and The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert by Ann Levine.</p>
<p>All good reads.</p>
<p>GPA and LSAT are huge. If you check out top-law-schools.com articles and forums, you can actually get some quantitative data that shows that adcoms are pretty unforgiving of low GPAs, even if you major in engineering. </p>
<p>Yes, you need some extracurriculars, the more impressive the better - but not at the expense of your GPA.</p>
<p>Applications usually open up September 1, September 15, or later. Most schools have ‘rolling admissions’, meaning it’s easier to get in if you apply earlier, since adcoms can afford to accept people with lower GPAs/LSATs as they’re filling their class. A lot of people say that applying in October or November is best, provided that your application is ready. Some schools can give you a decision in December or January. Others might make you sweat it out until April. Yale is one of the few that does not have rolling admissions. Check the schools you are applying for.</p>
<p>Yes, you will need usually 2-4 LORs, depending on the school. Not sure about interviews, but they’re not always required… nor are they as grueling as, say Med school interviews.</p>
<p>No prereqs, just learn to write well (which does not necessarily mean taking the English lit major), and do amazing on the LSAT.</p>
<p>Read this: [Applicant</a> FAQ](<a href=“Applicant FAQ Forum - Top Law Schools”>Applicant FAQ Forum - Top Law Schools)
The entire forum is very helpful, in addition to the books I listed above. </p>
<p>Generally: for T14, 3.7+/165. For T6, 3.85+/170+</p>
<p>Actual law school students or J.D.'s, feel free to correct me if anything I’ve said is wrong.</p>
<p>I know you don’t want to hear this, but I would advise you NOT to go to law school, unless you can get into a top 10 law school. I have many reasons for giving this advice, but the #1 reason is that there is a vast over-supply of lawyers. My advice is not based just on my experience, but on the experiences of a myriad of friends and co-workers over the year. In fact, there have recently been articles saying that most law schools are scamming their students by not informing them of the true state of affairs. I was given this advice 30 years ago, but pooh-poohed it. Consider yourself warned !!! Feel free to contact me to discuss this matter further. Consider this warning no different than if I saw you crossing the street, and saw that a bus was about to hit you. I consider it that urgent.</p>
<p>I enthusiastically second floridadad’s advice. The market for lawyers is MUCH worse than it was 30 years ago.</p>
<p>Start here:</p>
<p>[LSAC</a> - Future JD Students](<a href=“http://www.lsac.org/jd/default.asp]LSAC”>http://www.lsac.org/jd/default.asp)</p>
<p>Look especially at the column on the right and the block entitled Pursuing your JD</p>
<p>I also want to reiterate what Floridadad said. I started a thread entitled: Top Mistakes in choosing a law school. I will reproduce it here for you:</p>
<hr>
<ul>
<li><p>Incurring over 100K of indebtedness to attend a Tier 3-Tier 4 school and even for most T2 schools without a solid job connection. Only exceptions might be if the T2-4 school is the top school in the state that you want to practice in such as University of New Mexico or those in the top 10 of the country. Even then, I am not sure that this amount of indebtedness is worth it.</p></li>
<li><p>Accepting scholarship offers from much lower ranked schools especially if there are tough requirements to keep the scholarships cough…University of Seattle top 10%…cough.</p></li>
<li><p>Going to a T2-4 law school thinking that you can always transfer to a much higher ranked school.</p></li>
<li><p>Thinking that you will be that special snowflake who will get a job because you will be in the top 5%- of your law school class.The odds are guaranteed 19-1 against you.</p></li>
<li><p>Attending almost any lower tiered law school in a state that you have no intention to practice in, absent huge scholarships or guaranteed job connections.</p></li>
<li><p>Unless you have very rich parents, paying sticker for almost any law school outside of the top 15 schools or so unless you are getting in-state tuition.</p></li>
<li><p>After doing the correct research and finding the right school for you, listening to others</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Finally, going to any law school (yes, even a top tier school) without a thorough understanding of what will be required of you as lawyers (excessive time commitments, lots of stress, declining first year salaries, much fewer job opportunities etc) since I would bet that most of you will regret your decision about being a lawyer. </p>
<p>Forewarned is forearmed.Please read though this thread carefully before you decide to commit to paying an exorbitant amount for law school and dedicating three years of your life for a probable non-existent job.</p>
<p>So what makes a strong/competitive applicant? Is it just the GPA and the LSAT scores or do you need extracurricular activities?</p>
<p>More or less. You can’t do nothing.</p>
<p>When does each application cycle start and is it on a rolling basis?</p>
<p>September to February. For most schools.</p>
<p>Do you need rec letters and interviews?</p>
<p>Yes. Some schools may invite you to interview. It will be in your interests to accept this offer.</p>
<p>Are there specific prereq courses you must take?</p>
<p>No. Avoid explicitly preprofessional majors, with the exception of Engineering.</p>
<p>Anything else?</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>Sorry for the basic questions…I just have no idea about the process at all. </p>
<p>** Not much to know.**</p>
<p>So what makes a strong/competitive applicant? Is it just the GPA and the LSAT scores or do you need extracurricular activities?</p>
<p>LSAT is about 60% of the application and GPA is about 30%. Rest is personal statement, whether you are an underrepresented minority, some extraordinary background such as silver star winner in military etc. Honestly for most folks it is the GPA and LSAT. Even more telling is that the LSAT is much more emphasized in admission than the GPA. You can get into some very good schools with a mediocre GPA if you have a top notch LSAt. The reverse, however, isn’t true.</p>
<p>When does each application cycle start and is it on a rolling basis?</p>
<p>September or October. Honest, since admission for many schools is on a rolling basis, the earlier the application, the better.</p>
<p>Do you need rec letters and interviews?
