I am a 3rd year in Electrical Engineering and will graduate with my B.S./M.S. in 2018 with a minor in math and a minor in Nanotechnology. I have 2 co-ops under my belt and will have 2 more before I graduate. I have been part of a research project for about a year now that will eventually become my senior design project (nanotechnology specifically). I am heavily involved in leadership positions for 3 organizations ranging from orchestra to student government. I currently hold a 3.85/4.0 GPA (hoping for a 3.9 by graduation) and have yet to take the LSAT.
The LSAT scares me. I fear that I will not do well on it and as these next couple of years approach, I fear that I won’t have as much time as others to study for it.
Regardless, I wanted to ask an educated community like yourselves how I look for T10 & T20 Law Schools. Since high school, I have always wanted to be a Patent Lawyer – particularly specialized in litigation. What can I do to look good for law schools like Harvard, Yale, Boalt etc? How am I looking now? What can I change? I don’t want to screw anything up and want to take all precautions-- this is my dream after all.
The only thing you can do is do well on the LSAT. Your GPA is already fantastic, and IP firms love EE majors. Keep doing what you’re doing. I would highly recommend spending some time working in a law office though, just to make sure your idea of practice lines up with the reality of practice.
@demosthenes I am planning on working at a law firm over some of the upcoming breaks because unfortunately, my future semesters are booked with either co-op or courses/research.
@AboutTheSame I didn’t take the SAT but my ACT was a 35. I’m not sure how good an indicator the ACT is for the LSAT. From what I hear, however, the LSAT is a very teachable test. Is this true?
I don’t think you even need to study for it, but – yes, it is a teachable/learnable test. Buy a book and don’t worry about it. Worry about the bar exam you have to take after you graduate from law school. [That was meant to be reassuring.]
Anyway, thank you for the advice and kind words. The LSAT just seems so daunting. Are there any courses or books that you would recommend or have personally found extremely useful? I hear the LSAT Bible Trilogy works wonders!
@LevantineBearcat, everything in your post suggests that you will be a very strong candidate. To have a strong shot at HLS at least you would need to (1) take a year or two off and work after college and (2) do very well on the LSAT. You clearly have the brainpower to ace the LSAT. Don’t take any chances–take a Kaplan test prep class or something–more than just self-preparation. The class will force you to focus on LSAT preparation, often with practice tests under real-world conditions. Definitely take one; I did and it improved my score by enough to get me into HLS.
@HappyAlumnus I will be sure to take a course. I have been looking at a bunch and I have heard very bad things about Kaplan. What are your opinions on Kaplan for the LSAT?
suggest you mosey over to top law schools, in which you can find all kinds of opinions on test prep companies. Quite frankly, for the scores that you will need (17x), you might be better off just studying on your own – even with a prep company, you’ll have to do all the work anyway. Plenty of wonderful materials available; even Kaplan sells their stuff for home use. (Personal fan of Manhattan.)
But then, there are folks who need to motivation of a class to get HW done. Just depends on your self-discipline.
When I was looking at classes I did an analysis of the published increases in scores. I found that Kaplan was best for getting into the 160s, Testmasters/Blueprint was best if you already tested in that area. I didn’t analyze Powerscore because it wasn’t in my area. This was about 6 years ago, so things may have changed, but I don’t expect they would have changed that much.
@LevantineBearcat, I liked Kaplan, but the main benefit that I got from the class was just having to go to a class, focus on the LSAT, and having to study for it. Classes work for me–as they seem to for you, based on your GPA, and so if that learning method works for you (as it did for me), I’d take a class. Self-study (just buying books and handling preparation that way) might not have the same results (since it’s easier to slack off with self-study). The LSAT is the one test that it’s not worth taking a chance on; you clearly have the smarts to ace it, and just be sure to give yourself plenty of time to prepare for it, however you proceed.
Ditto with above–the biggest thing, aside from test taking strategies, is replicating the duration and length of the test. If you do 2-3 of these under the same conditions, you will fare rather well.
Law school cares about your college grades and LSAT score. You have neither, so there is no way to chance you. Your punctuation suggests that when you do go to college, you should invest in a few writing classes.