<p>I am a sophomore at Lehigh University, and I am desperately in need of some law school advice. I am a philosophy and French double major with a minor in cognitive science. I am looking to go into international law or (my secret ambition) becoming a judge (I know it’s hard…). I have just a few questions:</p>
<p>When should I start studying for the LSAT? Which test preparation companies are the best? </p>
<p>I have about a 3.5 GPA as of right now. What schools should I look at to apply assuming I maintain that GPA and make the corresponding LSAT score?</p>
<p>Which schools have the best international law programs? I would like to know a few others outside of the top three.</p>
<p>any other advice?</p>
<p>p.S. I KNOW I need a higher GPA. However, realistically in the next 4 semesters, it will be more than a little hard to pull a 3.75+ GPA...</p>
<p>First, your question about when to begin studying for the LSAT have been answered on this board many times before. Please do a search for the appropriate threads. </p>
<p>It is impossible to determine where you should apply to law school without knowing your LSAT scores (I assume you have not yet taken the LSAT), where you want to go to school geographically, what kinds of cost constraints you may have and what kind of environment you want to have at your prospective law school. The resources are certainly out there for you to decide for yourself where to go to fulfill your needs/desires for law school. </p>
<p>As far as international law, what are you looking for? Do you want to work for the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations an international trade or treaty organization or some other multinational body, or are you looking to do transactional work that involves cross-border finance, project finance or some other international transactional work? As far as international transactional work goes, you almost can't help but do that work at any big law firm, since so many of their large corporate clients do business and have operations internationally. </p>
<p>To be honest, even though US News makes a statement of what are the best law schools for international law (also done without specifying what US News means when it states that), I think it is largely meaningless. If you want to do international transactional work, perhaps with the opportunity to live abroad, you should try to go to a law school that will provide you with opportunities to work at the largest law firms in the country, which do a significant amount of international transactional work.</p>
<p>Don't pay much attention to the international rankings. With a few exceptions, notably tax, the rankings are pretty meaningless. Second--no offense, I mean that--you'd be rather unusual if you really understood what being an international attorney means.So,I'll assume you don't.
Choosing a law school based on its supposed ranking in a field you really don't know much about would, IMO, be foolish. Third, though things are changing, you don't really major in subjects in law school. Most employers are interested in your overall LS record and the quality of the law school you attended, NOT just your grades in the few classes you'll take in international law or the quality of the program in that field. </p>
<p>Second, if you must, take a look at the site at <a href="http://www.lsac.org%5B/url%5D">www.lsac.org</a>. Look at the data showing the ranges of accepted gpa's and LSATs at various law schools. Look at the tables in the Graduate Rankings USNews does--don't get hung up on the rankings, just look at the data. Also ask the pre-law advisor for data showing how Lehigh students have done. The data from your own college is very helpful. </p>
<p>Finally, get those grades up and spend more time focused on books than on LS apps. Yes, the LSAT is important. But so are grades. And while first year college grades matter, it's not as if LSs don't note patterns to grades. For the great clump of students who are neither auto admits nor auto rejects at particular LSs, trends in grades DO matter. (Sometimes, if grades improve enough, it makes sense to delay applying so 8 semesters (or whatever system your school uses) of grades, not just 6 or 7 are included. )</p>
<p>It's fun to think of these things, but - assuming you keep the 3.5 - your choices will range dramatically depending on what your LSAT score is. DRAMATICALLY. It's very difficult to do any real planning in the absence of that.</p>