<p>Hi (future) law students! My name is Aubrey, and I'm in middle school (I wandered over here from Prep School Admissions, as I'm applying to some boarding schools) and my dream is to go into law.
We have this career development course in Language Arts, and a boy in my class's mom came and talked to us about law - she's a district judge. Anyways, back to my hopes and dreams, I would die to get into Harvard (my dad went there) or Yale Law (I have visited both:) ) from an Ivy or UC undergrad college. I've wanted to be a lawyer ever since I was 5. Instead of wanting to be a ballerina and an actress it was a corporate lawyer and an 8-Circuit Judge.
I'm on here because I want to know what colleges you all go to, and how you got into them from high school. I basically just want "words of wisdom" from people who have survived the process, if you will. Like, what activities did you do in high school to get into your college? Is college easy or hard? Is preparing for the LSAT impossible? What are your top-choice law schools? That kind of stuff. I know this may be an out of place post in a section full of law student threads, but I'm just curious. Anyhow, thanks so much to anyone who answers!!! :):)</p>
<p>the best advice i think i can offer is probably advice you don’t want to hear. its simply to relax. don’t spend so much time fixating on the goal of law school – enjoy being a middle schooler, high schooler, and college student. study what interests you, involve yourself in extracuriculars that interest you.</p>
<p>i am not even going to address whether corporate law is or isn’t a career goal worth having. it doesn’t matter right now. there are many paths one can take to a top law school and then a corporate job. you simply don’t have to be mapping that out now.</p>
<p>many many people would like to go to harvard or yale law school – the overwhelming majority don’t get to. look at the info here – <a href=“http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/jd/apply/hls_fact_sheet_0922.pdf[/url]”>http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/jd/apply/hls_fact_sheet_0922.pdf</a> and [Yale</a> Law School | Entering Class Profile](<a href=“http://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/profile.htm]Yale”>Profiles & Statistics - Yale Law School) among the stats you should notice is just how small a percentage at each school arrived there directly after their undergraduate graduation. Only 20% at Yale and only 24% at Harvard. look at the variety of things listed for the yale students’ backgrounds – do you think they were planning from middle school how best to get into yale law school? do you think they would have been as attractive applicants if they had?</p>
<p>Law school is 10+ years away. Calm down.</p>
<p>Yes indeed take the advices above. You have a long way ahead of you and your interests might change over time. Heck, my interests in elementary is an aerospace engineer working at nasa just because of the movie apollo 13, then at your age I was inspired by a tv series and wanted to become a doctor. In high school i wanted to become a chemical engineer just because of people saying alot of money is there and at second semester of uni is when I decided to be an electrical/biomedical engineer and finally after I graduated that I wanted to go into law that I ended up where I am at right now in part-time law school. As you can see, interests change as you grow up so My advice is relax and enjoy life and try to look into more things before locking into an interests.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know that interests change. I mean, I have many other interests like writing (which could lead to journalism or becoming a novelist), politics (congresswoman or mayor) and even theatre (actor or singer). I’m just saying that going into law is what has constantly intrigued me; I’ve wanted to be other things but lawyer/judge has always been there. I’m not saying I need to focus my life on it, I was just wondering how you all decided to become one and what your journey was/is like. I know how hard it is to get into a T14 school, trust me. My dad went to Harvard for a Business MBA and my mom UC Berkeley for a Psychology Masters. It’s a dream to go to one of those, but I know the reality. Truth is, I have huge hopes and big dreams. That’s why I ventured to this part of CC in the first place - heck, it’s why I made this account in the first place! I just want to set a good path to follow. I’m going to be in high school next year, and I’ve seen lots of my friends/ classmates lose sight of the future and do stupid things like drugs. I believe it’s important to set goals - even this far in advance - to do well in school. All I’m asking for is some advice or insight.</p>
<p>wow I feel old</p>
<p>Get involved in your local youth court system. It can have many different names: peer court, youth court, teen court. It’s a great opportunity.</p>
<p>@LazyKid Haha, don’t feel old! I feel young :P</p>
<p>@hoopser77 Thank you so much! You’re the only one who actually gave me tangible advice. A local youth court system: that’s perfect! Any other advice? :)</p>
<p>lol at you people actually giving this kid “advice”.</p>
<p>Why? Some people like to plan early. I wish I had known about teen court in middle school instead of learning about it senior year. And lots of the volunteers at my teen court ARE in middle school.</p>
<p>@PlantBottles I may be the <em>official</em> “kid” on this thread, but you’re acting like one. So what, I want to plan early? So what, I want advice and insight from those who have done what I want to? It’s called thinking ahead.</p>
<p>@hoopser77 Thanks, again! A teen court sounds really, really interesting, and if I don’t attend a boarding school, my local public high school has a great mock trial elective (the new district judge runs it). :D</p>
<p>lol this thread is pure comedy. lol at thinking that teen court will help you in the long run or short run. lol at planning for law school when you are in middle school. lol, just lol.</p>
