Does HS/College circuit debate prepare you for ls?

Graduate School Law School
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<p>see topic title</p>

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<p>About half the kids from my college’s debate squad went on to law school. I’m not sure how well it prepares you for school itself, because it’s mostly reading and writing, but if you get involved in moot court and stuff later in your LS career I’m sure the experience would be beneficial.</p>

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<p>some law schools recruit at college debate tournaments (Pepperdine for example)</p>

<p>depends on what you mean by debate. (policy, ld, parli, public forum)</p>

<p>I’d say that policy prepares you the best because of the amount of research that is put into preparing for topics. i did policy debate in college.</p>

<p>Ld is good too since you don’t have a partner to rely on to make decisions for you. It requires more personal thought and creativity.</p>

<p>I dont know much about parli and really dont care either.</p>

<p>Public forum is a joke debate. I’ve personally tried it and did well, but i didnt feel like i accomplished much.</p>

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<p>HS Debate – either Lincoln-Douglas or Policy Debate – is extremely useful for the half of the LSAT (!) which involves argumentative reasoning. Should be a walk in the park for a strong national-circuit debater.</p>

<p>Public speaking in general is perhaps the most useful skill around – from presenting patients in medical school to poster presentations at graduate school conferences to selling products in engineering firms, public speaking is a crucial component of any career.</p>

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<p>I gather the OP is in high school.</p>

<p>I think you’ll find that most debaters think whatever kind of debate they did is the “best” kind. Between myself and my recent law graduate kid, we’ve done policy, LD, and parli. All are helpful; the pros and cons of each are debateable :)</p>

<p>Over three-quarters of the kids who did the same kind of debate as my kid in high school ( in the same league) and graduated in the same year ended up in law school. All of them were accepted at one of the top 14 law schools. You can argue the chicken and egg theory–maybe debate prepared them well for college and the LSAT or maybe debate attracts the kind of bright kids who do well in college and on the LSAT. </p>

<p>I enjoy looking at the list of incoming SCOTUS clerks each year. There are always a few names I remember from high school debate–I was sometimes a judge–or recognize them because my kid competed against them in college.</p>