<p>I'm considering law right now. I've set up a few shadowing gigs with a couple of lawyers to experience their day job. I think this is a right step? Its between law or medicine really. Now before I get flamed, these careers are really identical in some forms. They both entail dealing with and helping people, giving back to their communities and are usually leaders, and that's what draws me to both careers.</p>
<p>Anyway, I've been searching around and I've got some questions I was hoping you could answer:</p>
<p>1) Are there any Extracurricular activities I should consider? I am under the assumption that all law schools(the top ones) care about are gpa and LSAT.</p>
<p>2) Will my attendance of community college for 2 years hurt me? 3.97 in C.C. and 3.75 currently in undergrad university. </p>
<p>More to come.....</p>
<p>Ok, I’ll bite. For law school, no specific extracurriculars needed; it’s almost all GPA and LSAT. And you don’t ask, but no specific major is needed, either. The CC/UG split won’t affect admissions either.
That said, medical school admissions is significantly different. There are many required UG courses for medical school admission and as prep for the MCAT. And there are many written and unwritten requirements regarding extracurricular activities.<br>
So while it’s possible, it would be pretty tough to apply to both; and what year are you? It appears that you’re in junior year. Are you going to take a year off between UG and med/law school? I ask b/c for medical school right after UG, most prospective applicants are prepared to get their applications in within a month or so.</p>
<p>I’d just like to be the downer and point out that it’s NOT about giving back to the community, being leaders, etc etc. Most lawyers don’t become public servants, and most doctors don’t work at free clinics.</p>
<p>I agree with neuchimie. If you want to go into either law or medicine, I’d spend time finding out what lawyers and doctors actually do. These: “dealing with and helping people, giving back to their communities and are usually leaders,” are just vague catchalls that don’t denote anything about the practice of law or medicine. Getting into either for the prestige is a good way to get an unhappy life. As for your specific questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Go intern somewhere you can get practical experience. This won’t help you get into school, but it will help you figure out if the career is what you imagine it to be.</p></li>
<li><p>No one will care which college you went to.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you want to be the kind of lawyer who “helps people,” you will either have to get an incredibly competitive job, like the ACLU, or be paid peanuts. If you want to help people, work in a non-profit After graduation and save yourself the stress, time, and expense of law school.</p>
<p>As I keep saying, no one is going to throw a bunch of money at you so that you can save the world.</p>