<p>by the way, why don’t you ask yourself this? what does a lawyer do? you think lawyers go to court and argue cases? you have no idea what a lawyer actually does and you want to be a harvard lawyer because it sounds cool and your dad went to harvard for business school? you asked for advice and plenty of people gave you the right advice. relax, and just be a kid and enjoy life. nothing you do right now like going to teen court is going to help you or add value to your life lol.</p>
<p>and hoopla, im sorry what law school do you attend? what makes you qualified to give advice that makes absolutely no sense?</p>
<p>I’m not planning for law school. I’m planning for what the heck I’m going to do in high school that will get me where I want to be. And I know lawyers do more than that. I’m not in Kindergarden. And who are you to say that the only reason I want to be a lawyer is because my dad went to Harvard? Or because it sounds cool? You don’t even know me. And, I am enjoying life. But that doesn’t mean I can sit around and do nothing. You have no idea how competitive the youth in America (and other countries) are these days. That’s why admissions rates are dropping. And that’s why I’m asking others for advice. </p>
<p>Teen court is a great idea for getting my feet wet in the field of law. My town’s system is in partnership with the high school’s mock trial team. Turns out some kids who graduated from my middle school are on it. That will help with high school EC’s and recommendations. Which will therefore add the value (with which you’re so concerned about) to my application for college. And even if hoopla is some spammer, I researched the whole teen court thing and it is a legitimate opportunity I will definitely look into more. </p>
<p>And, if this is all so funny and LOL-worthy, why do you keep posting on this? Why waste your time on a “kid”? Honestly, if you don’t have anything of substance to add to the thread, stop commenting on it.</p>
<p>Hey, I’m 21 and I wanted to be an attorney then, but I did not have enough confidence to ask questions. It’s good to ask questions. You said you wanted to be a circuit judge at some point, so you should go into litigation. One of the ways you can prepare for that is by joining a debate club. I think that and a little teen court thing will help, but definitely join a debate club that would help hone your debating skills needed for litigation. Other than that, I recommend taking Poly Sci courses with concentrations in some type of law, so you have an idea what the material may look like. Other than that, I would just relax and have fun. Also, to answer your other questions: college is as hard as you make it, preparing for the LSAT is not impossible, but tough but no need to worry about that until your junior year in college… Also, I did absolutely nothing in high school, I actually dropped out… So that’s irrelevant… Honestly, where you go to college doesn’t matter; the only thing that matters is graduating from college with a high gpa. Also, another tip I can give to you is start taking classes in community college while you are in high school that will give you credits and it will help you to understand what college is like. Also, I should elaborate on college, college can be difficult if you don’t study and do you coursework, but as long as you study and work hard, college shouldn’t be too difficult. I am a senior at a public university and I am graduating this semester with a 3.6x+ gpa and may end up at Harvard or some other prestigious law school… So it can be done with hard work. I hope that helps!</p>
<p>I have been involved in my teen court for many years now and it is a great way to experience the legal field at least a bit, as real judges preside over cases and you work with real attorneys, at least in mine. It’s been real eye opening for me and I would recommend it to any young person. There’s nothing wrong with planning ahead. Plans change, and OP realizes that. Aubrey, it’s cool how your local system works. There’s no mock trial or debate in my county whatsoever, bf both seem to me like they would give you good experience.</p>
<p>Aubrey, I believe PlantBottles is a ■■■■■. He only has three posts, all of which are in the law school section, and all of which attack other posters. I would just ignore him. Don’t feed the trolls. :-)</p>
<p>Also, look for some legal studies courses that is offer from some high school. I was lucky enough to find a high school that offers this as options and it teaches things brief things that you will learn in law school (i think it is criminal and public law)</p>
<p>Another idea is debate team/forensics. And student government (especially if there is some kind of judicial council). Is there a service that offers training in peer mediation? You’ll have more opportunities in college to pursue areas related to a legal career (more to see if you enjoy than credentials for the application process, but that may change over the next 6-8 years).</p>
<p>Thanks so much, everyone!
@yungman Of course that helps! Lots of great advice and helpful information you wrote there. </p>
<p>@hoopser77 Thanks!! And yeah, that’s what I figured. Trolls can be a pain 
What college/school are you attending?</p>
<p>@BEngineer That sounds really fun! If they don’t have it, the next best thing would be AP Government & Politics, though. :D</p>
<p>@HereWeGo2 I’m currently on debate right now, I’m the captain of the team. I also have some experience with Student Council, but there’s no judicial council in middle school. I know that high school has peer mediation, though. They def. seem like great ECs!</p>
<p>Again, thanks so much for actually answering my question instead of being rude. :)</p>
<p>Uh I don’t think PlantBottles is a ■■■■■, everything he says is correct, albeit a little harshly worded.</p>
<p>Law school admissions are based on 2 things, LSAT and GPA. (not to discourage or frighten you but Yale has a gpa median of 3.90 and a LSAT median of 173(99th percentile) while Harvard has a gpa median of 3.89 and a LSAT median of 173.) Law school is a pure numbers game. Volunteering and EC’s will matter very little along with your major and undergrad school. </p>
<p>The best thing for you to do right now? Relax and enjoy life. Do whatever makes you happy, and don’t worry about law school yet because there’s no reason to. Nothing you do right now or in the foreseeable future will resemble what an attorney actually does.</p>