Read over their requirements. Recommendations are usually required. Some schools require two and others three. I have not seen many schools require an interview, however.</p>
<p>Are there specific prereq courses you must take?</p>
<p>Your major is irrelevant. They will take liberal arts majors , business majors, engineeers etc. Moreover, there is no filtering out for hardness of major. The GPA is what it is regardless of major. Schools have said that they down grade, a bit, vocational majors such as music, art, dance etc. However, I haven’t seen this. In particularly, the GPA is calculated by the LSAC that doesnt’ distinguish among majors. </p>
<p>Anything else?</p>
<p>LSAT is king, queen and prince. If you score badly, retake it. Most schools now take the highest score; however, some do average.
Finally, where you did your undergrad, is irrelavent. Say that five times.</p>
<p>“…I would advise you NOT to go to law school, unless you can get into a top 10 law school.”</p>
<p>I advise you not to go to law school unless you get into YHS. Even S is a stretch.</p>
<p>The above poster is just a ■■■■■. The situation may be bleak, but not quite that horrendous.</p>
<ul>
<li>The Gracken</li>
</ul>
<p>Greg is right, and it needs to be said again. Despite all of the groaning and moaning on these boards, some law grads are doing fine, and not just those from HYS. NYU, Columbia, Chicago, Northwestern, Penn, and UVA students, among others, have outstanding opportunities unless they really mess up once they get to law school. We’re still describing the very top of the pyramid, and I do agree with those who say that the further outside of the top 14 you go, the riskier it becomes. However, it is not accurate to say that only Yale and Harvard students have a chance of making it in this business.</p>
<p>The Class of 2014 will not be looking at the same situation as the classes of '09 or '10. And, in this economy a smart kid with a liberal arts degree will do better going to Law School for a couple of years rather than try to ride out the recession working retail for $9/hour. Just go to a school that ranks well and don’t pile on the debt.</p>
<p>The problem is that it is HARD to go to a school that ranks well if WITHOUT piling on the debt.</p>
<p>After almost 30 years as an attorney, and now as a supervisor who hires junior attorneys, here’s my two cents:
<ol>
<li><p>If you get into T14, it’s worth the money to go. Everything in the law is about the prestige of your degree(that doesn’t mean other law school grads don’t do well, see below); going to a big name school will put you at a competitive advantage nationwide.</p></li>
<li><p>Arguably, there are regional private schools with similar clout-don’t want to argue if Fordham is worth the money, etc. That said, there’s a lot more pressure to do well at a strong regional school. Be very wary of the debt load you’ll have to take.</p></li>
<li><p>If T14 isn’t an option, and you don’t get into a strong regional school-or don’t want the debt-go to your state school(that’s what I did). While not cheap, the potential debt is not as bad, and you’ll have a realistic shot at paying it off. BUT it’s very hard to get into your state school-so do well with the LSAT and your GPA. Even if your state school is second tier or below, there will be a ton of law firms/government agencies in your state that would consider giving you a look, because they went to your law school; just don’t expect it will carry beyond state lines.</p></li>
<li><p>If you really want to be a lawyer and you’re faced with a second-tier(or below) private school option, then go if a. you get a great scholarship and/or b. you get great financial aid(lots of grants, very few loans). After you pass the bar, you’ll use your entreprenuerial skills to succeed, as well as your legal skills. I’m watching a lawyer’s ad on TV right now; he went to a law school I never heard of, and he’s doing very well, indeed. He spends more on TV ads in a week than I make in six months(and I’m not complaining about my salary). But if you don’t get a free ride, or close to it-DON’T GO.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Debt is the crusher; I’ve got people applying for jobs(entry level job paying $62,000 to start, one opening, requires 5 years experience-150 applications-that’s not a misprint, 150). Local federal agencies are bringing in experienced attorneys as “special” counsel-pay $zero, no benefits, one year commitment. Basically, experienced attorneys feel it’s better to be “special” so it can be added to their resume, even with no pay.</p>
<p>If you’ve got 150K+ of debt you can’t do these things.
So go T14, or go low or no debt; otherwise don’t go. The market for lawyers is bad, but it’s bad for just about everything outside healthcare. So I’m not goint to tell you not to go to law school; just be fully aware of the hugh financial commitment.</p>
<p>+1 </p>
<p>Everything crankyoldman said is 100% true. Also: in California, the** state** law schools’ tuition runs from $40K to $50K a year.</p>